‘We are close friends too’
Rajeswari Sainath and Vyshnavie Yagnesh
Their journey started with the mother being a strict teacher to a playful daughter. Says Rajeshwari, “As Vyshnavie grew to become a professional dancer, we became close friends — adored each other’s performance and even quarrelled for the common jewellery,” says Rajeswari and Vyshnavie added, “Me and my mom sharing the profession was like a competition as everyone would come up to me and say ‘work harder and someday dance like your mom’ and that would sometimes rattle me. But later, our bond became much stronger and now we seek emotional solace too from each other.”
‘We enjoy working together’
Avani Rao Gandra and Lipika Rao, Iconart Gallery
This mother-daughter duo takes every opportunity to see and understand the multiple dimensions of life experiences. Says Avani Rao, “I am a professional artist and founder of an art gallery and my daughter Lipika is a graduate from ISB and has chosen marketing and management as a core career. She has learned, unlearned and imbibed art both consciously and indirectly. I have picked up a lot of professionalism from her and she has forayed into art, and is working on taking art as therapy.” “We enjoy working together. We both are travel enthusiasts, learn from different cultures — people, art and nature,” adds Lipika.
Mom, her best teacher
Nikitha and Sandhya Linga of Jewellery by Nikitha
Collaborating, it turns out, was the best decision they ever made and together, they’re doing what they love. Explaining their journey, Nikhita says, “I grew up seeing my mother working alongside my dad in his jewellery business and I always admired how she could balance time between the business and us. On my return to India after college, I started working together with my mother in our family business. And that’s when my skills in design and marketing flourished. It began with my mother teaching me the basics of the business. All by ourselves, my mom and I, hosted many jewellery shows in the US where we travelled from state to state, carrying jewellery, hosting shows and selling our designs. And as time progressed we decided to start a retail store here in Hyderabad.”
‘Working together brought us closer’
Gita Karan and Madhvi Chandra of Gitanjali
Mother and daughter relationships are often tumultuous, with passionate opinions. This mother-daughter partnership shows that putting passion to good use produces some wonderful results. “My daughter and I have always shared a beautiful relationship. We’ve had our share of differences to add spice to our relationship. I was always hoping that she would join the teaching profession and the day she decided I was the happiest person,” says Gita Karan and Madhvi adds, “We bond very well and our ideas also match so we are on the same page. We meet more often and decisions are taken together. Having mom as your boss mean no fake excuses for taking the day off and it’s certainly worked well for us.”
In it together
Heena Shrivastava and Sunaina Shrivastava of Sunjana Academy
Despite the occasional bumps, this mother-daughter team cherish the time they get to spend together running a successful business. “My daughter always had an aptitude for education and teaching, both of which are my vocations. When I started my academy, it was a given that Sunaina would be an integral part of its operations and management. She has a modern approach which blends well with my traditional styles of teaching. This ensures that we have the ideals of innovation and tradition in the academy. My daughter is in the US and sometimes the distance often acts as a communication barrier,” says Heena. and Sunaina adds, “The best part of working together is the fact that we have a common end goal and we see eye to eye on many things.”
My mother, my inspiration
Dr Sita P. and Dr Pavitra Mani, dentist
“The best part of working with my mother was that I didn’t have to struggle for 10-15 years to establish myself. I grew up in her clinic, so by the time I joined dental school I knew everything. Just after finishing my cosmetic dentistry from New York University I could open my own clinic without any hiccups,” says Dr Pavitra.
