Divya Ashtekar, First Lady of Moryazvia

"Life is too short to waste time on trivial matters. Always strive for greatness and make each moment count."
- Divya Ashtekar, upon being asked in an interview to say a message for the people of Moryazvia shortly after she became First Lady of Moryazvia in 2018

Divya Ashtekar is an Indian-born Moryazvian lawyer, social activist, and the 6th and incumbent First Lady of Moryazvia. Her husband is the current President of Moryazvia Maksimilian Borisov. As First Lady, Divya has been working towards creating a sustainable, equitable, and inclusive society where all citizens are treated with dignity and respect. She believes that the path towards a just and equitable society begins with recognizing the voices and needs of the most marginalized members of society, especially women and minorities. Divya has greatly influenced her husband's policies towards gender equality and equal pay for all. She has also worked to promote the importance and value of education and literacy for all citizens. In addition to her social activism, Divya has been recognized for her leadership and commitment to strengthening the foundation of Moryazvia. As First Lady, Divya has worked to build strong partnerships and collaborations with the private sector and civil society organizations to create opportunities for all citizens.

Early Life

---

Divya Ashtekar was born in Mumbai in the Indian state of Maharashtra on September 4, 1981 to the prominent Ashtekar political family. Her parents are Mahesh Ashtekar (1951), a former Member of Parliament and a prominent leader in the Indian National Congress party, and Sunanda Ashtekar (1951), a renowned social activist and leader in the All India Women's Conference (AIWC). She is the second out four children. Her brother Rahul was born in 1978, her younger sister Kairavi was born in 1984, and her second sister Nita was born in 1988. As a child, she was described by her parents as being "bright, curious, and full of potential." Her parents encouraged her curiosity, ensuring that she had access to the best education and opportunities. Divya excelled in school, participating in various extracurricular activities such as debating, drama, and sports.

In 1998 She attended the Severodzhan State University in the Republic of Moryazvia, as her parents intended for better education quality. Her father even bought her an apartment for her in Severodzhan so she would have no trouble finding a place to stay. After graduating from Severodzhan State University with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice as well as a Juris Doctor degree in 2002 and 2006 respectively, she worked for the law firm Sokolov & Associates as an associate for almost seven years from 2005 to 2012. She handled criminal, administrative and civil cases for the firm. She also served, in a dual capacity, as an investigative lawyer from time to time. In 2012, she was promoted to partner and served in this capacity until 2018 when she became the First Lady of Moryazvia. Her co-workers describer her as "intelligent, driven, and eloquent."

Divya continues to hold her law license, but has kept it on "inactive" status since 2018 when she became First Lady.

Rise in Politics

---

After her husband Maksimilian Borisov was elected Mayor of Vladigulma, she took part in various social responsibility projects. She contributed to the establishment of numerous new soup kitchens and homeless shelters using refurbished abandoned buildings, which is still carried on to this day. She joined many other civic leaders in organizing public works and development projects in order to provide relief to displaced persons or to support their efforts to obtain welfare benefits. During her husband's mayoral term, she also chaired the Municipal Finance Fund, managing the city's financial growth which was moderately successful thanks to her experience from a business-minded family.

Her aides interviewers noted her as someone who thrives under pressure and one called her a "great multitasker."

Ashtekar actively participated in her husband's 2018 presidential campaign; according to a key adviser, "her presence is essential for him."

Leadership

---

In her first few months as First Lady, Ashtekar went to soup kitchens and homeless shelters. She also went to both public and private schools and spoke to the children about the importance of public service.

Ashtekar has promoted legislation that backed her husband's policy interests. For instance, she backed his "Moryazvia Cares Act" by visiting the Moryazvian Ministry of Education and the Moryazvian Ministry of Commerce and Economic Growth. Her legislative activities were seen favorably by some observers, while others suggested she should stay out of politics. She planned to visit every Cabinet-level agency to gain a better understanding of her husband's daily activities, according to her representatives.

Due to her years studying Law and Criminal Justice, she is often involved in many of the legal aspects of her husband's policies and initiatives. This has been met with some criticism regarding the ceremonious role of the First Lady and some have even accused her of helping her husband find legal loopholes to avoid violating the constitution.

