JOIN USBengaluru has been a part of some of their most special moments and Aeshna Jayaswal and Ravi Shekhar hold the city close to their hearts.
“We actually came to know each other and spend time together here, though we were schoolmates and our parents were friends back home,” says Aeshna.
“I came here to do my MBA in 2014 and Ravi also did his engineering here. That was the time we got into a relationship and decided that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together,” she says.
So special is the city to them that they had their engagement and wedding here only in 2015, despite the fact that both of them hail from Bihar.
“We had many reasons for that. For one, many of our family members are settled in this city. And since we both come from small towns, we were pretty sure that the facilties there would be limited for the kind of wedding we wanted to have. I thought about having a destination wedding initially but since this place is dear to us, we decided to conduct all functions here,” says Aeshna with a smile.
So the rose tinge of memories was added to the other attractions like educational facilties, numerous job opportunities and pleasant weather and the couple is now settled here for good.
“Many places here hold special memories for us,” says Ravi. “Her college was in Electronic City and my office was located on MG Road. I would have to brave the dreaded Bengaluru traffic to go and spend time with her. Sometimes we would both travel half way and meet in Indiranagar. Or she would come to Whitefield where my house is. Phoenix and Forum Malls were our hangout spots in those days and we would sit there for hours, talking about things.”
“We still go to these places during weekends,” adds Aeshna. “‘Copper Chimney’ and ‘Whitefield Social’ in Phoenix are some of our usual hangout spots.
‘The Boozy Griffin’ in Koramangala and ‘Toit’ in Indiranagar are other preferences though we mostly like spending weekends at home these days and catching up with each other after a hectic week of work.”
Long weekends are a time for catching up with family members or going on trips. “There are so many places near the city where one can go and unwind. We have been to Kodaikanal, Coonoor, Nandi Hills and so on. Sometimes we go on long drives on the Mysore Road,” says Ravi.
So after a long period of a whirlwind courtship, there must be many memories associated with these places? “We have had good times in these spots but our most memorable moments were spent in the many parks in the city. Because these were the places where we had our fights,” says Aeshna with a laugh.
“And now whenever we pass these parks, Ravi points them out to me and says this where we fought that day, this is where you said such things to me. I am very bad with places and directions so I recognise these only when he points them out to me,” she adds.