Sunita Budhiraja draped in the rare, handwoven Neelambari saree, originating from Shantipur, West Bengal. She’s the only one among the 22,000-member online group to own this weave. Pics/Tanvi Phondekar

A prized possession in Sunita Budhiraja's envious collection of sarees, picked from across India over the past 50 years, is the silk Patola from Patan in Gujarat, featuring double ikat weave and intricate geometric patterns. "When my nani [maternal grandmother] embarked on a Bharat yatra in the 1950s, she bought three pieces priced at '500 each. Today, they are worth over a lakh because only one family in Patan continues the art of weaving this fabric," says the 62-year-old Noida-based communications professional and author, who inherited the love for handloom watching her mother wear Bengali sarees. "She used to tell me that my nana [maternal grandfather] owned a handloom factory in Lahore, where they lived before Partition. Our home in Delhi had several charkhas. My nani would spin the yarn to make khadi sarees."