I know the old saying goes 'Marriages are made in heaven'. But I wasn't sure where that was or how to get there, though I strongly believe that God has a plan for us all and destiny will draw you by hook or by crook to the place where you belong. I had promised my dad that I would be ready to consider marriage when I turned 25. So, though I was at the peak of my career running my own IT company—buying, selling, assembling and repairing computers—when my cousin suggested I created an online profile I did. I created such a blunt profile on shaadi.com that my dad, aunts and cousins gave up and decided that at that rate, I would never find a guy.
I wasn't sure I would get my dream guy, but I figured that there was no harm in trying. I had a 33-point list, which included everything from wanting someone over 6-foot tall and fair to wanting him to a non-vegetarian and to hate rock and metal music. He also had to be socially aware, animal friendly, love the outdoors and so on and so forth. I think I got about 95% of what was on my list, though I've forgotten much of it. In retrospect, I think I've won a lottery and got so much more than I hoped for. I was not too keen on moving out of Mumbai, though I was talking to someone from America at that point. When I finally settled on Harish and we got married, we moved from Bangalore to Hyderabad to Mauritius to Bombay within four years, until I think Mumbai stole his heart too. But I'm getting ahead of myself; let me tell you the story from the beginning.
He first emailed me on 19th March 2007. It took me two days to reply as I was busy. When his second email landed in my inbox, I was busy again and though I replied only after two days, what he had written got my attention and I read it thrice. I suggested we exchange numbers (there were no smart phones and Whatsapp then). We spoke whenever we got time, often all through the night until the milkman rang the doorbell in the morning. Each of us had a mobile bill of Rs.6000 in that first month.
When he told me he loved me and wanted to marry me somewhere around 25th March, I told him to stop building castles in the air, as we had met through an arranged marriage scenario. Oddly, a few days later, I confessed that I loved him, even before meeting him in person. My dad knew that we were getting to know each other; when I finally I told my dad I wanted to meet him, dad said to ask him to come to Bombay. He stepped of the plane on April Fool's Day, carrying flowers from Bangalore and stole my heart away.
At lunch with my dad, as we all watched Tom and Jerry—enjoying it as much as any child would—we realised that this was the first time for all of us—meeting the father, meeting the prospective son-in-law, meeting the could-be husband. “Mere taraf se haan hair beta” said my dad as I walked him to his car. When it was time to bid goodbye to Harish, I just couldn't bring myself to say bye. Values, morals, log kya bolenge notwithstanding, I hugged him. The bear hug I received in return was enough for me to know that this was all I needed from life.
When our parents met and his parents wanted my horoscope, I started to panic. Harish seemed very confident that the horoscopes would match and told me not to stress; he said he would bribe the pandit to make it happen if required. When the pandit—without being bribed—said ours was a perfect match, I was convinced that marriages are made in heaven. On 19th April we flew to Bangalore to meet his family and exchange shagun; on 14th May we were married. Chat mangi, pat biha as they say.
I don’t think either of us have changed each other; we complement each other and make up for each others flaws. Our likes and dislikes are similar, and we have a telepathic connection where we often call or text or even walk from one room to the other towards each other to say exactly the same thing. I still feel as if we're dating. Btw... the seven year itch is just a myth. I can vouch for it.
~Chandni Nihalani Kumar, Real Estate Consultant
Other intriguing love stories include:
Virtual Strangers: dnai.in/czef
Hate at First Jive: dnai.in/czem
That thing around her neck: dnai.in/cyZx
Will you be mine? (Starring three awesome women who made the first move) dnai.in/czf9
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