She has sometimes served as a goodwill ambassador of Moryazvia, a de facto duty of the first lady, visiting nations in her husband's place.

Other activities
Since 2019, Divya Ashtekar has been the honorary president of UNICEF Moryazvia. She has also been an advisory board member of the Women Economic Forum since 2021.

Policies

Even though her role as First Lady is primarily ceremonial, she is nonetheless politically involved in the government and has advocated for the implementation of these initiatives and policies:

• Hope for the Homefront
  This government initiative seeks to aid the families, veterans, and survivors of members of the Moryazvian Armed Forces. It's goals are to help soldiers find employment after their service, improve educational circumstances of children of military families, and combat homelessness of disabled military veterans. Hope for the Homefront was inspired by the US Joining Forces initiative.

• Equal Pay, Equal Say
  An initiative focused on achieving equal pay for work of equal value and closing the gender pay gap in Moryazvia. It accomplishes this by raising awareness about the issue, advocating for policy changes, and supporting organizations working on gender equality.

• Open Doors[/b]
  A program to provide free legal services to low-income families. The program has significantly reduced unfair evictions, unjust job dismissals, wage theft, prejudiced targeting of legal migrants, and strain on local and regional justice systems.
  

For & Against

• For: Gender Equality, Social Equality, LGBTQ+ Rights, Environmentalism, Equal opportunity, Law and Order, Social corporatism

• Against: Unregulated Capitalism, Neocolonialism, Transphobia, Racism, Homophobia

Personal Information

---

Marriage and Family

She met Maksimilian Borisov in her freshman year at Severodzhan State University. He was a fellow freshman studying Political Science, History, and International Relations. They both met through mutual friends who tried to pair them up. At first they started off as just friends, sharing casual conversations and hanging out with each other whenever they had the time to spend. As time went on, they both discovered that they shared similar values and goals for a better future. The more time they spent together, Divya began to develop a deeper connection with Maksimilian and so did he. She admired his passion for social justice and his dedication to making positive change to his country. He, in turn, was impressed by her intelligence, wit, and commitment to her beliefs. They started dating in 2000, a year after they first met, and their relationship blossomed into something more serious in just a few months. Despite the two being from different countries and cultures, both of their parents approved of their relationship and supported their romance. After graduating from Severodzhan State University, Divya and Maksimilian continued their relationship until he proposed to her in late 2002. They would get married in Spring 2003 in an interfaith wedding that combined Borisov's Russian Christian and Ashtekar's Indian Hindu traditions. The couple currently have 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls, who are all raised in both of their parents' cultural traditions.

She has described her married life with Maksimilian as being in "a perpetual honeymoon." She has stated in a recent interview shortly after their 20th wedding anniversary in 2023 that "He treats me like I'm the only woman in the world, and we live in such perfect harmony that almost everything we do revolves around each other. We truly love the life we created together, the children we made and raised, and I love waking up next to him every morning. There are no secrets between us, nothing that would ever jeopardize what we've built. I couldn't ask for a better husband and father to our beta, our children ."

Divya's older brother, Rahul Ashtekar, is a career politician and is currently the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, an office he has held since 2014. Prior to that he was the mayor of Mumbai from 2012 to 2014, and a two-term member of the School Management Committee (SMC) for the city of Mumbai from 2008 to 2012. Her sister Kairavi is the CEO of Chic Cosmetics, a beauty company valued at around $46.5 million. Headquartered in Mumbai, it is a leading company in both the domestic market of India and in the continent of Asia. Her youngest sibling Nita is a pop singer-songwriter based in London, U.K. She plays the guitar and has written and performed many songs in Marathi, Hindi, and English. She is part of the British pop band Akwah since 2017 and is the band's only female member. Previously she was a solo musician in India until she moved to the UK to marry her longtime girlfriend.
Wealth

According to figures released during the 2018 presidential election, Divya's salary was $146,530 from Sokolov & Associates, while her husband had a salary of $156,290 from his governorship of Severodzhan Oblast. The Borisovs' total annual income at the time was $302,820. She also states that she had an inherited wealth equivalent to $3 million from her grandparents, as her family (the Ashtekar Family) have moderate influence in both politics and business in her home country of India, and major influence in Maharashtra in general and Mumbai in particular.

