Arranged… and awkward. We learned how to choose each other.

We met through families. On paper, perfect. In person, wooden. Calls felt like interviews, meetings like ceremonies. I feared we’d marry politeness, not a person.

A friend said, “Before you say no or yes out of pressure, talk to Dayaram ji.”

He listened, then held a focused process and offered simple shifts: stop performing; do short, real conversations; share one honest fear each, and one small joy; involve elders only after we felt steady.

By the end, we were laughing about street food and music. He told me he writes poetry (badly). I said I collect old postcards. We chose each other—gently, freely.

Pandit Ji said, “Respect the arrangement; create the relationship.” We did—and it became ours.