Sneha’s perspective: One sunny day in September of 2022, Sneha invited a few friends over for chai. One of these friends mentioned he was going to a “qawwali” concert the next day and though no one really know what “qawwali” was and were even more confused about why all the qawwals were white, they all decided to invite themselves. The next day, Sneha got dressed up and headed to The New Parish. Genuinely moved by the music, she found herself at the very front of the show. The show was great, despite the various “drunkles” that had to be kicked out, and she especially enjoyed the freely flying money. Hey, maybe these guys are rich, she thought foolishly. As she turned to leave, one of the men on stage struck up a conversation with her. “Do you sing?” he asked her. “I do, sometimes,” she lied. He smiled. A friend tugged at her arm. “Sneha, our uber’s here, we gotta go.” “Nice to meet you,” she said to the man on stage, and walked outside. Andre’s perspective: “Wait, she’s leaving?” Andre stared after her. He’d been stealing glances at her throughout the show and now that he knew (incorrectly) that she was a singer, he had to go get her number. He dropped the bag he was packing up and quickly followed her outside. “Play it cool,” he said to himself, when he saw her standing on the street. “Hey you’re still here,” he said, swaggering up to her nonchalantly, “I was just leaving, I’m glad I ran into you. We should stay in touch.” Sneha’s perspective (one month later): Sneha had just started working at a prison abolition tech non-profit. It was her second week on the job and she was in Arizona for a trial-by-fire week of meetings with executives that run America’s incarceration systems. It had been a month since the qawwali concert and the man she’d met was quickly becoming a distant memory. But one day in the middle of her work trip, she received a message from him. “I have tickets to an event in the bay, would you like to join me?” “Sure!” Andre’s perspective: Andre and Sneha had spent the better part of two weeks together. They hung out in her sunny apartment in Oakland, celebrated Halloween in Nevada City, and hiked and soaked in the California wilderness. But now it was time for Andre to leave. For a few years now, he’d been working to set himself up to travel long-term. Perhaps he’d go to India for a couple years, spend some time in Southeast Asia with his friends. But now he’d met this corporate “normie” girl living in the Bay Area and suddenly he wasn’t so sure about his plans. He left first for Australia. She came to visit him in Bali. He called that their third date. They spent their Christmas in Morocco (with some incredible friends). That was their fourth date. He went to India, where he had planned to stay indefinitely. He lasted 2 weeks. Life together: Sneha and Andre’s life together has been the best kind of adventure. They managed to travel together for a year and a half and actually still liked each other at the end of it. They motorcycled in Ladakh, they dove in South East Asia, they whirled in Turkey, and they toured through Europe. Andre learned how to deal with Morning Sneha (who is not very nice) and lovingly cared for her while she had a broken leg in India. Sneha learned… umm I’m sure Sneha must have learned something… we’ll come back to this. Anyway, now they’re engaged, and you’re reading this because you are part of the beautiful community of friends and family that holds their love together. We love you very much, you are an integral part of our adventure, and we can’t wait to celebrate with you in Rajasthan!!