We first crossed paths in July 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic. Karan was in the middle of his graduate studies and found himself “stuck” in Texas for the summer—traveling home to India wasn’t an option. Emily had just moved to Texas a month earlier, both trying to figure out how to make the most of an unusual time. Enter our mutual friend, Josie, the one we credit for starting this love story. Josie, Karan’s friend and Emily’s new coworker, suggested that Emily join for a drive-in movie night. Little did she know, she’d become the third wheel to what would be the start of something special. While watching DeadPool, Emily and Karan hit it off immediately since Karan was supplying wine and Emily brought her own to-go margarita.

The next hang out was soon after since Emily wouldn’t stop talking about her cute dog, Mika during the movie. The two grabbed coffee at Karan’s favorite spot, Summer Moon, and headed to a local dog park. The two sat in the shade (sweating their asses off since it was July in Texas) for 4 hours talking and learning so much about each other. All while Mika busied herself chasing a squirrel up a tree. She didn’t seem to notice the new guy making googly eyes at her mom!

As the fall semester rolled in, we kept the momentum going—more coffee dates, dog park trips, hammocking, and even dominating at spikeball. We formed a close-knit friend group with his roommates and Josie’s roommates, soon dubbed the Crab Rangoon Gang. Covid was truly a wingman in this love story since we were keeping social circles tight. Most weekends our group was busy drinking, playing games, and food was always involved.

After a semester of flirting and fun, we made it official on February 28, 2021. Things felt so natural that when Emily asked if she could leave a toothbrush at Karan’s place, she and Mika never really left.

From Feb-July, the two continued to explore Texas, meet each others friends and family, and falling deeper in love.

But life wasn’t always smooth sailing. We endured nine months of long distance after Karan landed a great job in Kansas City while Emily finished her last year of grad school. There were plenty of tearful goodbyes, but we managed to visit each other often and made it through stronger than ever.

Once Emily completed grad school, she moved to Kansas City, and for the first time, we got to live together without roommates. It didn’t take long for us to realize we’d found the person we wanted to spend forever with.

Fast forward to December 2022, Emily traveled to India to meet Karan’s family and friends. While the culture shock was real (the population of her small hometown was about the same as Karan’s parents’ apartment complex!), the warmth and love from everyone made it a truly unforgettable experience.

Then came December 27th, Karan mastered the biggest scheme of his life, but it wasn’t without immense help of friends and family. He secretly arranged a day out, starting with getting Emily’s nails done—perfectly matched to a certain ring she didn’t know she’d soon receive. After some souvenir shopping, they had dinner and drinks at one of his favorite spots in Bangalore, Big Brewsky. The place had a koi pond, so he was able to keep Emily distracted when he had to check his phone for updates on the decoration of his parents terrace.

Once they made it back to his parents place. He called her name to the terrace, and to her surprise, he was leading her through a candle lit path with hibiscus flowers on the floor, and their song playing in the background. He got down on one knee and asked to spend forever with her. Of course, she said yes!