Karan & Ananya

Our families liked each other's profiles before we even met.

That sounds very arranged-marriage-like, and it was.

But neither of us wanted to say yes simply because our families were happy.

So we took our time.

We met several times.

We spoke about our careers, where we wanted to live, our parents, finances and what we expected after marriage.

Some conversations were easy.

Some were uncomfortable.

But we think those uncomfortable conversations helped us the most.

Ananya was very clear that she wanted to continue working after marriage.

Karan was equally clear that he wanted to remain close to his parents.

Both things were important.

Instead of assuming that everything would work out automatically, we discussed how we could make it work.

Eventually, we realised that we didn't need to agree on every single thing.

We just needed to respect what was important to each other.

Our families also took time to understand our expectations.

Once everyone was comfortable, we decided to get married.

Our wedding was a big family celebration, but what we remember most is the quiet time we got together after everything was over.

Suddenly, all the planning, meetings and discussions were finished.

We were married.

And then the actual work began.

We had to create a life together.

We had to learn each other's routines.

We had to divide responsibilities.

We had to understand each other's families.

We had to learn when to compromise and when to stand our ground.

It has been almost two years now.

We still don't agree on everything.

But we have become much better at understanding where the other person is coming from.

For us, that's what marriage has been about.

Not finding someone exactly like us.

Finding someone with whom we can build a life despite our differences.

— Karan & Ananya