On Valentine's Day, Prabhat Patra shares the story on how he met his wife, Pooja.
You can share your love story too... Mail us at getahead@rediff.co.in (Subject: Jab We Met) along with your pictures.
I still remember the exact moment I heard her voice for the first time.
I was working in the VI IT support team and the Parel (south central Mumbai) store manager called saying one of her employees had an application issue. It felt like just another routine task. Then she handed over the phone and I heard Pooja.
I don't remember the technical error. I don't remember the steps I suggested. But I remember her voice. Something about it made me pause. And without thinking, right in the middle of the call, I told her, 'By the way... your voice is very beautiful.'
She went quiet for a second and simply said, 'Thank you so much.'
*That one line started everything.
Over the next few days, any time she had an issue, the call would come to me.
At first our conversations were completely formal but slowly they stretched. Once the work was solved, we found ourselves talking for a few extra minutes. 'Had lunch?'... 'How's the day going?'... 'You sound tired.' It became a pattern neither of us stopped.
I started visiting the Parel store more often. Sometimes there was actual work, sometimes there wasn't, but I always found a reason. Meeting her in person for the first time during Covid felt different. Even with masks, I could feel something shift. Eyes don't hide emotions.
Soon I began dropping her to Worli (south Mumbai) after work. Those drives became the best part of my week. We talked about everything -- our childhood, dreams, fears, families... Sometimes we laughed so much, the drive felt too short. Sometimes, silence felt perfect.
We called it friendship. But it was already something more.
*A few months later, I left VI and joined the corporate server department. There was no official reason to talk now. But we still called each other every day.
And that's when I realised -- if this is just friendship, why does it hurt when we don't talk? Why do I miss her voice? Why does my day feel incomplete?
One day I finally said it: 'I have feelings for you.' I was nervous but she said she felt the same.
On October 15, 2022, her birthday, we were on a trip to Alibag (near Mumbai) with our friends. I had already planned what I wanted to do. With my heart beating like crazy, I went down on one knee and asked, 'Will you marry me?' She said yes.
*Of course, things weren't easy after that.
Our families had many concerns like different castes, different expectations. There were emotional arguments, nights filled with stress, pressure from all sides. But we stayed together through every fight, every difficult conversation. We kept saying the same thing to each other: 'Hum ek dusre ke bina nahi reh sakte... (We cannot live without each other).'
Slowly, everything fell into place.
We got engaged on December 17, 2023, married on March 11, 2024, and soon after welcomed our baby boy into the world.
From strangers on a work call to partners, to husband and wife, to parents -- life has completed a full circle.
Sometimes I think about that day in the VI office. If I could go back, I would answer that call every single time. Because that call gave me my best friend, my love, my wife, the mother of my son and my whole world.
As told to Rishika Shah
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