Shallu Jindal believes strongly in destiny. Take her marriage to billionaire industrialist and politician Naveen Jindal. A common friend had introduced the two patriarchs—the late OP Jindal and Abhay Kumar Oswal—and had suggested a “match-up” between their two progeny. But Naveen, who had just come back from the US after completing his management studies and was immersed in his fight to allow citizens the right to hoist the national flag, was not interested. The Oswals thought that was the end of it. But almost a year later, OP Jindal called up Oswal to ask if they were still interested in the alliance. They were. And this time, Naveen was ready. He asked Shallu just one question: “Would you be willing to shift to Raipur [the capital of Chhattisgarh, where Naveen now runs power and steel plants]?” Shallu’s answer was in the affirmative and the two tied the knot in 1994. “It was destiny. Otherwise, in that one year in between, I could have got married to someone else,” says Shallu, who will be celebrating her 20th wedding anniversary in May.
It helps that her gurus like pushing the envelope. Raja and Radha Reddy have performed across formats (including 10-minute recitals) and have collaborated with many artists, including the late sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar. “Dancers have learnt the trick to reach out to the audience for art to survive and to make it big themselves,” says Kaushalya Reddy.
(This story appears in the March-April 2014 issue of ForbesLife India. To visit our Archives, click here.)