Onto the Next Chapter: Marriage

Flipped over to a new page and suddenly realised that the chapter was over. The next chapter waiting to be lived through and read: Marriage.

Marriage felt like a term that I knew would be my reality one day, but till I crossed its periphery, I didn’t really know what it meant.

I was just a girl in London, doing my master’s when my spiritual guide, Revered Daaji, proposed Jeet and my marriage. This was September 2024. From then on, I was in a long-distance courtship! We spoke for hours on end getting to know each other, and before we knew it, we were to be wed in April 2025! It all happened in the blink of an eye. Although it was a lot to process in such a short time, I was lucky to have family and friends who supported me throughout this journey.

While the wedding preparations were in full swing, I was studying and literally finishing assignments till 2 days before the wedding functions began. I remember clicking ‘submit’ to my ‘Brand Identity Kit’ assignment while my mother, aunt, and cousins were coordinating with relevant vendors for the wedding.

As I was reliving moments from the wedding, the entire celebration feels surreal to me today. A whirlwind of emotions is all. I wanted to be stuck to my parents and my relatives all the time, not wanting to let go even for a second. I was prioritising being present in the moment to really soak in all the final moments before my wedding. It was just so emotional.

Knowing that I will not be living in the house I called home for the last 23 years of my life, and getting up every morning and slipping into the warm and knowing embrace of my parents and grandparents. From knowing every nook and cranny of my house to now making a new house feel like home.

Although there is so much anticipation and joy attached to making something new your own, there is a lot of unspoken gravity of having to move on from something you didn’t know was such an integral part of you, something you maybe took for granted because well, you had never known anything else in life. 

This new chapter brings with it a lot of newness and uncertainty, something that I have come to terms with because what is life if it isn’t always changing, evolving, growing…?

Well, to start, one has a best friend for life, quite literally. It is comforting to know you have someone to do ‘life’ with. We become true partners through all the good, bad, and ugly that life offers. Words like ‘companionship’ and ‘dependency’ become your reality, and all the ‘I’s’ and ‘Mes’ become ‘Us’ and ‘Wes’!   

The entire period of my wedding was very emotional; I felt emotions that I had never felt before. ‘Bittersweet’ is a very apt term to describe most of my inner thoughts and feelings throughout the entire duration of my wedding. There was so much joy in celebrating this new phase in my life, but a constant underlying sadness prevailed because there is so much that I could not put into words.

To start almost afresh can be so daunting, leaving behind grandparents, parents, siblings and the family and friends that you’ve known and loved your whole life. Of course, there’s no ‘leaving’ anyone, but this massive change in my life got me holding onto everything I knew and loved more tightly.

I believe that to love is to be free, and having experienced that now, is so liberating. Having a life partner in Jeet, walking hand in hand through all the excitement and challenges in life, is something I look forward to.

There is so much joy in giving love

So much resilience in accepting oneself and others

So much patience cultivated in letting life unfold itself

The deepening of faith

Solidifying values and outlooks

I’ve come to realise that marriage isn’t just a union of two people, it’s a merging of different worlds, values, habits and dreams. It’s in the quiet moments of everyday life where love finds its rhythm- whether it's over morning coffee and chai (I am a coffee lover and Jeet is loyal to his masala chai) together or late-night conversation about nothing and everything. I place my trust in love to guide me through the unexpected. Maybe building a life isn’t as daunting as it sounds when you have the right person by your side.