| OUR STORY | They met the modern way — on Dil Mil in January 2024. Tejal swiped right first (important detail). What followed was a message that would spark the longest-running debate of their relationship. Tejal insists she commented on Rushi’s prompt: “I can share endless pictures of my baby nephew Ishaan.” Rushi is convinced it was about his vulnerable confession: “My biggest fear is that my nephew won’t think I’m cool.” Since they deleted the app shortly after getting serious, there were no receipts — which meant this debate lasted over a year. On their first anniversary, they logged back in to settle it once and for all. After scrolling through the chat history, the verdict was clear: Tejal was right. Rushi has accepted defeat (publicly). At the time, Rushi was living in Arlington, VA and Tejal was finishing medical residency in New Orleans. What started as thoughtful messages quickly escalated into essay-length paragraphs and FaceTime calls that somehow lasted for hours. By February, Rushi asked the important question: “When can I come visit?” In March, he flew to New Orleans. Tejal had just come off night shifts and was quieter than usual. Rushi, operating at full conversational energy, interpreted this as a sign that she was not interested and briefly considered changing his flight home after day one. Thankfully, he powered through the weekend. After flying back home to Arlington, Rushi was still unsure about the weekend until Tejal messaged him stating that she had a great time and asked to visit him in D.C. — which dramatically improved the outlook (Phew!) On August 2nd, Rushi officially asked Tejal to be his girlfriend. From there, the long-distance era began: monthly flights, airport goodbyes, and plenty of adventures — Destin, Phoenix, Puerto Rico, New York, Philadelphia, Charleston, Spain, and Puerto Vallarta. Somewhere between boarding passes and time zones, it stopped feeling like long distance and started feeling like home. | THE PROPOSAL | After months of secret planning, Rushi proposed on October 11th at the D.C. War Memorial. Tejal was already coming to D.C. for a job interview that week, so step one was secured. Step two was executing a very strategic (and slightly suspicious) day. The plan was to recreate one of their first dates with a morning walk in Georgetown. Tejal chose sleep instead. Strong start. They pivoted to lunch at one of thier early date spots, and Rushi continued strongly encouraging Tejal to “dress nice.” Possibly too strongly. She was annoyed, but complied. Rushi then announced that they were meeting friends near the D.C Tidal Basin before heading to a show at the Kennedy Center (Not Trump). An Uber later, he suggested stopping by the World War II Memorial “since we had time to kill.” As they walked, Tejal noticed Rushi was unusually quiet. Suspiciously quiet... When they approached the flower-decorated D.C. War Memorial, Tejal said, “Looks like something’s happening there — maybe we shouldn’t go.” Rushi paused and said, “Well… maybe it’s for us?” Tejal responded with an immediate, “NOOO,” assuming it was a joke. It was not. :D After convincing her to take off her jacket (for photos), Rushi led her up the steps and asked the most important question. She said yes! They celebrated with a photo session around the monuments before heading to dinner at the Wharf — where both families were waiting to surprise Tejal with a private celebration overlooking the water. | AND NOW | Since then, they’ve celebrated their Indian engagement ceremony, started planning this wedding, and decided to begin their next chapter in Raleigh, North Carolina, starting summer 2026 — before celebrating with all of you in Charlotte. What started with one swipe, one debate about Ishaan, and one almost-cancelled flight has turned into a lifetime of adventure. And yes — Ishaan still thinks Rushi is cool; but Tejal is his favorite :) They can’t wait to keep building the rest of their story together!