Jab we met: 'My husband is God's gift to me'

As part of our Valentine's Day celebrations, we invited readers to write in telling us all about their love stories. Here, we publish a few more responses. First up we have Mumbaiite Bhavana Waigankar's experience:

I think God reserves the best for everyone and I the best gift He showered upon mewas bringing my husband Prashant into my life.

Things have never been the same since October 2001, when we first met by way of an arranged match. He was very shy then and would talk only once -- one or two lines -- in between my chatter. But what swept me off my feet were his passionate eyes that did the talking all the time. And even today, it's the same...and so is his sincerity...

I don't believe I could ever get a more understanding, calm jeevansathi than him, me being more short-tempered, very outspoken and he the opposite.

From the time we have known each other, our relation has just grown. We have seen many ups and downs in life, but have stood firmly by each other. We got married in February, 2002 and were blessed with a very sweet son in the year 2003. We three are almost inseperable; without my husband and child I am nothing and the same goes for them.

I still remember him popping out of the window of our house to see if I was on my way back from the office and then seeing me, rushing downstairs to get me. This was when we were newly married and to my surprise, after 8 years of marriage he still manages to do so.

I could have never asked for anything better and would like to thank God for blessing me with such a lovely Valentine. I would like to wish my husband a very happy Valentine's Day and to keep loving me all my life.

Life was never as beautiful as it is now and thats only because of my loving husband.

In the romantic spirit of Valentine's Day, share your special love story with us. Write in to us at getahead@rediff.co.in (subject line: 'Jab We Met'). You can also include a photograph of you and your partner and we'll publish the best entries right here on rediff.com

Check out all our Valentine's Day Specials!

Become a Fan of Valentine's Day. Click here!

'We were all set to bajau the shehnai!'

Here is reader Lata and Shashikiran Venkata's experience:

Here is our story...no family drama/ eloping sequences...just a simple arranged marriage sans any mirch masala.

Our parents had created our profiles on a wedding portal. That's when we saw each other's photographs, and to be honest, we despised each other seeing the pictures. Then there was this common friend of ours -- Sandhya -- through whom we got to know many things about one another.

After several exchanges of e-mails and phone calls (between our parents of course), finally we met on a Saturday evening (February 7, 2009) and had a long chat, trying to get to know each other in those 120 minutes! Yes, it was a long talk and even our parents got into an uncomfortable situation as they didn't have much to talk about except for discussing the weather in the different parts of India, their ancestors in Andhra and stuff like that before the both of us said 'Yes' -- but not to each other. That was our individual answer to our families on our way back home, as to whether we were interested in sharing the rest of our lives with each other.

Being from a Brahmin background, our respective approvals had to be conveyed to each other only on the next Wednesday courtesy the muhurat (auspicious time) decided to communicate the decision. Two days of absolute anxiety passed until Monday arrived and that's when Sandhya came into the picture and she communicated our thoughts to each other. Voila, we were flabbergasted, extremely happy and over the moon! We started talking over the phone although there was no formal word from our parents, courtesy the muhurat thingy. And of course, come Wednesday our families met again and we were all set to bajau the shehnai.

There's a lot more to our story. The most important point is we have found true friends in each other. We got married on the June 17 and both of us are the happiest -- we thank our parents and the Almighty for making us meet.

'It took me 6 years to muster up the guts to propose!'

Here is Pruthiraj Prasad Pradhan's story:

'Bhagwan ka den, der he, magar andher nahin.'

This is really true. Our story is similar.

I used to stare at this lovely girl in my intermediate, but did not have the guts to speak to her. It was not my fault, actually, as I came from a boys' boarding school, where we never ever spoke to a girl. But my eagle eye never stopped finding her in any corner of the college.

The two years of intermediate studies were about to finish and then came the boring part, ie examinations. One day I gathered all my confidence to speak to her, when there was a strike in the college. And where I wanted to say many things, I started talking randomly and forgot everything, only telling not to go inside the college as the strike was underway.

The chemical reaction started from her side. She spoke to a friend about me, saying there was this guy who stared at her. But her friend denied it, saying everyone knows this guy is down to earth and never able to look straight and talk to a girl even in the classroom.

As I had no telephone, mobile number or e-mail ID to be able to contact her, I followed her on my cycle to find out where she lived one day. But she made a fool of me by going to her friend's house. Then the exams started and she moved to a different college to appear for them -- there was no clue of when we would meet again.

1997: I spied her at a bus stop, where she was waiting one hot summer and when I saw her from a distance, I immediately turned my father's scooter in her direction. Still failing to propose to her, all I asked was where she was going. She replied in a sweet voice that she was just returning from a medical coaching centre. I felt disheartened, as she was going to be a doctor, and I was doing my graduation in the science stream. I left the place but we would meet again.

1999: At the university campus, where I had gone to see my graduation result (I passed with a second class, and was a little upset), she suddenly came running towards me and a smile lit up my face. Slowly, I slid my result sheet into my pocket. When she asked about my results, I said confidently, "Yeah, first class. Would u like to have a Thums Up?" She said she was not able to make the medical entrance and was continuing with her graduation.

