True love
True love

Serendipity: Finding something beautiful without looking for it.

There’s a giant poster of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol from Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge adorning my bedroom wall because that’s the kind of love that I’ve grown up believing in. I don’t know whether I should blame Yash Raj Films and Dharma Productions for making films about irrevocable romance during my teenage days or Nicholas Sparks and Cecelia Ahern for dishing out novels that have given me endless #RelationshipGoals. Thanks to these movies and books, I am now a believer of old-school love stuck in a generation that endorses the hook-up culture.

But fortunately, I still have a bunch of people around me who make me find hope in hopeless romance. So I decided to share the stories of five real life couples who restored my faith in serendipitous love in the recent past. A chance encounter with that certain someone is all that it takes to turn your life upside down. Here you go.

PS: This is going to be a long post and is strictly for those of you who are suckers for love stories. So brace yourselves and read on…

1. Moumita & Shayak

Shayak and Moumita
Shayak and Moumita

While studying at Kellogg School of Management, Shayak went to Philadelphia to pitch his start-up at a startup competition at Wharton, for which he had been selected as a finalist. It was there in Philadelphia, on a fateful winter day, that he reconnected with a girl he had previously met through common friends in Kolkata – Moumita. That’s when magic happened. PS: THEY ARE GETTING MARRIED TODAY!

Shayak:

It was a late winter weekend in 2014 in Newark, Delaware. Moumita and I had known each other and been off and on in touch for a while, but this was our first proper meeting. And during that first proper meeting, I let all my silliness in its full glory out in front of Moumita. Uh oh, what was I thinking?? I serenaded her with cheap Hindi songs and random recitations like the Atal Bihari Vajpayee speech and other prank calls, all in public while walking the streets of Newark and DC. And yet… to my surprise, this girl actually enjoyed (or pretended to enjoy) my silliness. And that’s when I knew – I had found my soul mate 🙂

I only partially joke about the above – one of the reasons I fell for Moumita is her joy for life – I love her spontaneity, her infectious laughter and her constant quest to keep life interesting. And so, from that late winter weekend the Shayak & Moumita story began. Over the last year and a half, there have been countless flights back and forth between Chicago and Delaware/New Jersey. We’ve classed it up at an “After Dark” event at the Art Institute in Chicago; partied the night away in Atlantic City; chilled with friends and family in the Bay Area; driven a U-Haul for 1.5 hours from Delaware to New Jersey and back; spent many hours working in cute cafés in Princeton, Philadelphia and New York; cooked nice dinners for each other; spent entire days shopping; and partied it up in Vegas. And now as I prepare my move to New York, I look forward to experiencing all aspects of life with Moumita and leaving the constant flying back and forth behind.

Moumita:

Shayak – he is almost everything I needed in my life partner and more. He is smart, intelligent, fun loving, silly and handsome. More importantly he made me realize that there are many qualities I didn’t even know I wanted in my life partner until I met Shayak! I now know what true companionship and sharing a life with someone means. I love how we can spend hours together working and being productive, how we can spend many evenings talking tech stuff or philosophical stuff. I love how we can together go crazy and have fun, I love how I can look upto him for being organized, value time, plan ahead and be calm. He helps me handle stress, sort out things when I am in a mess; he behaves silly and makes me laugh, he makes me feel special, he always comes up with ways to make my life easier and fun and he derives joy from the simple things in life.  His way of living makes life easier for me.

He says I have a lot of “joie de vivre” (joy for life in French) but honestly, Shayak, your positivity, light heartedness, honesty and genuineness helps me remain joyful and happy. And I must say I am a lucky, lucky girl 🙂

2. Priyanka & Kuldeep

Kuldeep & Priyanka
Kuldeep & Priyanka

Kuldeep:

