Our Story

Follow our path from a digital introduction and an unexpected first-date proposal to the wedding we are planning today - Narrated by the groom.

01

The First Date

After a month of talking on Hinge, I decided the logical next step was obviously to invite Anjali on a getaway for my birthday. Small problem: we had never actually met. Anjali was understandably a little sceptical about going away with a complete stranger, so she suggested we try a proper first date first.

So, she came down from Trivandrum to Chennai, and we met at a resto-bar. She spent the first few minutes quietly staring at me, presumably conducting a thorough background check, while I dealt with the nerves by talking absolute nonsense. Eventually, the awkwardness wore off, and we actually started enjoying ourselves, and things seemed promising enough.

Then, completely out of nowhere, a photographer at the resto-bar asked if he could take our picture for their social media because apparently we looked like a couple before we even knew what we were. And just like that, we had our first official couple photo.

A few days later, Anjali said yes to the birthday trip. So technically, the first date worked. Either that, or she had simply decided it was too late to escape.

02

Meeting the Friends

After the birthday trip, I decided it was probably time to make things official. So, while walking down the road, I asked Anjali to be my girlfriend — and got an immediate, very confident no. Apparently, we hadn't spent enough time getting to know each other yet. Fair enough.

Slightly awkward, but fair enough.

Two or three days later, she called back and changed her mind. So, we were officially a thing. Progress.

Then came Anjali's birthday, which meant a resort in ECR, a swimming pool, a bunch of her friends, and me meeting all of them for the first time. Most of them were considerably younger, which meant I arrived looking less like the boyfriend and more like someone's uncle who had accidentally been invited to the party.

Thankfully, a few drinks, a lot of pool time, and some actual conversation later, the age gap stopped mattering. By the end of the night, I had somehow been accepted into the group — uncle status successfully revoked.

03

Meeting the Family

By this point, things were starting to feel a little more serious. I was very close to my third sister and, as usual, had been telling her pretty much everything that was happening in my life — so naturally, Anjali eventually became part of those conversations too.

A few days later, it was time for the official introduction. We planned a lunch at my sister's place so Anjali could meet her and her husband and get a little glimpse into the family she was potentially signing up for.

What started as a simple lunch turned into a lovely afternoon of food, conversation and getting to know each other. By the time we left, everyone seemed to be getting along rather well — which, frankly, was a pretty encouraging sign.

04

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was probably one of those days where things just clicked. I had planned a full day — a lovely South Indian lunch, a little gift, some perfume-making, and an evening of live music, drinks and dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. Nothing too ambitious. Okay, maybe slightly ambitious.

Lunch was especially memorable. We went to this wonderful South Indian place where the curries and gravies came in tiny copper buckets hanging from a stand that looked like a little tree. So, essentially, we were picking our lunch off a curry tree. Anjali, being a big fan of South Indian food, was very happy with this arrangement.

After lunch, we made our own perfume, which meant she got to create a scent she actually liked instead of pretending to like whatever I had picked. We then headed home, got dressed up and went out for live music, drinks and dinner at Hard Rock Cafe.

It was one of those rare days where everything just seemed to fall into place. We had fun, we were completely comfortable around each other, and somewhere between the curry tree and the live music, this started feeling like something real.

05

One Year In & Our First Onam

Our first anniversary and our first Onam together happened just a week apart, so we decided to make the most of both.

For our anniversary, we took a leisurely ride down ECR, followed by cocktails, good food and a lovely dinner by the sea. It wasn't a particularly grand evening — just the two of us, a beautiful setting, lots of conversation and that comfortable feeling of knowing you actually enjoy spending time together. I also got her a dress, which she really liked. We decided that this would become a tradition: the same dress every anniversary, worn on the anniversary itself. Let's see how long we keep that going.

A week later came our first Onam together. We headed out for a proper sadhya with Harshu, one of Anjali's best friends and, as it turns out, future maid of honour. I arrived in jeans and a shirt and was expected to transform into a respectable Malayali gentleman somewhere along the way. The problem? The mundu situation.

There wasn't enough room in the restroom to change properly, so I did what any sensible person would do — wrapped the mundu over my jeans, folded the jeans up and called it a day. We stepped outside for some pictures, and after approximately five minutes of Chennai heat, the mundu was deemed unnecessary. It came off in the middle of the street, much to the confusion of several innocent bystanders.

Romance, tradition, good food and a mild public scandal. Not a bad way to celebrate our first year together.

06

Birthday Season

October brought my birthday, and Anjali kept things simple and intimate. She turned her place into a cozy little candlelight setup, ordered some really good food, got a cake, and made an evening out of just the two of us. We spent hours talking about all sorts of things — including the kind of personal conversations you only really have when you're completely comfortable with someone. It was quiet, warm and very much us.

