Blessed are the ones who experience the magic of love, which binds humans together forever. However, finding true love is one of the most challenging pursuits, though there are many stories around us which have inspired us for ages. Just like the web series, Modern Love, which shows six nuanced love stories. We caught up with couples from across the country who hold adorable and heart-warming stories of their togetherness braving the chaos of the city.
Separated by chance, connected by fate
It was in 1999 when Vichitra Singh and Manila Singh first met at an art college nestled in the city of Jaipur. While Vichitra was a music student, Manila was learning sculpture and the two never had a romantic inclination toward each other. “She got married after we finished college,” recalls Vichitra, who met Manila again in early 2000 when she was diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. “Her father couldn’t stand cancer patients. He would fall sick, so I volunteered to accompany her to the hospital. It was the same time when she was going through a separation from her husband because he was abusive,” he says and adds that he proposed to Manila despite knowing her past and health conditions. “I am a Rajput and my parents have not accepted our marriage,” he says. “Our memories may not be so beautiful with hospitals in the entire chapter but we have immense respect for each other and there is a lot that we have to explore,” says 42-year-old Manila who is a school teacher.
The age-less love
We all have heard the stories of students falling in love with their teachers and they remain their life-long crush. But few get to spend life with their first crush. Jaipur-based Surbhi Tankha and Pulkit Pareek met at the workplace and fell in love. Surbhi was Pulkit’s training manager and seven years older than him. “A classroom! That's where it all began,” says Surbhi. She was on cloud nine when the man she loved went down on his knees and popped the question. “I love every bit of that café where he proposed to me. We travel a lot and Ranthambore is our go-to place,” she says. But life is not a bed of roses and the couple too has met with their share of problems in the eight years that they have been together.
“A relationship without challenges is hollow. Considering he is the only son of his parents and seven years younger than me has its own challenges but we've stuck to each other like glue,” she states. For Surbhi, it’s the best phase of her life, which she is spending with the man she loves. However, there was a time when she wasn’t ready for a relationship. A past, abusive relationship landed her in the ICU and scared her life. “But God had other plans and I met Pulkit. It took two years for me to say yes but he never gave up convincing me.”
Love is in the air
Bhopal-based former Armed Forces officer, Shiv Shankar Pawar, and Sarita Sharma’s love story is no less than a classic Bollywood movie. Shiv, was a tenant at Sarita’s house in 1999 when she was a school-going girl. He was shocked to hear a proposal from a girl much younger than him. Shiv was waiting to join the Indian Army and declined Sarita saying she was too young to think about loving someone. “But we had something between us, for we would have non-verbal communication through eyes,” muses the HR head at an IT firm. Shiv had a knee injury when he was in the Army and was bed-ridden for two years. “She stood by me. I resigned from the Army and went to Bengaluru for MBA. One day I got a call from her. She was crying and said she loves me and can’t live without me,” he recalls. “I boarded the first train I got for Delhi and then Bhopal without a ticket. It took me about 24 hours to reach. I announced that I wanted to marry Sarita but no one agreed. We called off her engagement and got married in 2008,” Shiv reminisces. The two were disowned by their families and had to move to Bengaluru, where they stayed in a small rented house with Rs 3,500 pension money. “My parents still have not accepted us. But Sarita’s parents have and we are living happily with two kids,” says Shiv. Sarita is an advocate now. “I would have never imagined that I will get married to the girl I had selected the groom for!” Shiv concludes.
Bonding over ice-cream
Remember Poo (Kareena Kapoor Khan) from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and her first reaction, ‘Ye kaun hai jisne dobara mudke Poo ko nahi dekha? ‘, when Hrithik Roshan looks past her at a university in London? This is exactly what Monica Acharya thought when her now-husband, Harsha, didn’t reciprocate her smile and moved on.
The two first met in college in Bengaluru and Harsha being an introvert never had female friends. “I still taunt him for that,” says Monica, who proposed to the love of her life on his birthday in 2018 but didn’t hear that ‘yes’ from him for a week. “I was anxious and it was not a good feeling,” says Monica. Although it was yes from both ends the parents, like in numerous other love stories, played a memorable (pun intended) part in their relationship.
“My mother created a ruckus. It took us two years to convince my parents. They had problems with our castes as well. However, finally, they agreed,” she recalls. Of the time they spent together, Monica fondly recalls their college days — the streets, ice cream parlours, affordable food joints, coffee shots, and little fights.
