So where did you guys meet?

Ask any couple and they’ll tell you that that is one question that comes up again and again. I guess it is natural for people to be curious, especially if you’ve not had an arranged marriage. From what I’ve seen, there are a few standard replies to this question.

In the first scenario, the girl and guy meet in school or college, and then fall in love. This is one of the most common scenarios. Probably because the environment is so conducive to dating.  The other scenario is where the girl and guy meet at their work place. Dating colleagues is not a very uncommon phenomenon either. In the third scenario, it is a mutual friend who introduces the said girl and guy. Other than that, there are couples who meet because they lived in the same neighborhood, or at a family wedding or event, or through extended family. All of these are very acceptable responses to the much dreaded question of where the couple met.

In our case, Mint and I have such diverse backgrounds that it makes it very easy for anyone to guess that our match was not arranged. So we often find ourselves facing this question, where the audience is waiting to hear the beginning of our story with coy smiles. And this is where I find myself stuck. These are times when I wish I could say we met in college, or through a common friend or whatever. How cool would that sound? Speaking the truth makes me feel like some weird freak. I suppose most of you know that Mint and I ‘met’ each other on the blog. His blog to be specific. And most of the time, saying this to others makes me feel really awkward. It is worse when the question is being asked by an elderly relative. Either they’ve never heard of the word ‘blog’, or they are vaguely familiar with the word but do not really understand the concept behind it. If you do try explaining it to them, they just dismiss it and say ‘Oh, so say that no, you met on the internet‘. This usually gets me quite mad. Chatting with random strangers on the internet or being part of these dating sites online is very different from being friends with a person whose blog you’ve been reading for a while. Blogs are sacred. You get to know so much about the person authoring them. It tells you about their attitudes, their perspectives, their way of life, and so much more. If you’ve been reading a blog for some time, then you do feel that you actually know  the person behind it. So when people look at me and say ‘you met on the internet’ and put me in the same category as those losers who talk to random unknown people online, it galls me.

During my last trip to India, I was talking to a lady who happened to be a family friend of my in laws. She looked at me and said, ‘So you two met during a college fest right?’. I was going to deny it and correct it, when it struck me that that could have been the version the in laws have given her. So I just smiled, said a yes and changed the subject. But it made me think. If I find it so hard to answer this question, it must be so much harder for the parents to give the true explanation to people who ask. Poor things. Sigh!

Last night we were having dinner with her (and H and Paapu). Now is when I tell you what a terrific time we had. There was an event going on in downtown where we met up. They had a live band, the farmers market and other activities going on. We met, chatted, enjoyed the band, sipped some free wine and made our way to the Greek restaurant where our booking had been made. The whole evening was filled with laughter and lively conversation. And of course, Paapu, like always stole the show.  Oh well, back to what I was saying. During the course of the conversation, it came up again. H looked up to us and asked us how we met. For some strange reason, I didn’t really feel awkward this time and I told him we met on the blog. Of course, that sparked off another discussion on blogging in general where H and Mint took turns in making fun of blogging and the whole concept. Yes, Mint, who once used to blog himself now makes fun of it all. He said it used to interest him at that time because blogging was relatively new then. Now it is stale. Ah, whatever.

Today morning, I went and opened Mint’s blog and reread all his posts again. And it brought a big, big smile to my face. Reading about his college and hostel life, his rants during exam time, his take on life and all that left me grinning from ear to ear. I wish I could give out his blog url here, but he was not an anonymous blogger so that prevents me from directing anybody there. Anyway, reading his blog now gave me yet another opportunity to meet the guy that he used to be at that time. I realised yet again, how wonderful blogging really is. Had I met him in any other way, I wouldn’t have been able to go back in time like that and relive those moments of his life. The next time somebody asks me how we met, I am going to answer them with pride.

So where did you guys meet?