Meanwhile, we were walking and crossing the NH5 highway, when a vehicle came past with a rush and I suddenly held her hand to cross the road. Even after we crossed, I was still holding her hand. As we were from a small town, we were afraid whether anyone would see us walking in this manner. But meanwhile, I had become confident of speaking with girls thanks to Bollywood, from where I picked up some words and learned what to say when. I said, "You look more charming then before." And by that time, we had gotten our home telephone installed and I gave her the number.

1999: It was Dussehra, the day of Durga Puja. I was sitting with my father and mother on the sofa, when the telephone rang. When I picked up, it was her. She asked what I was doig, but I spoke in a very grave voice, as my parents were beside me. I had received many calls from girls in their presence, but I never felt the same way. I was not comfortable speaking properly and I was not able to answer her question, "Do you want to say anything else?" Seeing my dad's face, I said no. That 'no' cost me a wait till 2002.

2002: It was the first day of my summer project. My friend and I were on our way to my house; we were supposed to catch a bus from another bus stop, but I convinced my friend to walked down a little ahead to the next one, which was near her house. I was praying to God for a miracle so that I could see her again. But she was not at the bus stop. Then a bus came and when I got inside I saw her glowing face -- she was sitting in the ladies' section.

Without saying anything to my friend, I started talking to her and she offered me the seat near her. The bus conductor asked for money twice, but my concentration was elsewhere. Finally I took out a Rs 100 note, which he refused to take and she paid for my ticket with change.

When she reminded me that my stop had come, I lied to her, saying that I had some work near where she was going, to the MCA entrance coaching centre. When I took her to a shop and offered her a Thums Up, she refused, saying she was getting late,. But I managed to convince her to stay awhile. When I asked whether she was attending classes again the next day, she said no. This 'no' was because of my 'no' back in 1999. And also to find out whether I was attracted to her or not, after so many years.

The same day, I made a call to her coaching centre pretending to be her guardian and found out her class timings and days. She did have classes the next day and I reached there one hour before she finished. By this time, my MBA classes had made me confident enough to propose to her.

Since then we are with each other for life, without any Bollywood villain. We got married in 2007, giving ourselves time to fulfill our career goals.

'We met in person after 2 years, but it was magical'

This is Mrittika Sengupta's account:

Our love -- mine and CK's -- has surpassed all barriers of space and time. We first got to know each other through some friends online, on Orkut. At that time both of us had taken the GRE and were preparing to come to the US. We would send each other an occasional scrap every now and then.

But things changed drastically after we reached here. He was in New York, I was in Chicago, we were both new in a different country and that helped us become very good friends. We started to chat, at first for a few minutes and then within a few months we were chatting from 10 pm till 4 am in the morning.

Then, after 3 months of chatting he told me one cold December evening that he thought we had crossed the boundary of being just friends. Although we had never met I felt the same way. However, the next year he had to go back to India permanently due to an emergency. All of my friends told me that was the end of our relationship, as long distance relations between people who have never met do not have a chance. CK and I were not ready to give up, as we were madly in love. My parents were dead against us, as they thought I was just wasting my time after a futile relationship.

The following December I went to India and met him for the first time at the airport. The funny thing was that it was absolutely magical but also so familiar. We never felt like we were meeting for the first time. We talked about everything under the sun, our comfort level was amazing. Three and a half magical years later we are still crazy about each other. We did not see each other for two years, but that never mattered.

We feel our relationship has strengthened over the years. We have overcome the distance between India and the US and the different time zones without a hitch. We speak on Skype everyday for at least an hour. He makes me feel on top of the world each and every moment of my life.

'I thought I was not lucky enough to get him'

And finally, we have Mysore-based Aruna Rani's story:

I'm so happy to be sharing my love story.

I have to go back to 1999 (10 years ago). The big day was November 20, when I first met my guy Suhas in front of my hostel. I came to known him through my friends. He was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans. Sitting on his Splendor motorbike, wearing goggles, the very first line he said was, "Hi. I am Suhas". I was in my first year of engineering (Mysore) and he was doing his PMD (Mysore was his hometown). Destiny had brought me all the way from Pondicherry (TN) to meet this lovely guy.

Our first meet was very nice. We both were nervous at the start and later got to know each other. After 2 hours of a long walk in a nearby park we bid farewell for the day. I felt a bit disturbed in my sleep that night, because he was the first guy with whom I had spent so much time in my life. The next day he met me with a friendship card, telling me he felt like giving it to me. I went into shock, but felt happy in my heart. Every evening we used to spend at least 1 hour together. During those times, I found his company good. I started to like his style, way of speaking, caring...I wanted to propose to him, but felt scared and didn't tell him.

One fine day his friends came and asked me how I felt about Suhas. I gave them positive comments about him. The next day Suhas came to me and asked me to suggest some ways to propose a girl. I felt so bad, tears started to fill my eyes. Thinking I was not lucky to get him, I suggested a few ways that I knew and with big disappointment in my heart, I went to my hostel crying.

The next day he called and told me that he wanted to meet me. When I went to meet him I had the surprise of my life. He proposed to me just the way I had told him the previous day. I felt like jumping and wanted to hug him, but I controlled myself. I felt so happy. That happiest and memorable day was December 15.

After waiting for 9 long years and facing so many difficult circumstances in our lives (convincing both the parents), we got married on March 13, 2009, with our parents' blessings.

I am very happy to celebrate this Valentine's Day with my husband who was and is my lover, friend and well-wisher. He is the one and only love of my life. Each day I thank God for making our love story a grand success.

More