Hemang and Manvitha grew up in the same town but did not meet each other until many years later through a mutual friend (thanks Rishita, Manvitha’s Maid of Honor!). They first met at the town’s annual Garba and Hemang was immediately impressed that a South Indian Girl could Garba. Manvitha on the other hand remembers Hemang as being extremely shy so she had to take the initiative to go and say hi to him. They hit it off immediately through each other’s sense of humor, love for food, and musings about the world. They kept in touch and over the years, they became each other’s best friends who had five years filled with fun, laughter and bickering about who is funnier.

On the first day of snow in Boston, Hemang asked to meet Manvitha for dinner at a restaurant that he wanted to check out because of their Indian inspired ravioli dish (they love being foodies). On their way to dinner, Hemang insisted that they walk through the Boston Public Garden because he had a sudden interest in seeing a bench that was featured in the movie Good Will Hunting. Manvitha thought this was weird since she didn’t understand why Hemang was a sudden super fan of that movie. Little did she know, he had a surprise for her at the park. The proposal was perfect, it was a beautiful snowy winter wonderland evening tucked away into a beautiful part of the Boston Public Garden. And yes, they eventually did go to dinner to try the ravioli and agreed that it was a definite hit. 😊