Rashmi Poddar is one of the select few who have specialized in the field of Indian aesthetics. Her doctoral thesis titled 'Rasa and Ananda - A Visual Discovery' from the University of Bombay is a seminal work on Rasa and its applicability to Indian classical visual arts.
She is primarily concerned with the development of indigenous methodology, he understanding and dissemination of Indian intellectual ideas and their visual forms. This has led to the creation of a Section on Indian Aesthetics within the Department of Philosophy, University of Mumbai, where she has been appointed honorary director. She has conceptualized and structured a benchmark one-year postgraduate diploma course on Indian aesthetics, which has been conducted at the University of Mumbai under her directorship since August 1999.
