Himanshii & Raushan from a Coffee Date to Soulmates

Himanshii & Raushan, from a Coffee Date to Soulmates

They met In a typical arranged marriage set up, in a meeting arranged for them by their parents in Cafe Coffee Day. And just like its tagline, “a lot did happen over a coffee”. from that day itself they knew in their hearts that it’s a Yes. While Raushan took almost a year to say Yes to this ‘rishta’, Himanshii was taking baby steps too (read that, playing hard to get, lol).

While Groom being a simple and grounded bureaucrat, he doesn’t know even today that the sherwani he wore was a designer one (@shyamalbhumika Summer Couture 2021) The Advocate Bride whereas, was a total enthu cutlet who decided to be at her creative best for her wedding. dhol nagade, mehenga lehenga, fancy photo shoots at some kickass locations, she wanted it all.

But destiny had other plans. Just when they were having a fairy tale courtship and the cards were distributed, ie, just a month ahead of the D-Day, the country was hit by the second wave of COVID-19, followed by the ever extending lockdowns and curfews. The couple took the call of pushing the date further and cutting down the number of functions and guests.

It was always a wedding with a small guest list, BUT with the whole shabang.

The bride’s outfits were stuck in Delhi (where She did all her shopping from), none of her best friends could turn up, her wedding jewelleries got stolen/lost in transit and what not, she was all by herself in this alone. While Raushan was okay with all these changes, Himanshii was having a hard time dealing with it. Juggling between her 10 to 5 job, household chores and the wedding preparations, she would often have an emotional breakdown.

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Marrying their daughter off is a solemn and a huge ass responsibility for Indian parents. So she decided to plan and manage the wedding herself and what a perfection she did that with!! She was behind everything. The decorations, the photographers, the mehndiwala, salon appointments, MUAs, her trousseau, from re-designing the invites to re-inviting the guests to deciding the looks of herself, her parents, her Dulha even . EVERYTHING. (And all of this amid a raging pandemic). So much so that she was micromanaging things even from her mandap, even during her bridal entry. She was the bride and she was her bridesmaid. One advice that she would want to give to the future brides is, DELEGATE. “For the love of god, please sit and discuss your plans with your family and friends and assign them the tasks. I’d lost 5kgs in less than a month in this helter skelter, because on some days I would forget to eat.” She says.

“But you know when I was finally walking down the aisle, when I saw him looking at me coyly (and longingly), beaming with joy and when I stood next to him, all my anxieties disappeared. It was finally happening. Nothing else mattered at that moment. Not lights, not the lilies or tulips, not how we looked, not the relatives who didn’t even show up, nothing. We were not smiling for the cameras anymore, we were smiling from within. And I understood, What you seek, is seeking you. :)

People say, “lockdown mein shadi kar k kharche bacha liya”. But dozens of masks and sanitisers, booking a venue with the capacity of 500 even in a 100 guests wedding Just to ensure social distancing….don’t they cost you rather extra? And what about the outfits you splurged on for the functions that never happened ?

Alas, thanks to Covid-19, it taught India that weddings can happen without feeding 1000 guests and without a week long festivities. Just embrace with gratitude whatever comes your way. There’s no joy greater than having your loved ones by your side.

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