I belong to a very orthodox family where girls are not allowed to raise their voice against anything. I am in love with a guy. He is a Muslim. The problem starts here because I am a Hindu. I met the love of my life when I was doing my diploma. He was my senior but belonged to a different branch. He fell for me and I fell for him and the saga of our love story started. I was on top of the world because I could feel the magic of my first love.

Ever since I was a child, I have always felt that I was ignored by my parents and that my brother was their favourite child. I felt protected, loved and confident when Arsh, the love of my life, was with me.

Arsh was studying in an engineering college. Luckily I got admission into the same institution. Since this college was far from my hometown, I had to stay in the college hostel.

It was the first time I was staying away from home. My parents finally started showing some concern for me. I started getting attached to them emotionally.

A few days later Arsh and I had a fight and I thought that things were over between us. It was at this time that we also started thinking about our parents.

We both knew that they would never agree to a Hindu-Muslim marriage.

But things did not end between us. He would check out how I was doing every 2 or 3 months. He would inquire about my well-being. I felt I was a very broken person from inside but I never let him know about it. I always smiled and said I was fine.

We knew that our chances of getting married were slim because we had to give top priority to our parents’ wishes.

I finished my M.Tech and Arsh got into a business after he finished his engineering. Even today we still share the same strong bond with each other. And of course, we feel very helpless about it too. 

I still continue to feel depressed and lonely. The loneliness is really killing me. But something happened a few days ago and this made us rethink our relationship. Our families have started searching for partners for us.

Arsh’s family announced his younger brother’s marriage because Arsh was taking time to settle down. He was refusing to get married to any of the girls that his family suggested to him. My family, on the other hand, was happy because they had got a marriage proposal for me from some distant relative who lived in another state. We barely knew them or their names even.

We feel we are sacrificing our love for our family and getting nothing in return.

In a way, Arsh’s family has betrayed him. As for my family, I thought that they would want me to live close by but they seem to be happy to send me to any corner of the world.

But I know that they will not accept a Muslim guy who loves their daughter the most. He lives just a few kilometres away from us. I love him and I truly believe that I will be happy with him.

But they will not accept our relationship because ‘log kya kahenge?’

Now it is like ‘Now or never' for us. We have two options before us. Either we should strike back and hold on to our love for each other. Or accept our family's decision and suffer for our entire lives. I know it is going to be lifelong suffering for me.

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