Express

Marriages are MADE IN HEAVEN

Marriages, especially the practice of arranged marriages, are central fabric in the Indian society. Tying a knot outside the community is a taboo still. Yet many fellow Indians are hitched to gorgeous women from foreign nations and they are now our videshi bahus (foreign nationals as daughterin-law). Not only have these ravishing ladies managed successfully to adopt the Indian tradition and culture but also have made a way through our hearts. Coming from another part of the world, they met their beloved to start a life together in an unknown territory with love and happiness. Dipti P unfolds the journey, the real-life love tale, and companionship of two most loved and adored couples Ala & Rajan Madhu and Vesna & Anuraag Jacob.

Rajan Madhu and Ala

Ala In a way our societies are very different but in many ways it is similar. We Ukrainians also believe in family oriented relationship and though religion, food habits and many other aspects are different.

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Anurag and Vesna Jacob

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Rajan In every marriage when two people decide to spend their lives together, it is all about respecting and understanding each other. Finally what matters above religion, culture and language is love and trust; if thats there you can overcome anything. no problems in accepting his decision. He had the complete support and approval from all his family members and friends over his decision to marry Ala. My family is very cosmopolitan, and we all have lived both in India and abroad for several years. There were no reactions from my family and as a matter-of-fact, my family and friends supported me completely, says Rajan. The charismatic couple nally united in marriage in the year 2000. Adjustment after marriage is a fact. William Shakespeare once said,Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind. When it comes to leaving ones native land to start afresh with a new life in a new far off country poses its own difculties. Ukraine and India dont have much in common either in culture, language or habits. But love won over the barriers. Ala agreeably adapted to India and to its culture and habits. Expressing her feelings on the societal differences she says, In a way our society is very different but in many ways it is similar. We also believe in family oriented relationships and though religion, food habits and many other aspects are different, I am quite happy now being in India. I have made a lot of friends over here and keep myself fairly active and busy. The power couple is now proud parents of three beautiful children, a handsome son and two adorable daughters Romel, Noella and Radha aged ten, nine, and seven respectively.

Ala & Rajan Madhu

(Owners F-Bar and Lounge)
A dashing businessman and entrepreneur met acclaimed ballerina
Ala, a trained ballet performer, hails from Ukraine. She is an acclaimed ballerina, a gold medallist in classical and modern repertoire, and has performed for a world renowned ballet group around the world. Their love story began when Rajan saw her on stage for the rst time and was spellbound by her incredible persona. Someone had rightly said this about being in love -You know you are in love when you see the world in her eyes, and her eyes everywhere in the world. This is what happened with Rajan when he rst saw Ala. After making repeated attempts to pursue her, Rajan nally won her over. Rajan and I met in Ukraine for the rst time. He saw me on stage, came up and proposed to me.

Obviously for the 1st two times I refused but the 3rd time he managed to pursue me, reminisces the elegant Ukrainian beauty. When asked the better half, Rajan, a leading businessman, about his side of the story, he nods, I did pursue her many times and nally managed to win her over. Like many love stories this dashing businessman met acclaimed ballerina story also went through hurdles and objections before approval for marriage from the family. Unlike Rajan whose family is cosmopolitan and open, Alas family had their share of worries. Like all parents, in the beginning, they were concerned over the fact that their daughter would go and stay in a country which was far away from their native land. Ala shares, Yes, in the beginning my family was worried about me getting married to someone who lived so far away from Ukraine. However after they met Rajan, all their objections settled down. He managed to charm them the way he impressedme. On the ipside, Rajans family had

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Anuraag I met this rather mysterious and yet very interesting young lady online and I was not even aware of her real name for atleast one month into chatting. It took me almost 6 months to nd out what she actually did for a living! But I still occasionally pinch myself to make sure I am not dreaming, that I could be so lucky in my choice of a life partner. Though the children being born and brought up in India,speak their mother tongue i.e. Russian, uently. Children and their grandparents share a special bond crossing all barriers of land, culture and language. The couple takes the children on regular trips to Ukraine during summer vacations and the children spend quality time together with their maternal grandparents too. In Alas words, My parents and friends do not visit India very frequently, but during summer vacations I take my kids to Ukraine. The kids spend a lot of quality time with their nana, nani, aunts and uncles, and as far as language is concerned, they speak Russian quite well. Martin Luther once said, There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage. To have a successful marriage, factors like love and affection including deep understanding and compatibility are essential. So how difcult or easy would it be to adjust with a partner who has an entirely different heritage background? Rajan believes, In every marriage when 2 people decide to spend their lives together, it is all about respecting and understanding each other. We had our shares of interacting and learning about each others outlook and culture. But nally what matters above religion, culture and language is love and trust; if thats there, you can overcome anything.

VESNA & ANURAAG JACOB

(Owners, Vesnas Wellness Clinic)
love @ rst click
To quote Christopher Marlowe, Whoever loved that loved not at rst sight? In this romantic tale it was love at rst click. Anuraag and I met over the internet through a dating/ social networking site. This site allowed users to upload their photographs and get rated on the same by fellow surfers, gushes Vesna, the power plate instructor and a native Bosnian. I absolutely wasnt looking for anyone or anything at that time and I never took these sites too seriously but the main aim of my friends and I were to have fun and see who gets the best rating!, explains the Bosnian beauty with a laugh. She was working with the US armed forces in her native country Bosnia, I was working for the US Army back then and when you are into that kind of a job, you obviously would be more cautious about things youre doing. So I was more wary of these things. But then again it was just a fun thing to see how well your pictures or photos get rated. And this particular site then was unlike the present networking sites.Its completely secure i.e. if you reject a friend request,BOOM! That person cant access or see your prole again. The keywords that brought this lovely couple

