These are women who have built extraordinary lives. Not just careers, but families, institutions, legacies. They have navigated tradition and independence, expectation and ambition, partnership and selfhood.
They stand with Vows for Eternity because they believe in what we do. Their perspectives on marriage, family, and partnership have taught us much about how layered relationships are. Their trust in us is something we do not take lightly.
I got married into a big joint family and you had to find your space. Your in-laws were larger than life, and there was no questioning. But when I see my kids, there's much more ease, much more freedom. It's more of an equal relationship now. There's a lot more openness and friendship, at least with me and my daughter-in-law.
Deepika Jindal
Deepika married into the Jindal Steel family at nineteen. A traditional household, a prominent name, and a path that could easily have been written for her. Instead, she wrote her own.
Over the years, she has built a life that spans boardrooms and classrooms, business and philanthropy. As Creative Director and Managing Director of Jindal Stainless Steel Lifestyle Limited and Founder of Arttd'inox, she has led with quiet authority. As Chairperson of OP Jindal Modern School, Vidya Devi Jindal School, and OP Jindal Cancer Institute, she has given back with intention. Not just resources, but time, thought, and presence.
What stands out is not the résumé. It is how she carries it. Grace without performance. Warmth without pretence. Strength that does not need to announce itself.
I’ve been in relationships where I’ve had to underplay what I do. But there are evolved people who believe in all sorts of equality. From responsibility to opportunity to pleasure. That happens with mature conversations, with putting it out there. Communication is at the core of it all. A partner should be somebody who wants to grow together and be as curious about life and the world outside.
Guneet Monga
Guneet is one of India’s most recognised film producers. BAFTA nominee. Oscar winner. Among the first Indian producers invited to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Recently awarded the Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France’s second highest civilian honour.
But the accolades are not the point. The work is.
As founder of Sikhya Entertainment, she has built a production house known for stories from the heartland. The Lunchbox. Masaan. Gangs of Wasseypur. Pagglait. Period. End of Sentence. Films that find audiences because they find truth. More recently, she founded Indian Women Rising, a collective dedicated to discovering and amplifying the work of women filmmakers across the globe. It is the kind of initiative that reshapes an industry, quietly and permanently.
I had a short courtship but I've had a successful marriage, but it doesn't have to work that way with my children. I just want them to be raised as discerning girls who can make the right choices. My advice to them would be - don't depend on a man or a marriage as a creeper does onto a tree. I think you have to look at individual growth as much as the growth of the marriage, that one must always evolve as a person, develop a passion, career, and be your own person because a marriage is of course there and should always be. You will, from a couple, develop into a family and the dynamic will change and the priorities will change, but ultimately you must enjoy your own company and be proud of what you have achieved at the end of the day.
H.H. Maharani Radhikaraje Gaekwad
Radhikaraje trained as a historian and worked as a journalist with the Indian Express before marrying into the Gaekwad family of Baroda. She now runs one of the largest private residences in the world, alongside a portfolio of trusts and foundations that would be a full career for most people.
As Vice President of Maharani Chimnabai Stree Udyogalaya, she oversees vocational training for lower income women. As Trustee of the Maharaja Fatehsingh Museum, she stewards one of India’s finest collections of Raja Ravi Varma’s work. As Director of CDS Art Foundation, she connects artisans with designers and markets they would never otherwise reach.
The work is not ceremonial. During the pandemic, she and her sister reached over 700 artisanal families in Orissa. She has initiated UPSC coaching for urban poor girls, launched the Pink Line project training women as drivers to reduce gender based violence, and introduced skill-building programmes for transgender communities. She organised Urja, an artisanal fair that gave pandemic hit craftspeople a dignified platform to sell their work.
Marriage is a turbulent roller coaster life with your partner based on trust, love, hope and mutual respect
Swati Bhise
Swati is a classical Bharatanatyam dancer, the first disciple of Dr Sonal Mansingh, and has spent forty years bringing Indian performing arts to the Western world. She has performed at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in India, the Lincoln Center, and the 40th Anniversary of the UN General Assembly.
But performance is only part of it. She founded Sanskriti Centre, a nonprofit training young minds in art appreciation, and has lectured at the Smithsonian, Brooklyn Museum, Columbia, NYU, and the University of Texas at Austin. She was honoured with The Jewel of India by the American Indian community for outstanding achievement.
In 2014, she moved into film. She founded Cayenne Pepper Productions, served as Executive Producer on The Man Who Knew Infinity, and wrote and directed The Warrior Queen of Jhansi, the first Hollywood film with an Asian woman in the lead. It won the Gender Parity Award. She continues this work through The Warrior Queen Project, focused on women’s empowerment.
Mine was an arranged marriage. Anurang worked long hours and it was difficult to make the adjustments we did. Both of us had to make many compromises to make the relationship work. We have now come to that stage, after all the arguments, where we can’t do without each other. I want for my children to have the endurance we have had. They will make their adjustments, which are necessary as they evolve, but form a strong bond. That’s what I want for them.
Varsha Jain
Varsha was born and raised in Kenya with a strong Indian influence from her grandparents, whom she visited every year. In 1988, she met Anurang Jain, who would go on to build Endurance Technologies from the ground up. The company went public in 2016 and now operates factories across India and the world. Varsha serves as Executive Director and Head of CSR and Facility Management, and sits on the board.
But it is the work outside the boardroom that defines her.
Through the Endurance Sewak Trust, she has focused on the villages around Aurangabad. Vocational training. Teacher development. Old age centres. Women’s upliftment. She has personally championed small units that train women to produce sanitary pads and has led awareness efforts on sanitation and hygiene. The Trust continues to evolve, now providing mobile medical care and veterinary support for farm animals.