Love story: 'Thank God her 'curse' came true!'

We invited readers to share stories of how they met their spouses and interesting anecdotes about their wedding day. Here's Zaheed Kanthawala's account of meeting his wife:

The irony of life is that my wife Sharmila and I both studied in the same school and college, but never met or spoke to each other during in those 10 years. She was a year ahead of me and was a student in my elder brother's class. I had no idea that we were studying in the same college when I first saw her travelling home in the same bus. She stayed about five minutes from my house, but man it's a shame that we never spoke to each other all those years. I must say that I was impressed by her beauty, but could not muster up the courage to approach.

Three years after that bus trip, when I completed my graduation, I picked up a job at a local computer training institute. Luck could not have been better and damn, she was working at the same place as a counsellor. She was even prettier. We became good friends and started spending more time together. I really cannot remember when I fell in love with her, but that Diwali, when she walked into the office dressed in a very sexy churidar, my heart fell for her. With time, my love for her grew stronger but I just could not muster up the courage to propose to her. To gain sympathy, I sprained my ankle a few times. I played a little mind game, forcing her to lay a bet with me to propose to someone at work.

Using this as an excuse I finally mustered up my courage on December 6, 1998, proposing to her with a paper flower under a street light, to be a part of my life. Astonished that it was her that I was proposing to as part of our bet, she rejected my proposal, citing caste differences as she came from a very reserved family. With lots of reasoning and some show of anger, she finally agreed to say yes. Its been more then nine years that we have been happily married, with a lovely daughter who is seven years old.

During the initial days of our friendship she always teased me, saying that I would get married to a South Indian -- as a Gujarati, I was apprehensive of their culture and language and always had a funny bone for them.

Thank God that her 'curse' came true!

Share your romantic experiences with us! Write in to getahead@rediff.co.in (subject line: 'My love story') along with a photograph of you and your spouse if possible and we'll publish the best entries right here!