Ricky is the son of Hitesh Patel & Tara Patel from Puna Gaam. Nandika is the daughter of Jigar Patel & Hema Patel from Sampura Gaam.

It's still funny to think that Ricky and Nandika's entire relationship started because a cousin decided to play accidental matchmaker. The first time Ricky saw Nandika was at a restaurant with a big group of friends. Everyone was loud, talking over each other, ordering food nobody was going to finish — the usual chaos. And then there was her. Ricky noticed Nandika immediately. Meanwhile, he's trying to act normal like he wasn’t already wondering: “Okay… should I go talk to her?” Their first conversation was honestly so short it barely counts as a conversation. They talked about whether they were going to the volleyball tournament that year. That was it. No dramatic movie moment. No fireworks. No slow-motion scene. Just: “So… you going to the tournament?” “Maybe.” “Cool.” “Cool.” If this were a movie, the audience would’ve been disappointed already. Then Ricky went back to California thinking, “Yeah… I should probably talk to her again.” So naturally, instead of doing something smooth, He got Nandika's number from his cousin and sent the most life-changing text ever created: “How are you doing?” A masterpiece. And then… She replied a week later. A WEEK. At that point Ricky had already gone through every stage of grief. But somehow, that one late reply turned into conversations every day, jokes that got funnier at 2 AM, random FaceTimes, and slowly realizing this girl was becoming his favorite person. Looking back now, it feels like one of those movie intros where two people meet in the most random, low-energy way possible, and somehow end up building something real together. No dramatic love-at-first-sight speech. No perfect pickup lines. Just a restaurant, a volleyball conversation, an ignored text, and two people who somehow made it work anyway. And now here we are — 1 year and 6 months later — still laughing, still annoying each other, and still acting like that first week-long reply wasn’t personal.