Like mother, like daughter: Inside the Shekhawats’ home this Mother’s Day

If Succession’s Roy family taught us anything, it’s that business and family are a toxic, dramatic mess. But IRL, not all family businesses are addled with power struggles and scandal. Some actually enjoy working together, and even live happily ever after with each other. Since Mother’s Day has made us a tad mushy, I tracked down the mother-daughter duo who are all the awws.

I connect with fine jewellery designer Sunita Shekhawat and her daughter Niharika Singh Shekhawat over Google Meet. They appear in separate frames, Sunita in her Jaipur office, comfortably seated in her sun-dappled room, while Niharika dials in enroute to a meeting, from Delhi. “I’d love to be back home for Mother’s Day,” Niharika says with a warm smile. “I just feel that Mother’s Day is like a national holiday at the Shekhawats.”

Her mother is, after all, the force behind one of India’s favourite designer fine jewellery brands, Sunita Shekhawat, and they have been working together ever since Niharika was old enough to type an email. She began helping her mother during high school, writing emails as Sunita, assisting with press communication, and eventually managing the brand. “You know how people assist assistant directors? That’s what it felt like,” she says. “I started writing interviews for her. There was no PR agency, no brand manager—those were just forming. So, when you're an educated kid in a family business, your parents just go, ‘Do this.’ I did it with a lot of emotion. I’ve vicariously lived her life.”

And celebrating it too every chance Niharika and her younger brother, Digvijay, get. “Since we were kids, Mother’s Day was always cards, flowers, and everything else,” Niharika recalls. “Now I put up a post, and the minute I do, Digvijay follows. I always had some creative idea… Even if he wasn’t around, I’d sign off with both our pet names. But he got the brownie points for being the younger sibling—whether he remembered or not.”

“During lunchtime, it’s a family rule to sit down together between 1:30 and 2 pm—whoever is in town,” the Jaipur-based designer adds. Distance is hardly an issue. “We’ve always been in different cities, but we’re so connected,” Niharika says. “We’ll have this video call now, and later today we’ll probably have an internal family call too. Post-COVID, we’ve all become more acclimatised to communicating digitally.”

Sunita is joined mid-interview by Digvijay, who popped by to check in on his mom. “Every business has stages. The first generation does everything—from making tea to managing clients. When I joined, it was more organised. But Niharika was able to see much more because she joined the business five or six years earlier than I did,” he says.

But make no mistake—the emotional labour is shared. “With family, you don’t come with KRAs,” Niharika laughs. “You come with emotional KRAs. You do things because it’s for each other.” It’s clear they operate with an ease that comes from deep familiarity—often picking up where the other left off, jumping in mid-sentence, or instinctively knowing what the other is trying to say.

Sunita sees it as a natural extension of their lives. “There’s no line between business and family. It’s all one,” she reflects. “This isn’t a tech company where you’re just in front of a screen.” Travel, in fact, is one of their shared joys—particularly when work and leisure overlap. “We travel to source stones, for exhibitions, and for our trunk shows in Singapore, Dubai, and the US. You work through the day and unwind in the evening together. That’s the best kind of day,” says Sunita.

Despite the generational difference, there’s an easy rhythm between them. “When I hear my mom, I genuinely feel like there’s your biological age and then there’s your mental age. My mom’s ahead of her time; she recently sent me a reel on the latest AI tools. It’s super inspiring.” Niharika says. Sunita is currently learning how to use design tools; she asks her son for the names—Figma, Rhino, Matrix, and Blender, he rattles off.

On her parenting style, Sunita is honest: “Our generation never took parenting too seriously. I was working; they were studying. I don’t remember it being difficult. Maybe I’ve forgotten, or maybe they were just good kids.” Niharika confirms this casual yet impactful style. “We were never nagged. My mom would just say, ‘Oh, you don’t want to eat? The kitchen’s closed then.’ We were loved, not pampered. Privileged, but never entitled.”

Their bond transcends jewellery. “My knack for storytelling comes from my mom and nani,” Niharika shares. “Even as a kid, I’d be the one narrating stories to my cousins. That’s where the brand communication started—storytelling.” And while Digvijay shares his mother’s passion for gems and sourcing stones, his taste leans more towards the technical and colour story. “He’s the gemstone guy,” says Sunita proudly. “We work on pieces together every day. I’ll ask, ‘What do you think of this combination?’ He’ll say, ‘Yeah, yeah. Let’s do it.’ It’s an everyday conversation.”

If Sunita were to design jewellery to represent her children, it would be symbolic. “For Digvijay, maybe a beautiful pocket pin or a closed-neck button with coloured stones—emeralds. For Niharika, a long chandelier or even a hair accessory. Everyone does chokers nowadays.” Niharika, on the other hand, is more sentimental. “I’d rather wear something that was already hers. I like stories. Her saris, her shawls, her old bags—they all come with memories. That’s more valuable to me than anything new.”

It’s clear that in the Shekhawat household, love, legacy, and lapidary brilliance go hand in hand. As Niharika puts it, “To the world, my mom is a designer. But to us, she’s full of anecdotes, life advice, laughter, and the occasional reminder to lighten up. She time-travels with her stories.” With Sunita's laughter filling the air, it’s obvious this mother-daughter duo is the definition of wholesome. “Every day is like Mother’s Day,” Niharika says. And frankly, who’s going to argue with that?