Jab We Met: 'She Was My Bhabhi's Younger Sister'

Abhishek Bidwai tells Rishika Shah how he met his wife Prajakta.>
You can share your love story too. Mail us at getahead@rediff.co.in (Subject: Jab We Met) along with your pictures.

I first saw Prajakta at my brother's wedding. She was my bhabhi's younger sister, and like all typical relatives, someone joked, "She could be your future."

I laughed it off. I had been through enough in life to know that love doesn't always come easy. I wasn't looking for anything and definitely not ready for it.

After the wedding, she would come home often to meet her sister. We crossed paths many times, exchanged polite smiles but never more than that. Two, almost three years passed like this. Familiar faces, no story.

Things changed during Ganpati Visarjan.

We met again in the middle of the crowd and noise and, for the first time, actually spoke. We exchanged numbers. Even then, nothing dramatic happened. Just simple messages like "Hi", "Good morning", the kind that don't mean much at the start.

Then came a day when heavy rain flooded Mumbai. She was stuck at work, unable to reach anyone. Suddenly, my phone rang. Her voice was shaky. She asked if I could come and drop her home.

I didn't think twice. I picked up my bike and left.

The roads were waterlogged, traffic was chaotic and the rain wouldn't stop. She held onto me tightly the whole way. Somewhere during that ride, something changed inside me. Maybe it was the trust she showed. Maybe it was the concern I felt. But I knew my feelings had shifted.

From the next day, our conversations became naturally longer, easier, more honest. We talked about everything -- our likes, dislikes, worries and plans. Friendship slowly turned into comfort and comfort into something deeper.

One day, I finally messaged her saying I had started liking her. Destiny added a twist -- her phone was with her elder sister (they are four sisters). A round of questions followed, doubts and explanations. Three days later, I finally got her message.

She said yes.

With time, our bond grew stronger. My family accepted her instantly but her side had concerns. My bhabhi and Prajakta were extremely close and her family feared marriage would create distance or misunderstandings between the two sisters married to two brothers who lived in the same house.

We tried to explain, waited and hoped things would change.

On March 22, 2020, the day my bhabhi delivered a baby, the nationwide lockdown began. She came to our home to help take care of her sister and the newborn. In those uncertain months, our relationship grew even stronger. We understood each other better, supported each other more and realised that we wanted to spend our lives with each other.

Slowly, her family's fears eased. Time did what words couldn't.

On February 14, 2023, Valentine's Day, we finally got married.

From a passing introduction at a wedding, to a rain-soaked ride that changed everything, to convincing two families, our love story has been built on patience, understanding and choosing each other again and again.

It wasn't dramatic or filmi. It was slow, steady and real. That's exactly why it feels like forever.

Dear readers, Tell us where you first met your partner and how the two of you fell in love. Write to us at getahead@rediff.co.in (Subject: Jab We Met). Do include a photograph of you and your partner and we'll publish the best stories on Rediff>.