In Cas(t)e You Missed It: Sometimes Love Conquers It All

Relationships are complicated. But don’t change your partner or their identity once you get together.

Diana and Raunak

Courtesy - Raunak Patel

There are love stories that we see on-screen and we yearn for happy endings. We hope against hope that they would end up together despite knowing of their tragic endings. Think of stories of star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet or Heer and Ranjha. Literature is replete with such doomed fictional accounts.

Then there are real-life stories of real people. These are stories of ordinary people who are working at ordinary jobs. People who work extra hard to make their everyday a beautiful dream come true. Diana and Raunak are two such people.

36-year-old Raunak first met Diana while studying a travel course at Kuoni Academy in Mumbai. Soon they became friends and one thing would lead to another.

This is rewinding nearly a decade ago when courtship included relatively old school ideas of meeting at cosy cafes, going out with a group of friends for a movie, and on long walks. Basically, it was an era where “watch on party”, “binge” and “swipe” did not dominate the dating lexicon and certainly not-overshared on social media. But Diana and Raunak had to be extra discreet about their liking for each other. Both were aware of the challenges that lay ahead of them. She is a Parsi Nasirabadwala and he is a Gujarati Patel. They knew they had to convince their parents and communities to accept their relationship.

“Not many people knew that we were dating. Initially, we kept it under wraps because we were not sure if our parents would accept our relationship considering their religious sentiments. So, we took our own sweet time. But we spoke regularly on the phone,” Raunak, who works in the construction industry, explains.

Gradually, they started meeting each other’s families and getting acquainted with their cultural environments. It was relatively difficult for Diana’s family to accept Raunak. But they agreed when they understood him better and saw that the two were deeply in love and very important to one another. People often say, relationships are hard and that they become tougher when there are external factors.

Raunak says, “Relationships are not hard, they are complicated. It is always about compromising and finding the right balance.”

Finding that balance is an art. Traditionally, Gujarati families would want the bride to adopt her husband’s last name and even change her caste. The couple did not want Diana to change either. Hence, they got married under the Special Marriage Act 1954. Today, Diana works at a Mutual Fund company in Mumbai and lives with Raunak and his parents.

Sharing his mantra for a healthy and a happy relationship, Raunak says, “Try not to change your partner or their identity once you get together.”

Diana and Raunak have been happily married for the last seven years now.

Diana and Raunak's story is part of series of real stories of real people living in Mumbai. If such love stories melt your heart then don't fail to watch Modern Love: Mumbai, only on Amazon Prime Video.