In a mad-rush to come to the US, get our Masters degree and make a living here, we decided to come to Syracuse and enjoy life as we prepped ourselves for the day we would become independent. Prior to making the trip, we did not know each other until we met at Costa Coffee in Mumbai one day, along with 30 other friends of ours. Little did we know, when we had that first awkward conversation that day, that we would be deciding to spend our whole lives together.

I decided she was a weirdo, and she knew I was one. Our friendship wasn't really at its peak, to say the least. But as we came to Syracuse, having almost adjacent houses on Columbus Drive, we soon got to know each other and become good friends. Having read enough about "friend-zone", I decided not to be in one, with a girl who was pretty, cultured and loving. She was the quiet one... is still the quite one. And I fell in love with her beautiful eyes, her charming smile and caring nature. One day after a house party, I simply decided it was time for me to tell her how I felt about her. I gave her a call, and 5 minutes later confessed my love for her. On a cold Syracuse night in the end of October, I got out of the party and walked back home talking to her for another hour. While I passed her house, I hoped for a clichéd girl-peaking-through-the-window-at-her-boyfriend moment. That never happened since she was all flustered and embarrassed, thinkin, "Who is this idiot? My brother lives with me. If he finds out, he's going to beat him up, and I'm going to be justifying to him and my parents that this was all a mistake. No! I don't think this will work. I don't even know if we should date."

Well, you know how that ended because I did not get beat up, nor were there awkward conversations.... Well, almost no awkward conversations. But back to the story.

After 4 months of pursuing her, and more than 2 years of dating, we decided to tell our parents that we wanted to tie the knot.

Special thanks to our families, and some very close friends for being a critical part of our lives, and will continue to be: Chaitanya, Ketan, Uday, Vishal, Neha D., Sam, Nikhil, Neha S.