Once upon a time in a land far away, Santa Monica, there was a girl who was living her best life. She was surrounded by 349 days of sunshine, almond milk-mushroom-bee-pollen lattes, organic-gluten-free kale planted by 7 virgins under a full moon, yoga classes and ocean sunsets. However, deep down, she felt an emptiness inside. She was longing for a deep connection with a life partner. In August of 2019, she packed up her yoga mats and essential oils and headed to Chicago. With high fructose corn syrup as her only fear, she was ready to explore the Windy City. Her friends jokingly said she would find the love of her life within 6 months. Meanwhile, in the heart of downtown Chicago, surrounded by his college buddies, there lived a handsome man named Ankur. He too was living his best life . His days were filled with Chicago sports, prison style weight lifting, Portillo’s Italian beef, Pequod’s pizza, and copious amounts of craft beer. He too was looking for his partner in crime. With never-ending Indian food as his only fear, he was ready to explore his next phase in life. In winter of 2020, the pandemic over swept the nation. It was at that time her cousin planted the idea to join match.com. She created a profile using the alias of her childhood dog, Tasha. Sumita came across Ankur’s profile and was immediately drawn to his depth and intelligence (let’s be real she thought he was really cute !). Ankur was equally drawn to Sumita’s profile. He may have even formulated his own opinions when he saw that one of her hobbies was meditation. Sumita sent Ankur a wink. He responded with a message. Through these exchanges, a connection blossomed amongst two seemingly opposite people. They both shared similar values, upbringing and even a love of sardines. They had their first phone conversation in May. Ankur started the phone conversation with “Hello Tasha”. She realized amidst the month of texting and messaging online, she had forgotten to tell him her real name ! Their conversation lasted 4 hours. In June of 2020, they had their first date. They went to a sushi restaurant where it rained on them the entire time (indoor dining was closed in Chicago). Through drenched hair and damp spicy tuna rolls, they laughed. Sumita noticed this connection was different. Ankur felt like..home. He offered to make her dinner the next day. Knowing she had a sensitive stomach, he made her homemade minestrone soup from scratch. She remember him saying “ this is full of lycopenes”. He had her heart at “ lycopenes”. During their courtship, the world was in a crazy place. There were regular riots in the streets of Chicago, mutating Covid strains and a controversial election. Also, the couple lived 1 hour away from one another. Amidst this chaos, stripped of the frills of restaurants and social gatherings, the couple was left with the raw human element. They found “home” in one another. Ankur was fascinated by Sumita’s rhythm in life and thirst for travel. And so, the memories were formulated: road trips to Michigan, scaling medieval walls in Gotland, Sweden, Ankur accidentally biting Sumita’s finger off while she was feeding him a gyro in Greece, running through O’hare airport with luggage in hand to get some cardio, a 24 hour trip to Boston just to eat oysters, running from monkeys in Bali… The rest is history! Ankur showed Sumita the beauty of campfires, college football, coffee, steaks and roughing it. Sumita showed Ankur the beauty of nature, clean eating, expression, touch and spirituality. Though this story may sound a little bit like a fairytale, there were hardships the couple endured. Ankur is Sumita’s best friend. Sumita is Ankur’s favorite bipedal mammal. Sumita likes to describe their relationship with a quote from the series Office: "It's A Like A Long Book That You Never Want To End. And You're Fine With That Because, You Just Never Ever Want To Leave It."