This happened 3 years ago, on New Year’s Eve. I was trying to plan a night out with my friends and we weren’t reaching a decision on where to go because all the places were either too expensive or fully booked for the night. We were still in college at the time, so we couldn’t really afford the very expensive ones. Finally, after hours of research, we found a newly opened club that was very close to our college, and was quite reasonable too. The free alcohol there was the icing on the cake.
We were half way through the evening, when we saw a really cute guy sitting alone at that club, sipping on his beer. His friend had gone to get himself a drink. We jumped at the opportunity and started “ragging” him, but he took it in the right spirit and managed to dodge all our attempts. Eventually, we got bored of bugging him, and went off to the dance floor. I was dancing with my friends when this cute guy came to me and asked me if I wanted to dance with him. I felt that there was no harm in that, so we danced together for a while. My friends didn’t quite like that and pulled me away from him, and I was dancing with my friends once again.
Then, just 5 minutes before midnight, he came to me, looked me straight in the eye and asked if I wanted to spend the countdown to the new year with him. He was superbly intimidating, and I couldn’t say anything but give a nod of approval. As we chatted, we discovered that we were both from the same place, same cultural background, same family type and had similar names. Then, it struck 12, we wished each other, and ended up talking for hours.
After the connect we made, we decided to go for an after party together where I met my friends from back home, who happened to be his friends too. This turned out to be a fun night, and the next day, we said goodbye and forgot to exchange numbers. I thought it as an amazing experience with an almost stranger and decided to forget about it.
After a couple of days, I saw him again at a cafe near my college. This time, we exchanged numbers. After this, we started meeting often and became friends. I told him I was going abroad for my masters and he told me that his parents were looking for a match for him and that he might get hitched soon. We started hanging out everyday from then on, and he would share with me pictures of girls his parents wanted him to marry. To be honest, it would bother me, but in my mind, I knew both of us wanted different things. His parents were in a hurry to get him married and I wanted to do my masters. So, I never said a word to him about this.
Once, he called me up at night and told me that his parents had arranged for a meeting with a girl. He said that they had really liked the girl, and that he might be getting married to her soon. This hit me quite hard. I couldn’t sleep all night after speaking with him. This was when I texted him saying, ‘Are you really going to break my heart?’ The next morning, he called me and said that he had postponed the meeting. He followed that up with, ‘Do you love me? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?’ To this, I replied, ‘I don’t know if it’s love. Just don’t get engaged.’
I dropped my plans of going overseas and decided on studying in India. But after this, it got a bit awkward between us. We started talking less and the topic of being together never came up. Then, I got into college in another city. I wanted to meet him the night before I was to leave to understand where we both were headed in the relationship (or whatever that was). I believed that long distance wouldn’t work for the both of us and that we should just remain friends. Once we met, I realized he didn’t want the same thing. He didn’t say he loved me, and instead, asked me to marry him!
It was a surprise, and such a pleasant one at that. Of course, I said yes. He kept convincing his parents to give him time till I was ready for marriage, and that meant some 2-2.5 years. Sure, it wasn’t a smooth ride, given all the family drama, but we survived. Ours was not love at first sight, but there was definitely a pull that was really, really strong. And today, three years on, we are engaged, and soon to be married.
Images: Shutterstock
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