About seven months ago, I received an email invitation for a college reunion taking place near where I work. I called a family friend of mine, Kritika, who had attended the same college and been my senior, and asked her if she wanted to come along. We agreed to have dinner after and catch up, but little did I know she had other ideas in her head!
I left work and went over to her house to pick her up for the reunion. We chatted on the way and she mentioned that a friend of hers would be joining us for dinner later. I said, “Yes, sure, why not!” But things only changed when we got to dinner.
Kritika’s friend Kabir, an incredibly good looking and cute guy was the one joining us for dinner. My not so naive friend had two “bathroom emergencies” and a phone call within the first ten minutes of dinner. The more she disappeared from the table, leaving us alone to engage in small talk, the more I realised I had been set up for a blind date. Kabir hadn’t realised anything, or so he (still) claims! He wasn’t the shy sorts so we hit it off pretty well. I am not a big extrovert but an hour into dinner, and I had realised there was something about this guy that brought out the best in me. I was so comfortable talking to an absolute stranger.
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Kritika ensured that he dropped me home while she jumped in an Uber heading towards the other direction. I accepted his company as we were going in the same direction. We got chatting and exchanged numbers. I remember racing to my room that evening and calling Kritika, demanding details. She said he was a friend of friend, a lawyer and that they had actually met on a blind date years ago but didn’t hit it off romantically, at all. When he had moved to Bombay about a year ago, they reconnected. He had called her, wanting to meet with some friends on the same day that I asked her to go to the reunion – which is how she got the idea to introduce us! She convinced me to meet him again, and so I did… A few times over!
Coffee dates turned into dinner dates. We enjoyed similar things – Kritika had clearly given this some thought! It was late during the summer, after we had gone to see a band play with some of his friends, that he called me his girlfriend for the first time. It was really perfect because he didn’t ask me out in any outwardly cheesy way. He just said, “My friends said they really liked my girlfriend… Is that okay? Can I call you my girlfriend?” Of course, I obliged!
A couple weeks later, admittedly with some courage inside me, I decided that it was time for Kabir to meet my parents! We had been out for drinks midweek, post work, when my mum had called asking about dinner plans. “I’ll be home in half an hour… Can I bring someone?” She said I could and so Kabir came over for dinner. We stopped on the way to get flowers and wine for my parents – Kabir’s suggestion. It went great; there was something surreal about how familiar it seemed. As though the empty seat across the dining table had always been there only to be filled by him.
The most refreshing quality that drew me towards Kabir was his lack of bullshit. My previous boyfriends either had a problem with my career or had a problem committing to the relationship. Kabir in fact, helped me scale up my career, and even introduced me to his friends who could help me in this. And he’d told me very clearly that he loves me. I love him too, dearly!
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I have met his family as well. His sisters are the cutest, both older to him and pamper him to the hilt. And he says they like their baby brother’s choice and I couldn’t be happier to hear that! His parents were really lovely too, they’re older than mine and slightly more conservative but it was clear that they were making efforts to get to know me – which warmed my heart plenty!
It’s only been seven months but it feels like a lifetime together. We’re still going strong, and have no plans to change how things are shaping. Marriage is on the cards too.
* Names changed to protect privacy
Images: Shutterstock
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