Then December rolled around, which meant it was Anjali's turn. I planned a little getaway to Bangalore, and for the next few days we did what any couple on holiday should do: ate, drank, dressed up, took far too many pictures, and generally avoided behaving like responsible adults.

There was, of course, a birthday cake. The only problem was that the room didn't have a suitable table, so I improvised with a bedside drawer and a towel. Then came the bouquet. Except the first bouquet looked... questionable. Anjali's face said it all, but she politely insisted she loved it anyway. I let her suffer for a few seconds before revealing that the sad-looking flowers were actually just for their petals — which I scattered around the cake to make the whole setup look surprisingly good.

The actual bouquet came out next, and thankfully, it was beautiful. Anjali loved it so much she carried it around for the rest of the night. We went out for dinner and drinks, explored Bangalore, and generally had a brilliant few days together.

And then there was the croissant. Anjali discovered a freshly baked croissant with peach and whipped cream and fell completely in love with it.

It was the first time I was jealous of a pastry.

07

Our First Christmas

That Christmas, my family happened to be out of town, which obviously meant there was only one sensible thing to do: turn my house into a Christmas party venue.

We went all in — red and white outfits, Christmas headbands, ornaments everywhere, candles all over the house, little pastries, drinks and enough festive décor to make the place look like Santa had temporarily moved in. Our friends came over for lunch and, somehow, stayed all the way through dinner.

There was drinking, plenty of food, and a series of completely unnecessary indoor games. Balloon balancing, beer pong, Twister — and, naturally, I won pretty much everything. Harshu provided one of the evening's highlights when she attempted to balance a balloon on her head and slowly toppled over in what can only be described as cinematic slow motion.

By the evening, everyone was sufficiently fed, (de)hydrated and competitive, so we capped things off with a game of poker before finally calling it a night.

Our first Christmas party as a couple: festive, chaotic, slightly competitive and exactly the kind of evening we wanted.

08

Our Second Valentine's Day

For our second Valentine's Day, we decided to add a little rhythm to the relationship. I had signed us up for a salsa workshop, which was slightly awkward to begin with — turns out dancing together is a lot harder when you're both trying to figure out which foot goes where.

But we eventually found our groove, stopped worrying about looking ridiculous, and actually had a great time. We dressed up, danced with the group, laughed a lot and, naturally, took approximately a million pictures.

Then came the real highlight of the day: pork barbecue. We found a local restaurant serving some of the best pork we've ever had, and proceeded to make a very strong case for food being an important part of a healthy relationship.

A little dancing, a lot of food, plenty of pictures, and another Valentine's Day in the books.

09

Making It Official

It wasn't all smooth sailing. Somewhere between the dates, dinners and increasingly elaborate celebrations, there were also plenty of disagreements, arguments and difficult conversations — including some pretty intense family discussions about us and the wedding. There were moments when things felt anything but easy.

But we stuck it out. Eventually, things settled down, our families came around, and suddenly we weren't just talking about us anymore. We were actually planning a wedding.

And apparently, Anjali had decided that wedding planning should begin with a little emotional blackmail.

She put together beautiful personalised hampers for her bridesmaids and maid of honour, complete with the all-important question: “Will you be my bridesmaid?” or “Will you be my maid of honour?” For my sisters, it was “Will you be my sister-in-law?” and for my mom, “Will you be my mother-in-law?”

First came her friends. There were screams, hugs, tears, jumping, laughter and generally very little composure. Then came my family, who were under the impression that it was just a nice lunch. They had absolutely no idea what was coming.

The hampers came out, the questions were revealed, and suddenly there were more tears, more hugs and a lot of very happy people. By evening, everyone was sitting around talking about wedding plans, guest lists and all the details we'd already been obsessing over.

It was messy, emotional, loud and ridiculously happy.

For the first time, it really felt like everyone was in this together.

10

And Here We Are

And somehow, after all of that, here we are.

The last few months have been a blur of travels, drives, phone calls, spreadsheets, family discussions, last-minute decisions and trips between Chennai and Kerala. It hasn't exactly been smooth sailing, and there have definitely been moments where we've wondered what we got ourselves into.

But somewhere along the way, everything started falling into place. The plans came together, our families came together, and the people we love started becoming part of this crazy little thing we've been building together.

Now, all that's left is to celebrate.

We're incredibly excited for whatever comes next — and even more excited that all of you are going to be there to witness it with us.

So, after everything we've been through, this is where our next chapter begins.