This life-long love story started back on August 6, 2007 in boarding school, India.
“ I remember everything about that day as though it just happened. She was wearing a blue shirt and jogger pants, and was yelling at me about forgetting the speakers for dance practice. I’m sure I tuned out the yelling because there was this extremely cute girl talking to me (big deal for us nerds) and I just couldn’t take my eyes off of her.
Two years passed by and before I knew it, I was graduating. She still had a year left in school but planned to go back to the US whereas I’d stay back in India. I knew I had to tell her about how I felt in a special way before I left school. On my last day, just a few hours before my flight, I asked her to meet me. Mustering up every ounce of courage I could find, I sang ‘Fall for You’ by Secondhand Serenade to her and told her that I liked her! I was so nervous that I blacked out and forgot some of the words. I don’t remember her exact response, but she hugged me tightly and we said our goodbyes, “ Dev said.
Mridul: “A couple months later, I graduated and went back to Pennsylvania for college. We survived a year of long distance in India and three and a half years of India/USA long distance until he joined me in the USA. At which point, we decided to take a break so that we could focus on growing ourselves individually. That didn’t last very long.. we were only able to stay away from each other for about 3 months. Our seven year relationship has almost always been long distance, but when we’re together, it’s like we were never apart. We started this journey off as best friends, and that’s probably why we were able to survive the distance. One year of inter-state in India, three and a half years of inter-continental, one and half years of Pennsylvania to Boston, and another year of New York to Boston has brought us to today. Long distance was hard, but it made us resilient, as individuals and as a couple. It’s been such a roller coaster to get here, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m lucky to have fallen in love with my best friend.”
So on August 12, 2016 Dev decided to make it official and ask Mridul to be his wife. And the moment was just perfect! The Perseid Meteor Shower was happening on the night of the 11th. It was decided!
“ I didn’t have much time to plan everything, but I knew this will happening today. So I contacted Vlad Leto and ask him to secretly photograph my picnic proposal. I also ask my friend to come by for moral support. So I thought of it as a picnic proposal, where we will be watching the meteors and I proposed after she makes a wish upon a star. But..
When we got to Brooklyn Bridge Park, there was a lot of cloud cover. We parked about a mile away and strolled through the park. It was a long walk, so she took off her painful heels. After a while, we finally reached the spot where the photographer and my friend were set up and waiting, but as soon as I reached into my bag to set up the picnic, it started raining! I started to take out an umbrella, but we were both soaked by then. Mridul, being the crazy girl she is, pulled me in and we started to dance in the rain. In that moment, while dancing with the New York skyline behind us, we were complete. So I got down on one knee, but she thought it was one of my fake proposals and told me to stop joking around. So I got up, switched my position, and tried again – this time with a box. She still didn’t believe me and asked me to stop teasing her. And that’s when I opened the box,’ said Dev
Mridul continued: “He slowly dropped to one knee, and I thought he was joking, so I said ‘Stop it! This is the most perfect evening. Don’t ruin it!’ For the last month, he’d made a habit of trolling me by getting on one knee for silly things like ‘Your shoelaces are untied’ or ‘Look, it’s a cool rock.’. So I thought he was just joking again, and started walking away. He laughed, pulled me in closer, and bent down on the other knee, “What if I proposed like this?”, got up, moved around me, and got down on his other knee and pulled out a box. I STILL thought he was joking, so I kept asking him, “Is this a joke? Are you kidding? Are you being serious?”. He ignored all my questions and said, “I’ve loved you from the very first time I saw you. I didn’t know it then, but it was love.” The rest is a bit blurry, but he asked me to marry me. I pulled him and hugged him while asking, “Are you sure? Is this for real? Is this really happening?” and he replied, “You haven’t answered me! Is that a yes?!” And I said “OF COURSE IT’S A YES!”
Dev continued: “For the first time, after asking over 30 times during the past 9 years, SHE SAID YES! I picked her up and swung her around in my excitement, and she told me that she had never seen a more beautiful ring in her life. We didn’t see a single star, I never took out the picnic blanket, and not a single thing went according to plan. But under the rain, against the magical skyline of New York, and with her in my arms, everything was just perfect.”
Our story:
It was a wonderful evening, warm and magical. Nothing went according to the plan and we were nervous that the proposal will be postponed due to the weather changes. It starts to rain heavily and we soaked wet event under the umbrella, the water was pouring from the cameras and we were ready to wrap it up, but then…
Mridul pulled Dev from the umbrella and they started to dance under the rain!! That was the most beautiful thing we have ever seen. They were like kids dancing and jumping on the water ponds. And then he proposed. We just “wowed” at how natural it all was, how pure and real were their happiness.
Congratulations Dev and Mridul on your proposal! Thank you for letting us to be a part of it.
