ROLE MODEL

Jewellery designer SUNITA SHEKHAWAT talks about the eponymous design house she started 25 years ago, and explores with her daughter NIHARIKA SHEKHAWAT the familial bond that runs deep in their design DNA.

- Ashwini Arun Kumar

When Sunita and Niharika Shekhawat sign on to a joint Zoom call the former from Jaipur and the latter from Delhi - for this interview, they greet each other excitedly, despite having spoken less than an hour earlier. It reminds me of the warmth I experienced in person when I first met them in March for the opening of the Museum of Meenakari Heritage, a 2,200-square-foot space ensconced in the newly-erected Shekhawat Haveli in Jaipur's C-Scheme area, dedicated entirely to enamel work.

Dressed in slinky chiffon saris with their pallus draped over their shoulders in traditional Rajasthani fashion, the duo often finished each other's sentences when interacting with their guests. There is no dearth of instances when the pair is in sync in this conversation, too.

Growing up in Rajasthan, a state whose history highlights jewellery-making and art, Sunita Shekhawat felt the impetus to bring a newness to what had always existed.

"Everyone was wearing similar jewellery, and the designs felt monotonous," recalls Sunita, now in her late 50s. Her first boutique in Jaipur was inaugurated by the late Maharani Gayatri Devi in 1999, making this year her eponymous brand's 25th anniversary. "I thought, if the cost of the material, the designing process, and all the other factors were the same, at least the designs could be different." This has since become her design ethos.

"People often think that designing comes first but, when you're selling something that has to last for generations, technical knowhow is more important," says the designer, who went on to learn all about jewellery manufacturing and designing, and gemmology from the Gemological Institute of America in the USA. That is where her daughter Niharika studied, too, before pursuing Business Management in London and returning to join the family business.