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Real People, Real Romances: Akhlaq and Mehreen Jahan

Our relationship grew with time and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would get married to someone from Pakistan (defying the conventional norms).

After an astounding response in 2012, we decided to retain the tradition this year as well, and so, this Valentine's Day, we focus (again) on real people and real romances. Whether discreet or larger-than-life, these are romances that normal people like you and me have experienced.

Here are some stories that we absolutely loved.

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AKHLAQ & MEHREEN

"During India vs Pakistan cricket matches – we are opponents!"

 

 

We have all read books on Long-distance relationships and watched way too many movies on this subject. When I think about how I got married, it looks like as if it is straight from a movie or a book. Unusual would be the right word to describe it.

I grew up in Calcutta (growing up it was Calcutta then), did my schooling there and moved to Dubai to expand my avenues. I worked in an advertising/marketing research agency. This is where I met Mehreen. Not where I was working or in Dubai. I met Mehreen online. We were pen-pals. Just two people from different part of the world trying to connect.

What intrigued me about her was that she was from Pakistan. I wanted to learn about her culture (although it’s not that different), value system etc. To make the story short – we continued our relationship for 10 years. You can imagine the number of letters we wrote to each other. Later, I came to America in 2005 to settle down (with the rest of my family).

Our relationship grew with time and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would get married to someone from Pakistan (defying the conventional norms).

In 2011 I decided to make a trip to Pakistan. Although it was the first time I was meeting her, it never felt like I was meeting a stranger. We instantly hit it off and knew in our hearts that we wanted to settle down with each other for the rest of our lives.

I remember asking her – “Is this the start of something new or end of something old” (referring to our pen-friendship). She smiled and said – It’s just the beginning of a new chapter in our relationship. And as they say – the rest is history….

We’ve been married for 3 years and we have a beautiful daughter named Areesha.  We do have our own likes and dislikes. We have our strong affinity for Cricket (during India vs Pakistan matches – we are opponents), we laugh at stupid things and above all we like to spend time talking to each other on topics that are just an excuse to start a conversation.

Our relationship started with the foundation of respect that turned into Love. Crossing all barriers and boundaries. The only thing that we had in common was the mutual acknowledgement of the theory of Love. It’s not about where you are from or what you see in another person, it’s the ability to look past all the pre-conceived notions that one has about relationships.

For us Love is more than just two people going crazy about each other, it is the belief, the faith and the feeling that exist in another person which doesn’t need to be visible. Ours started with that concept and turned into something so beautiful and divine.

 

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If selected, your story will be featured on Yahoo's sites and Valentines Special 2015.

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