Manish & Ritu

Our parents introduced us.

That's how our story started.

We met because our families thought we might be a good match.

At first, everything was quite formal.

We knew very little about each other.

Our first few meetings were mostly about family, education, work and future plans.

But after a while, the conversations became more relaxed.

We started talking about things that had nothing to do with marriage.

Movies.

Food.

Travel.

Childhood memories.

Friends.

Things we liked.

Things we absolutely didn't like.

We slowly became comfortable.

One thing we appreciated was that our families never forced us to make a quick decision.

They gave us time.

That time was important.

It allowed us to make our own choice.

Eventually, we said yes.

The wedding was everything you would expect from a big Indian family wedding—lots of people, lots of food, too many photographs and a lot of emotions.

But our favourite part came afterward.

Once all the celebrations were over, it was just the two of us trying to figure out our new life.

We had different habits.

Different routines.

Different ways of doing things.

There were definitely adjustments.

But we also discovered that we enjoyed building things together.

Our first home.

Our first trip.

Our first festival together.

Our first big family celebration.

Every small milestone became a memory.

Today, when people call ours an arranged marriage, we agree.

Our families introduced us.

But the relationship we have today is something we built ourselves.

That is probably our favourite part of the story.

— Manish & Ritu