Every love story has a catalyst, and in this case, there are three: Puja’s Dad (Go Papa Puj!), Kojain Newsletter, and Facebook. During the summer of 2017, Puja’s dad decided to submit a “brag post” of her accomplishments to the Kojain newsletter for the Kutchi Jain community in the US. Puja found out AFTER it was published and was thoroughly embarrassed, but her dad assured her it would help grow her “professional network” and was not a “matrimonial post" and no contact info was listed - he just wanted her existence to be known (lol eyeroll). It was soon forgotten about and never mentioned again in their home.

Fast forward six months (January 2018) and Maulin is now skimming through old Kojain newsletters to prepare for his move from Oklahoma to Texas. He came across a picture of a girl and fell in love with her smile. So much so that he couldn’t stop thinking about her and decided to search for her on Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. They had no mutual friends or connections. Nonetheless, Maulin had the intuition and confidence (classic Leo) to send her a Facebook friend request. Puja hesitated for a couple of days because the request was from a stranger, but finally accepted due to curiosity about his Kutchi last name and how rare it is to meet other Kutchi people.

Within less than two minutes of Puja accepting the friend request, Maulin sent her a Facebook message. On that very first day, they messaged for two hours and face-timed for four hours. They chose to waste no time and a week later Maulin decided to take the earliest flight available to visit Puja...for five days (supposedly that was the only remaining flight option). Yes, their first date carried on over a period of five days. It was quickly evident to both of them that they shared a strong compatibility and had similar values and outlook on life. The journey of Puja and Maulin doing life together had officially begun.

Puja and Maulin were all set to celebrate their one year anniversary with a list of things to do around Philadelphia for the day (little did she know, he had a different itinerary in mind). The first stop was Longwood Gardens. There was a light snowfall, so Puja tried to convince Maulin to skip it, but he insisted that the gardens would be even prettier in the snow and there were indoor attractions. While walking around in the conservatory, she saw a bench with a book on it. The photo book was a rendition of the first movie they watched together, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, with the dialogues customized to their love story. He got down on one knee, and said a couple of lines from the movie. She completely blanked out due to excitement and doesn't even remember what he said. Just as she was saying yes, she saw a photographer and both their families pop up out of nowhere! It was shocking and unexpected since most of them had flown in from different cities. Later that evening, Maulin had planned a Bollywood themed engagement party to celebrate. It was an absolutely amazing day!