Soumik and Katya first met when they were TAs for the same class at Berkeley, although their paths glanced off of one another rather than crossing. But fate brought them together after graduation, when Soumik caught a glimpse of Katya's vaguely familiar face when she confidently strode onto the elevator on the way to a mutual friend's housewarming party. "What a cool person, I had to ask the front desk where the party was," Soumik thought. "I'm so lost," Katya thought. The two bonded on the ride up, and spent most of the party glued to each other and doing a terrible job of socializing with anyone else. When the night came to an end and Katya departed, Soumik wavered over his next actions. Fortunately for the couple, a party guest who noticed their obvious chemistry urged him to run after her and escort her to the BART station, and their story began for real.

Soumik made up an excuse to see Katya again. “I need to buy a rug for my place, do you want to help me choose one?” he said, thinking they could do some fun window shopping in the city. Katya, unbeknownst to Soumik, took this opportunity to do hours of research on rug materials, designs, and brands, and was befuddled when she found that Soumik's rug knowledge was almost zero. Despite this, the two spent a pleasant day in San Francisco, although no rugs were purchased. Over the next month, the two got even closer, and while he wasn’t planning on asking her out until later, Soumik grew confident about their mutual feelings when they shared a romantic night holding hands and watching a movie. “I’ll ask her out tomorrow!” he resolved. After a pleasant full-day date in SF, Soumik found a quiet spot next to Coit Tower and, given the romantic mood, opened with, “I’m sure you know what I’m about to say.” “No idea!” Katya replied brightly. With much more apprehension than a moment ago, Soumik confessed his feelings, to which Katya smiled and replied, “awwww!” After some panicked seconds of silence, he asked if she felt the same, got the good news and the two started dating. As Soumik found out later, Katya was not aware of his feelings, and thought he was being really friendly by holding hands the previous night. When asked “why did you just say ‘awwww’?” she defended herself with, “you didn’t ask a question!” The two still argue to this day about whether the question was implied.

After getting Katya’s parents’ blessings, Soumik planned a nice, intimate proposal at the house they were staying at in Kauai, HI, overlooking the waves and sunset. Things went awry the day of, when Soumik attempted to vault a stream, tripped in the sand, and went head-first into a pile of rocks. Bleeding, he wondered idly, “how do I know if I have a concussion?” and “will I still be able to propose today?” Fortunately, he probably didn’t have a concussion, and the story ended happily. As is classic with their relationship, the proposal went off with many hitches. When Soumik brought Katya to the back to watch the waves, she immediately sat on the rocky ledge above the water, back turned to him. “What a nice view of the waves!” she said happily. “How am I supposed to propose in midair?” he wondered. After some logistical restructuring, Soumik began his prepared speech, “Can you believe it's been over 4 years? Rememb–” “Yeah! Wow the time flies, did you remember those pelicans we were watching in SF for hours?” “...” Some digressions later, Soumik finally got through the rest, dropped to one knee, and ended with “Katya, will you – and you can't say awwww – marry me?” And, as they say, the rest was history.