Since 2009, Ashtekar divulged that she has owned an 11% share of her sister Kairavi's beauty company Chic Cosmetics, valued at around $5 million in 2025, as well as investments in the Moryazvian Healthcare Fund, the mental health charity organization Everest Orchard, Vegan Pharmaceuticals, and more. At the time of writing this (December 31, 2025), Ashtekar's net worth is at 11,110,000 Moryazvian rubles (11,000,000 USD).

Religion
Ashtekar is a Hindu. She mainly worships the deities Ganesh, Vishnu, Krishna, Parvarti, Annapurna, and Durga. Of the Tridevi, she has commented that she worships Lakshmi the most.

Residences
As a first lady, Ashtekar has lived in numerous offical residences through her time in politics. These residences include: the Executive Mansion in Severodzhan, the Azure Estate in Severodzhan Oblast (as governor), and the presidential summer residence Khizhina Blissvyu in Baghri, Kiralya.

Public Image
With the ascent of her husband as a prominent national politician, Ashtekar became a part of popular culture. She has been described as a national fashion icon and a trendsetter for her combination of traditional Indian and formal western clothing. She also appeared in the 2018 Glossy (a national lifestyle and fashion magazine in Moryazvia) list of best-dressed women and was praised by the magazine for her style and taste.

At the time of her husband's campaign for the presidency, some sources anticipated that as a high-profile Indian woman in a stable interracial marriage Ashtekar would be a positive role model who would influence the view Moryazvians have of Indians.

Scholars and biographers have described Ashtekar's personality as energetic, sociable, and charismatic. Classmates, teachers, professors, and coworkers of hers described her as the type to "keep everyone smiling, to bring warmth and hope to those close to her." Detractors and critics have viewed her as a "master of manipulation and public perception," and an "attention seeker."
Personal Trivia

• Divya is the first naturalized and the first non-Moryazvian First Lady of Moryazvia (As she was born in India).

• Divya Ashtekar holds Moryazvian citizenship after her marriage to Maksimilian Borisov but this also resulted in her losing her Indian citizenship. Fortunately she obtained Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) to work around this issue.

• Divya is fluent in Marathi, Hindi, English, and Moryazvian.

• She has a keen interest in Indian classical dance forms, such as Kathak and Odissi.

• She often accompanies her husband on visits to foreign countries, including Mongolia, Poland, Mexico, the UK and her native India.

• She has an extensive collection of traditional Indian jewelry which she often wears during Indian cultural events, state banquets, and special date nights with her husband Maksimilian.

• Divya's favorite sports are badminton and cricket and she was the captain of her high school's badminton team.

• Divya's often wears Sharara lehenga on special occasions, from her wedding day to her children's graduations

• Unlike her husband (who doesn't use social media often), Ashtekar has kept an active social media presence. The majority of her posts and content are unrelated to politics and her husband's policies; she instead opts for selfies, social justice, fashion, advocacies, and vlog content. As of writing (December 2025), Ashtekar has 2 million followers on Facebook, 4.4 million on Instagram, 2.8 million on TikTok, 2.1 million on Twitter, and 6.5 million subscribers on her YouTube channel.

• Ashtekar's personality type is ENFJ-A (The Protagonist) according to her Twitter profile.

Awards, Honors and Decorations

---

National
Moryazvia: Medal of Parental Glory & Presidential Order of Excellence (2013), Honored Lawyer of Moryazvia (2015), Order of Saint Anastasia the Anointed One (2017), Decoration "For Beneficence" (2019)
Foreign
India: Pravasi Bharatiya Samman for Public Service (2025)
Italy: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2022)
Mexico: Order of the Aztec Eagle (2022)
Moldova: Order of Honour (2019)
Monaco: Grand Officer of the Order of Saint Charles (2022)
Mongolia: Order of the Polar Star (2019)
Poland: Order of the White Eagle (2019)
United Kingdom: BBC's "100 Women" (2021)

Quotes

---

“In the symphony of society, the rule of law is the conductor; with it, every individual plays their note in the melody of justice.”
-Ashtekar during a speech at the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of Moryazvia

“Empowering women isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s the smart thing to do. When women thrive, we all rise together.”
-Excerpt from Ashtekar's speech at the UN Women organization 2020