Jab We Met: 'Gautam did not recognise me'

Here, reader Shilpi tells us how she fell in love with a guy whom she disliked at first.

I was 26 and my parents were after me to get married. I am a science graduate and my parents used to search boys for me like anything.

It was our family's tradition is to get kundlis matched before marriage, but to my despair, my kundli never found a match.

Finally it matched with a guy named Gautam (now my husband). The proposal for marriage came from a family friend.

The moment my father came to know that he was a software engineer who belonged to a simple family and was earning well he said Yes even before meeting him in person.

When I insisted my father, he asked my brother to go and meet him.

My brother described him saying, "He is OK type with a long nose and looked as if was sleeping"

My family went ahead and fixed our marriage with a gap of one year (as her sister was living abroad) even before we had met or talked to each other.

I started torturing my mother that if I did not get to see him I will not marry and will run away.

Then through the same family friend we requested for his photograph.

Since they didn't have any latest photograph of him, they gave us a photograph that was clicked some six-seven years ago where he was standing along with his brothers.

Initially everyone was confused who was the right guy and then when my brother recognised Gautam, I started crying.

He looked so horrible!

With long hair and a beard, I just didn't like him at all.

And God knows how this news reached his family. They also got very upset knowing that I cried after seeing his photograph.

Yet, there was no change in our marriage plans. Somehow, my sister who was studying at that time called Gautam and started getting friendly with him. 

Once I asked my sister to call him and ask him to meet us in a restaurant.

He said Yes but also requested my sister to keep me away.

He didn't want to meet me because he was aware that I had cried after seeing his photo.

Over the phone my sister agreed to his condition, but we left together for the restaurant.

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Share your special love story with us. Tell us where you first met your partner and how the two of you fell in love. 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

When we reached there, he looked different from what I had seen in the photograph. He looked taller.

He didn't recognise me and thought that I was a friend of my sister. He said Hi to both of us.

When I introduced myself, it was a moment to watch. He felt so shy and was amazed seeing me.

He spoke very little and my sister told me that I spoke a lot.

At the restaurant, he told my sister that he wanted to discuss something privately with her.

I jumped in saying that he should talk in my presence. I scolded him asking why he had sent such a bad photograph.

At the same time I was also pulling his leg.

In fact, his entire family is vegetarian while I occasionally ate non-vegetarian food.

When I asked him his views, he cutely replied that I could have non-vegetarian food whenever we ate out.

That day onwards we started calling and chatting with each other, making each other's day.

Now we are married and have a small kid who is just a copy of him.

Share your special love story with us. Tell us where you first met your partner and how the two of you fell in love. 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