Bonny Karstadt met Ratilal (Ray) Shah on a blind date in 1966, while she was working on her master's degree at Dougles College and Ray was at Stevens Institute. Bonny was Jewish, and teh only child of Evelyn and Lew Karstadt, a World War II bombardier who was decorated with a Purple Heart for valor. Ray was jain, a member of the ancient Indian religion known for belief in "ahimsa," which means harmlessness or non-violence to all forms of life.

Despite their background, which seemed worlds apart, Bonny and Ray fell in love and got married in India in 1968, and then moved to Texas from New Jersey. Ray had been laid off from Raytheon when the Johnson administration stopped bombing Vietnam, and so he took a new job with Texas Instruments in Dallas.

Bonny had a bachelor's degree in history and education from Rutgers University and a master's degree in political science, majoring in international relations. In spite of her credentials, Bonny was unable to find any teaching jobs in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, but worked for a short while with the government organisation called War on Poverty. She saw too much corruption there, and left after becoming disillusioned.

That led to her starting Maharani in the year 1969, with only $50 of capital and no business training whatsoever. She began by selling wedding gifts which she and Ray had received from India.

At the first trade show for Maharani at the Dallas Market Center, they sold only $500, leading them to consider quitting. But instead they went to a second trade show, and somehow sold enough to cover the costs. Afterwards, sales began to increase slowly. Then they got their big breaks: a huge order came in from the Horchow Collection and another order for beadwork from Carlson Dolls of Maple Lake, Minnesota.

During this time they also met a California designer named Barbara Ryan. Barbara and Bonny designed most of the Maharani product line together, with additional input from Ray and his new sister-in-law Usha Shah, who had recently come from India with Ray's brother Ramesh. Ramesh eventually joined the company, too. Maharani has never lost money in any year since this winning team joined forces.

For several years, the Maharani business has been primarily operated by Ramesh and Usha, with Bonny and Ray devoting themselves to the creative side of Maharani and also to their many philanthropic projects. Bonny and Ray's son Noah Shah will now begin to have a role in the Maharani as well.

In their 36 years of mariage, Bonny and Ray travelled all over the World. Bonny's passion for folk art and crafts, as well as her love of animals and her concern for destitute children, is reflected in the business and the various charities that she started and supported both in India and in the United States. Bonny began rescuing homeless and abused animals and giving them sanctuary at the 30 acre ranch in Bartonville, Texas, where Maharani is head-quartered. In the course of her involvement in animal protection, Bonny forged friendships with activists in many countries.