together were Anuraags interest in tigers, India, books, football, Tolkien, and photography and Vesna sin politics, books, tarot and palmistry and laughter. While surng, these keywords caught the attention and fuelled their initial attraction towards each other. Vesna was awestruck by the picture posted by Anuraag, a consultant with hospitality and infrastructure sectors with Indian as well as multinational companies and the son of the famous author and journalist, Satish Jacob. At that time he was working on wildlife related project. Vesna says, I was fascinated to see his photos! He was standing in one of the sites in Ranthambore wearing a hat and in an open jeep. My initial reaction was Wow! A tall, dark, and handsome guy from India and I have always been fascinated by India. The better-half, Anuraag explains his side of this romantic and my sterioustale. He says, I met this rather my sterious and yet very interesting young lady online and found out later that I was not even aware of her real name for at least a month into chatting! It took the better part of 6 months to nd out what she actually did for a living! Nonetheless, the conversation was engrossing. It started with politics and went on to cover all aspects of life, faith, and slowly but surely a personal chemistry too developed and proper personal details followed. Despite having a fairly active social life, I found myself to be
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Vesna I would call it chemistry! Because when a certain individual who you have never seen in your life, never spoken over the phone manages to engage you and grab your attention in front of a small chat screen is amazing.

waiting for the time I could be online chatting with her. We eventually met 5 months later for real in Bosnia and the rest is history. Vesna confesses, I am an extrovert and had a very lively social life. But when Anuraag and I started chatting online, the conversation as one wouldnt expect were more on politics, books, the current world scenario, the Bosnian civil situation, the Kashmir issues rather than romance or anything of that sort. Small conversations led to continuous chatting for about 5-6 hours a day! My friends and family started noticing as I would refuse to spend time outside but sit in front of the computer chatting with a complete stranger from India. She further goes on to explain, I would call it chemistry! Because when a certain individual who you have never seen in your life, have never spoken over the phone manages to engage you and grab your attention in front of a small chat screen is amazing. Soon they decided to exchange their phone numbers and talk over the phone. The phone bills hit the roof with so many long distance calls. Then Anuraag offered an invitation to Vesna to visit India. Vesna clearly refused because like many other foreigners, she too believed India to be an unsafe country to visit alone. They planned to meet anywhere in Europe but that too didnt work out. So, Anuraag, one day landed in her native land Bosnia! I was in shock! Getting to Bosnia was not easy in those days. But there he was in Bosnia after 5 months of chatting and talking over the phone. When I informed my parents about Anuraag, the guy whom I chatted with regularly was here, they had cold feet, admits the gorgeous Bosnian. During his brief visit the couple spent some nice quality time and soon Vesna decided to take a tour to India. Love that is not madness is not love, -expounds Pedro Calderon de la Barca. I

landed in India on 27th December 2003 to spend the New Year Day with Anuraag. And within this 9-day stay in India, we decided to get MARRIED! A complete out of the blue and impulsive decision but we were in-love!! We decided the date, venue, food, guest list EVERYTHING! says Vesna giggling. When I returned home and informed my parents about the decision, I assure you that you can write a whole new story talking about their reactions, laughs Vesna. They were furious and thought I had gone mad. Even my friends thought I had gone out of my mind. They were not ready to accept my decision. They all had different perceptions about India and its people, like I said earlier, even though I told them about my wonderful stay in the country. Adding misery to that particular day in Bosnia, The Oprah Show telecasted a feature on India and its ill-treatment towards their daughterin-laws over dowry. It tipped off my parents even strongly! After a lot of drama and discussions her family nally approved her decision with a message that if at all anything went wrong in India, she should remember that she had a home in Bosnia and she could return any day. However, Anuraag had a different story. He states, Being the only child, my close relatives were ecstatic that I had nally found someone interesting enough to contemplate the M word. My family was very well aware of the fact that Vesna was leaving behind her entire life in Bosnia to start afresh here in India. So everyone on my side was welcoming and supportive. The endearing couple got married in a Christian ceremony in front of family and friends on 28th February 2004. Anuraag shares his views on being happily married now for over 8 years. He shares, I am not sure how I have changed her life but I can only

hope that there have been some positive changes which I have been able to bring in her life. But, I can surely go on and on about how she has changed mine. Being the only child I had a fairly insular social point of view which changed 180 degrees. Even to this date after 8 years, I cannot think of anyone else except Vesna to spend the rest of my life with. She has brought a lot of balance and maturity to my life as well. I know it may sound a little cheesy but I still occasionally pinch myself to make sure I am not dreaming that I could be so lucky in my choice of a life partner.Anuraag didnt have to face difculties while adjusting to the different background of his beloved partner. He confesses, Bosnia is very similar to India in many ways - family ties are important, there is a certain level of conservatism when it comes to social behaviour etc. So in many ways we had a lot of common ground to begin with. Since she had to move to India and not vice-versa, I had very little difculty in adjusting to her heritage and background. Quite honestly, the person who really had to cope with changes was Vesna and she has done it remarkably well. They both love each others native lands. Where Anuraag candidly says that he loves Bosnia and its people but unfortunately he doesnt get chance to visit Bosnia frequently. But promises that despite being a true Holland fan when it comes to football, he has now decided to check the scores of the Bosnian team before his favourite Holland. Vesna loves the vibrant nature of India. She feels the country is one of the most happening places in the world and people here are much more open and welcoming. The couple have a beautiful 4 year old baby girl Daniela Zara. Fusion Life compliments these families for Happy and Long Life.

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