Hina’s Version:
The way I remember it, we were actually introduced in college- in classic college fashion at a bar in Philly by my friend Charuni. That night, of course, nothing happened beyond a hello but for some reason I always remembered his name. Then years later at a potluck dinner party at my friend Heta’s home, I arrived with my garlic mashed potatoes in tow. After dinner as we we’re all sitting in the livingroom, I Iooked to my left for someone to talk to and there was Saurabh. We realized we had a lot to chat about- baseball, politics, and we were both lawyers! I had to mention we had actually met before but of course he didn’t remember.
Over the next few months we became friends, often connecting over the cocktail of the day I made that Saurabh would try to guess the ingredients of by merely a picture. A couple of FaceTimes later, I couldn’t deny how much I hated getting off the phone with him. And from there….the rest is, as they say, history.
Saurabh's Version:
I remember Hina being next to me at a party, and I knew I needed to talk to her. I can't tell you why but I was drawn to something about her. I looked down and saw mashed potatoes in front of her. Debating what to say, I reluctantly said, "have you tried these, they're so good." She turned to me and politely told me she made them. I had a wry smile on my face, in part because I was thankful I didn't go with my other line of, "hey do you want some, I made these mashed potatoes," and also that she was talking to me.
We ended up spending the rest of the night talking, and really hit it off. I knew there was something about Hina that was right for me. Someone had recently told me that I needed to be with someone that I had stuff in common with, and we couldn't run out of stuff to talk about. Every time we connected on a topic, I kept hearing that voice in the back of my head.
Although I have no recollection of meeting in college, I don't doubt it happened. I'm just grateful the universe brought us back together.
Believe it or not, we weren’t even together the night Saurabh proposed. I had a long overdue girls night out planned with my friends but, unbeknownst to me, Saurabh helped arrange the whole thing. We made reservations at Batello, a waterfront restaurant in Jersey City with impeccable views of downtown Manhattan and we all decided to “dress up” more than usual for the occasion. I should’ve known when the hostess’s eyes lit up when I was the first to arrive- which is rare- but I was too excited to see my friends to notice. I talked all about the first two days at my new job and Priyanka, Neha, and Natasha gave no hints at what was about to happen. They casually suggested we take a picture outside before we leave and, being the photograph enthusiast at I am, didn’t even hesitate despite how cool and windy it was. They grabbed the hostess to take a picture…which was odd, too, but I didn’t pick up on it at the time. She asked us to face the skyline while she took a picture of our backs. Suddenly, I felt a tap…then a tug…at my shoulder and when I turned around there was Saurabh down on one knee! Needless to say I was completely shocked - so much so it took a second for me to remember to respond to his proposal- which of course was a YES!