People often question judgement of love at first sight, but the ones who have experienced it know that it is one of kind. Such is the heart melting love story of Mradula and Maheep Dhing.
Sharing their story, 45-year-old teacher Mradula said, “It was early evening, when I had gone out for shopping with my aunt.” She was in the busiest street market of Ratlam.
Talking about how he landed up there, 45-year-old deputy general manager Maheep said, “I was there with my friends, and the moment I saw Mradula, I fell for her.” Trying to catch her attention, he started talking in loud voice with his friends.
“His voice caught my attention as I turned and saw him, something clicked,” Mradula said. She fell for him at first sight, but did nothing about it.
Love finds ways even through international boundaries, so it did in their case as well. “Ratlam is a small town, so it was not difficult for me to find Mradula’s whereabouts,” Maheep said.
Mradula had come home for vacation, as she was pursuing a course in tailoring. “Since, it was hard to spend time at home, because we did not have that many modes of entertainment, I had joined an uncle’s subscriber trunk dialling (STD) centre,” she said.
On discovering where she works, Maheep came to fake dial a number so that he can flirt with Mradula. “He mentioned his name loudly on the phone to tell me, but I did not catch it, despite understanding that he is flirting with me,” Mradula said.
Following the incident, Maheep called Mradula at her shop and inquired if she can recognise him. “I could recognise him, but was unsure of the name,” she said. She added that his name impressed him and their love story progressed.
Taking another step ahead, he asked her out for coffee. “He proposed me to marry him on the first date with a handwritten letter,” Mradula said. She loved his handwriting and his words, but was unsure of their future.
“He comes from a Jain family, and I come from Punjabi family, so, our union seemed impossible,” Mradula said. She tried to explain him the same, but he was firm on the decision.
As the vacations ended and Mradula completed her course, it was difficult for them to talk on telephone. “Those days, we had only trunk calling in public booths, so it was not possible for us to chat or talk every day, but we found our ways,” Mradula said.
Her father was a railway officer, so they stayed in quarters near the station. “Her quarters were situated below a tunnel, so I landed up every Sunday morning, just to see her and that was our only connection,” Maheep said.
Stealing glances and taking small walks, their love progressed and on their fourth date, Maheep took Mradula to meet his parents. “His parents asked me if I would marry him, even if my parents go against it, and I stayed quiet to indicate that I wouldn’t,” Mradula said. His parents were disappointed, but that did not affect their love.
With time, Maheep convinced Mradula’s mother to tell her father about their affair. “My father refused straight away as he was paranoid about my future,” Mradula said. In an attempt to keep her away from Maheep, her family sent her to Tarana village, where her uncles’ kept close eye on her activities.
“We were out of touch for long time, but that did not affect our feelings, so one day, he pulled some strings and called me on public telephone,” Mradula said. Maheep was equally under pressure from his parents’ to get married and they had given him a deadline.
“I don’t know how I got the power, but I told my uncles’ that I had to visit my mother,” Mradula said. They made a plan to convince their uncles’ to let her travel alone from Ujjain to Ratlam, by creating fake relatives.
“Our plan was a success, as we ran to Indore and got married here, with the help of his uncle,” Mradula said. Further, he sent them to Nasik so that Mradula’s family cannot catch them.
Slowly with time, their life settled down and now they are living blissfully with their children Rohan and Rachita. Amazingly, Mradula has become a vegetarian, while Maheep and their kids savour all non-vegetarian dishes.