I grew up in Aurangabad and I had always been quite a simple and studious boy. But as soon as I joined college, I won the title of Mr. Fresher and suddenly, a lot of female attention started coming my way. Yes, I used to be flattered but somehow I never let any of it distract me from my studies. But then I met this girl, she was my junior, and something changed inside me. I was still studying and focussing on getting good marks et al, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about her. But I could never really get myself to go and talk to her. Then one fine day, she walked up to me and asked for some notes. That was probably one of the happiest days of my life. We started talking frequently and I even told my mom about her. But I was still not sure about the future of this bond as I was moving to Mumbai for my MBA. However, I just couldn’t bear the thought of living a life that didn’t include her. So I proposed! We were in a long distance relationship for SEVEN LONG YEARS. We met twice a year. It sucked and was very painful. But we got through it together somehow. As they say, true love triumphs in the end. It is our first wedding anniversary today and I’m flying to Aurangabad to surprise her as she fractured her leg while visiting her family there. And I can’t not be with her on this day.

3. Neha & Pankaj

Pankaj & Neha
Pankaj & Neha

So the story begins when apna desi boy Pankaj goes to Amreeka for work. He had no idea what life had in store for him. Though he was a HUGE Bollywood fan, he somehow never quite believed in love at first sight. But then it happened…

Pankaj:

It was just another day in August 2012 when I bumped into Neha at one of my regular hangout joints, a Bollywood dance company in San Francisco, California. When I saw her, I thought she was very, very cute and beautiful and I was rather smitten. So I approached her sweetly, trying not to show my excitement, as I didn’t want to freak her out. It was a very brief conversation, but I ran home and added her on Facebook. We started chatting the next day and I asked her out for coffee, but the bindaas girl that she is, she suggested we should go for dinner (I was doing cartwheels in my head)! At the time, I did not know how amazing she was and hence, I had assumed that our dinner would last a couple of hours. However, we ended up talking for close to 7 hours straight.  The sparks had already started flying. There were violins playing in the background and suddenly everything was moving in ultra slo-mo. Despite spending most of her life in the US, Neha was as Indian at heart, just like I am. From sharing undying love for Bollywood to going crazy over paani puri and bhel puri – we had too much in common and I truly believe that we are a match made in heaven.

4. Poorna & Arjun

Poorna & Arjun
Poorna & Arjun

Poorna:

It was the night of 31st December in 2009! I was 17 back then; had to lie to my parents to get out for parties! I was with a group of friends at one of the biggest parties in town and there were over 3000 people there. Unfortunately, I happened to get separated suddenly and was left with just two guys, who were quite drunk. One of them happened to pass out soon after that. I was very naive back then and didn’t know what alcohol could do to your system! So anyway, I was so scared and had no idea what to do. I was panicking and the other guy was of absolutely no help. I felt so lost and helpless at that moment. Then suddenly someone tapped me on my shoulder – and I turned around to find this really good looking guy asking me if I needed help. I was very apprehensive of taking help from him, but I really had no other option. He turned out to be my knight in shining armour that day and for the rest of my life! We later realised that he was my senior in college, but we had never seen each other before that night. A Delhi guy and a Mumbai girl, we were complete opposites and two completely crazy people! It wasn’t easy but where there’s love there’s a way. So we found our way. We were dying to be in the same city for so many years, we were longing to be together like other normal couples, but destiny made us go through a long distance for 4 long years (for the good now that I think about it) and eventually brought us together forever on 22 November 2015. #PoornArjun till eternity and beyond! <3

5. Mita & Mohit

Mohit & Mita
Mohit & Mita

Mita:

Our story is quite simple. We met during our MBA in college. I was waiting for someone at the corridor and that’s when Mohit saw me for the first time. He says I had swept him off his feet right there. Naturally, he was very happy to find out that I was in his class. But I was oblivious to his feelings and therefore didn’t respond when he randomly smiled at me once. So he decided to become the Class Representative as that would give him ample of reasons to strike a conversation with me. His idea worked! We started talking and got really close. Then he asked me out in March 2014. I took my time and finally agreed in August 2014 as by then, I had realised that I was crazy about him too. We are tying the knot on 25th December this year and I cannot contain my excitement!

God bless these lovebirds! <3 If you wish to share your love story with us too, feel free to comment below. 🙂