During Valentine's Week, Mihika Shenoy and Trishina Kirpalani share the story on how they met and fell in love.
You can share your love story too... Mail us at getahead@rediff.co.in (Subject: Jab We Met) along with your pictures.
Their story begins in August 2020 with a right swipe on an app.
Mihika Shenoy, a beauty marketing manager and content creator, had seen Trishina Kirpalani, a DJ and music producer, once in a club in 2019 and thought she was impossibly cool.
So when she spotted her on Bumble during the lockdown, her first reaction was disbelief. "I thought she was too cool to be on a dating app," Mihika laughs.
For Trishina, the swipe came at a moment when she was still exploring her sexuality and meeting queer women.
When she saw Mihika's photo, wearing a yellow bucket hat, she felt something different.
"I fell in love with her instantly," she says.
Their conversations flowed easily. They gossiped, joked and opened up quickly. Trishina, who was writing a book then, even shared her first draft with Mihika.
Mihika finished it in one sitting and jokingly added a few lines that later made it into the published version.
"It meant a lot," Mihika says, "trusting a stranger that much."
Their first date, a long drive because of the lockdown rules, sealed the connection. They talked for hours, nothing romantic happened, but both left with a quiet feeling that this could be something more.
Between August 2020 and early 2021, they stayed close without calling it a relationship. Even though they saw other people, they met each other's families and became each other's comfort during difficult days.
January 2021 changed everything.
Both were going through tough personal phases and they naturally turned to each other for support. Friendship deepened into something gentler, steadier.
The real turning point came on a Goa trip in March 2021. They landed there as "just friends" and ended up extending the trip from five days to 10.
They laughed endlessly, matched each other's energy and almost accidentally said, 'I love you' before becoming official.
They finally started dating in April 2021.
They've grown through their twenties together, building careers, navigating mental health and choosing each other every single day for the last five years.
Their dream now? To keep growing, adopt pets, support the queer community and grow old side by side as they continue to laugh at the same jokes.
Dear readers, Tell us where you first met your partner and how the two of you fell in love. Write to us at getahead@rediff.co.in (Subject: Jab We Met). Do include a photograph of you and your partner and we'll publish the best stories on Rediff
© 2026