Ketu With Her Chinu

She used to be Ketki to me, back when I only knew how to trouble her, tease her endlessly, annoy her in every way I could think of, all while secretly, quietly taking care of her. Now she's my Ketu, my little baal, my baby. She's so innocent, so cute, so pure, no one can quite match it. She thinks the world sees her as selfish, but I know better. I know how selfless she really is, always putting everyone else first, even when it costs her something of herself.

She's the kind of girl everyone wants, sweet, mature, calm, composed, understanding, and so much more than that. And out of everyone, she chose me. She's my whole world now. She's so innocent, so small in her heart, that I can't even imagine hurting her by mistake, and when I do, my whole world feels like it's shattering. On the night before, I fell in love with who she is, not her face, not anything about how she looks, just her, as a person. The very next day, I held her hand for the first time in my life, and it felt like I was holding my whole world, and my happiness, in my own two hands. She made me believe that I could be loved too, that I could receive love and effort the way I give it. She thinks she's hard to love. She's not. She's just a girl who needs the right person to take care of her, and I intend to spend my life being exactly that person.

I still remember every moment from these last three years, our Solapur trip, the nights we fell asleep talking, the jacket I gave you on that train, taking care of you the night you were drunk, and so many more, all the way back to the bond we quietly built in our first year. I want to build a lifetime of memories with you, Ketu, and I already have so many more planned. I promise to go build a whole world worth giving you. I am ready to wait for you, for as long as it takes for your parents to be convinced. I want to marry you, Ketu. I've already done it in my dreams, more times than I can count, but I want to do it for real, and when we do, I want it to feel like a festival, not just a wedding. I want to see us happy, our families happy, and everything we've ever hoped for finally here. I love you.

You're my Ketu. I'm your Chinu. Forever.

30th June, Past Midnight

Three and a Half Hours

The night before, I cried without even knowing why. You were leaving for Noida, for an internship that would take you away for months, and after three years of being in the same friend group, after finally getting close to you, the timing felt cruel. I missed you before you had even left.

Then came the next night. You had just gotten your first stipend, and somewhere past midnight, we started talking. I told you I had been crying, and why. You listened, and slowly, talking about that turned into talking about everything. Our families are strict, neither of us could really be on our phones that late, but that night we found the courage anyway, whispering so no one at home would know we were awake.

For three and a half hours, we talked like we had known each other forever, even though this was the first time we were truly close. We talked about our lives, the good parts and the hard ones too, things neither of us had really said out loud before. And somewhere in that conversation, it started coming out. That you had liked me for three years. That I had been quietly noticing you, admiring you, caring for you longer than I had ever admitted, even to myself.

We did not say it directly. We did not have to. By the end we were flirting shamelessly, already talking about dates, about a future, two people who do not usually believe in anything this sudden, completely swept up anyway. It felt like a kind of magic we did not understand and did not try to control.

That night, we both knew. We just had not said it yet.

The next evening we met to talk it through, half laughing about what even happened the night before. We talked about our futures, our flaws, what we needed from each other, being honest in a way that mattered. And then, at the end of it, I finally asked you: Ketki, will you date me?

You said yes. And it was, without question, the most wholesome moment of my life.

Ketu & Chinu

Our Journey

Three and a Half Hours