The Couple

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We could tell you our story ... or we could see how well you know it. Find some inside secrets and facts you probably have never heard about Ankita and Anil. The story of how we met, the engagement and why we decided to get married !



The Bride and Groom

Ankita

Ankita loves animals and is obsessed with cats. Her voice becomes extra squeaky and wild cat calls can be heard to woo little balls of fur for cuddle time (sometimes even when cats don't exist in the house). She comes up with the most creative names for them, next time you meet her ask her for one ! Ankita spent most of her evenings roleplaying all the teachers at school and her grandparents had to be the victims to her mimicking teachers punishing the students. Eventually her best friends were pulled into these after-school classes like we are sucked into subscriptions after free trials; by choice or due to the fear of missing out we'll never know. Raised in the heart of Banashankari 2nd Stage, Bengaluru, she is most thankful to her mother, grandparents and neighbors for bringing her up and making her childhood colorful, especially Meera aunty and Iyer uncle who looked after her as their own daughter. Winning multiple debates, public speaking competitions, participating in inter-school fests and having 16 cats at a time in her home are some her favorite memories in high school.

Ankita was asleep most of her pre-university and engineering life, so that went in a blink of an eye. The biggest highlight was seeing Hrithik Roshan and shouting I LOVE YOU in a large crowd with a low pitched voice. However, she made a few friends along the way who are pillars of her life even today. She is forever grateful to have found them. Ankita's first love is food and coffee. From feasting on uppit and puliyogare from Devagiri temple to roaming every street of Bengaluru to find new dose, idly, chaat places has been her life's top priority.

P.S. Always arrive starving at her home or plan on going to the gym for about 3 months to digest it. Hosting and cooking being one of her favorite things to do, finding herself with master chef roommates in Boston was an unexpected blessing. Yeah, luck follows her around. Obviously, once roommates are now handpicked family - the new pillars of her life.
If her house needed an interior makeover (which was frequent) Ankita looked through home furnishing catalogs for inspiration, drew the new contents by hand first and then evolved into mood boards to perfect her design. She never misses a detail in things she loves doing. Ankita has promised that she will forever allow a one-room “man-den” with its contents and decor subject to Anil's discretion.


Anil

Anil was born in Mysore, he spent most of his summer holidays at his grandparents home in Kuvempunagar, in the sandalwood city. Always with an army of friends who used to come for tuitions taught by his mother and her sisters, everyone sprouted wings when a little devil stepped off the auto rickshaw. Now they all could get away with anything. Anil's mom screaming his name in the morning because of his latest mischief, was an everyday alarm and broadcast to the locality that they lived in. This in an age where social media hadn't taken over our lives, soon prompted by his name being yelled by his friends on the front door. Anil was never short of love from his nearest and dearest or getting whooped for causing trouble on a daily basis. Carrying a screwdriver in his pocket at all times, he was the family's in-house all round technician and put more things together than breaking them, while secretly learning how to build computers. His love for music, machines and technology is deep rooted (in that order), which explains spending all summer afternoons in front of a Nintendo console, large headphones and prescription spectacles. Ankita still wishes everyday that the PS5 in the entertainment center never existed. If you found him outside the house, he probably was running with a football at his feet. Half jock, half nerd, he has cultivated these interests well into his adult life, that make him who he is today.

Anil loves animals too, Jess has converted him from a mostly dog to a mostly cat person. Anil had a knack for extra curricular activities, traveling with Ankita for inter school competitions and winning events in his own category. He was the president of the art club and won several football competitions, even while in Colorado, USA (he likes to flex about his undefeated intramural championship victory medals triumphing two years in a row). Anil's heart, mind and soul are intertwined with nature and mountains, 3 years in Colorado were the best years of his life as a bachelor. This is when photography became his new found hobby. However, his engineering years were where he made his best friends and a lot of core memories. They are and always will be the most important people in his life apart from his family. Anil vows a lifetime IT guarantee to Ankita, that he will be readily available 24/7 to troubleshoot... anything and everything technical.

Alright ... Here's the Story

In 2016, the two were both wild and running free around Boston's Seaport and Financial District as most singles do. Yes, we were just good friends back in Bengaluru. Although some people argue that Ankita was the only friend to send Anil off at the airport or Anil had a semi surprise plan (thanks Vijetha for putting Anil on speaker while planning a secret arrival !) to receive her at the Logan airport and help her settle in Boston. Let's clear the air, there were no sparks. The chemistry first started on a night walk along the Charles river espionage to see the Boston skyline. First sparks flew during a trip to Anil's relative's house on a commuter rail. Ankita still holds her best friends - Vijetha and Alister accountable for inducing these sparks and feeding the thought of “Why not?” in her head.

2017 and 2018 were the years of adventure, travel and of course long distance. Living thrifty during the semester and spending most of their on-campus earnings on flight tickets and car rentals, they road tripped the wild wild west every break. Ankita missed the European and Russian adventure during the Football World Cup in 2018 but Anil promised not to visit her favorite destinations. The rest is history - they've shared some amazing adventures visiting 30 states in the United states, and now they're ready to share the rest of their lives together, too.

Soon Anil found a job in Robotics in Pittsburgh, moving slightly closer to Ankita. After a day of experiencing the New York City skyline from the clouds in a helicopter and shopping in Times Square, he popped the question in Queens, with the midtown Manhattan skyscrapers in the backdrop, on a chilly fall evening. No way Ankita could say no, as Anil knows her tolerance to cold; she wouldn't risk walking back alone in that weather ! November 30, 2019 will forever be etched in their memories.

Care was taken to plan events at least 15 days apart from other anniversaries or birthdays of the Bride and Groom. Ankita highly disapproves of combining celebrations and letting one life event steal the thunder of another.