Sometimes you don’t find your soulmate. You accidentally accept their Facebook friend request.
People often ask:
“How did you meet your significant other?”
Some say, “We met in college.”
Some say, “A friend introduced us.”
Some say, “We met at work.”
Some say, “It was love at first sight.”
And then there are stories like mine.
Mine started with a Facebook friend request.
Not at a café.
Not at a party.
Not through a family introduction.
Just…
Facebook.
And honestly, if someone had told the 19-year-old me that this random Facebook mutual friend would eventually become the person I would love for years, I would probably have laughed.
Because when I first met him…
I didn’t even think he was my type.
But let’s go back to the beginning.
It Started With a Facebook Request
It was 2011.
I was new to Facebook.
He was a mutual friend.
One day, he sent me a friend request.
I accepted it.
We started talking.
Initially, it was nothing dramatic.
Just conversations.
Facebook messages.
Then phone calls.
Slowly, conversations became longer.
We started knowing little things about each other.
But there was one tiny problem.
We had never actually met.
He was in Darbhanga, Bihar, studying MBBS.
I was in Raipur, studying at NIT Raipur.
He was a third-year MBBS student.
I was in my second year, third semester.
Two completely different lives.
Two different cities.
And one Facebook friendship that was slowly becoming something more.
Then One Day He Said Something Crazy
In 2012, he casually told me:
“I’m coming to meet you.”
I thought…
Okay.
Maybe he was joking.
Maybe not.
But then he actually came.
From Bihar.
To Raipur.
To meet me.
And suddenly my casual online friendship had become a real-life situation.
And I was…
TERRIFIED.
😂
I was only 19.
Yes, I talked to him on the phone.
Yes, I knew him through Facebook.
But meeting someone from the internet in real life?
That was completely different.
My brain was basically running a full background verification:
“What if he’s a fraud?”
“Phone tak toh theek hai…”
“But real life mein?”
“Pata nahi kaun hai!”
I didn’t trust people easily.
And this was my first experience of meeting someone I had known only through the internet and phone.
So when he actually arrived in Raipur…
I was excited, shocked, nervous and scared—all at once.
September 12, 2012
I still remember that day.
12 September 2012.
It was around 11 in the morning.
I went to Raipur Railway Station.
He had stayed at the railway station retiring room.
And then…
I saw him.
For the first time.
In real life.
And my first thought?
Not:
“Oh my God, my soulmate!”
Not:
“This is the man of my dreams!”
Absolutely not.
My first thought was something much more honest:
“Are yaar… he is NOT my type!” 😂
The Chocolate Boy at the Railway Station
He was wearing a white shirt and blue jeans.
And he was…
extremely good-looking.
Like a proper chocolate boy.
His lips were actually pinker than mine.
He was fairer than me.
And his hands were unbelievably soft.
Like…
cotton.
And I remember thinking:
“Ye ladka hai? Iske lips mujhse zyada pink hain!”
😂
My imaginary ideal type was more like Vijay Deverakonda.
And here was this completely different-looking guy standing in front of me.
So my brain concluded:
“Nope. Not my type.”
Meanwhile…
He was standing there with a red rose and a Temptation chocolate.
And when we shook hands…
I was literally shivering.
Not metaphorically.
Actually shivering.
Because suddenly the person I had known through a screen and a phone was standing in front of me.
A real person.
A stranger I somehow already knew.
And a person I still didn’t completely trust.
From Facebook to a Movie Date
But he was a gentleman.
He understood that I was nervous.
He didn’t push me.
He didn’t make me uncomfortable.
He knew I was scared.
So instead of making the situation more intense, he simply let me get comfortable.
That day, we went to City Centre Mall, Raipur.
We watched Heroine, starring Kareena Kapoor.
Then we had lunch.
We talked.
A lot.
And slowly…
the stranger became less strange.
The person behind the Facebook profile became a real human being.
Someone sitting across from me.
Someone laughing with me.
Someone listening to me.
Someone who had travelled all the way from Bihar simply because he wanted to meet me.
And by evening…
he dropped me at my hostel.
Then he left.
Before leaving, he gave me a goodbye kiss on my cheek in a public place.
And somehow, I think he already understood something about me.
I was scared.
I wasn’t ready to trust him.
And he knew he had to earn that trust.
The Girl Who Took Her Time
I was 19.
He was 23.
And I wasn’t someone who trusted people quickly.
So becoming his girlfriend wasn’t easy.
He had to convince me.
Again.
And again.
And again.
I tested his patience.
I questioned things.
I took my time.
I watched his actions.
Because words are easy.
Anyone can say:
“I love you.”
But I wanted to know:
“Will you stay?”
And he kept answering that question without words.
By being there.
By making efforts.
By not giving up.
By being patient.
Then Came 2017
Years passed.
Friendship became attachment.
Attachment became love.
And eventually, in 2017, I accepted his proposal.
And that was when our relationship officially began.
But honestly?
Our story didn’t begin in 2017.
It began much earlier.
Perhaps it began with that Facebook friend request in 2011.
Perhaps it began on 12 September 2012, when a nervous 19-year-old girl met a boy from the internet at a railway station.
Perhaps it began with a red rose.
Or a Temptation chocolate.
Or a handshake that made her hands shake.
Maybe love doesn’t have one beginning.
Maybe it quietly begins long before we have the courage to call it love.
And Then Life Happened
People often think relationships are made of romantic moments.
Roses.
Dates.
Movies.
Birthday celebrations.
Long phone calls.
Goodnight messages.
But the real test of love comes later.
When life stops being romantic.
When things become difficult.
When careers don’t work out.
When dreams fail.
When circumstances change.
When both people are tired.
When one person isn’t at their best.
When life throws one disappointment after another.
That’s when you discover whether someone was simply a beautiful chapter…
or whether they are willing to stay for the entire book.
And he stayed.
Through my ups.
Through my downs.
Through failures.
Through difficult phases.
Through the moments when I wasn’t easy to love.
Through my UPSC journey.
Through disappointments.
Through life.
He didn’t give up on me.
And perhaps that’s the part of our story that means the most to me.
I Tested His Patience
I often think about how much patience he had with me.
I tested him.
I questioned him.
I took years to completely trust him.
And still…
he didn’t leave.
There were moments when perhaps leaving would have been easier.
But he stayed.
Not perfectly.
Not like some fictional character.
But as a real human being who had his own flaws, struggles and problems.
And that’s what makes the story real.
Because soulmate doesn’t necessarily mean:
“The person who never makes mistakes.”
Sometimes soulmate means:
“The person who keeps choosing you, even when life isn’t perfect.”
Is He My “Type”?
Funny question.
Because remember my first impression?
“Not my type.”
😂
I wanted a completely different kind of guy.
And yet…
Years later, the person who wasn’t my type became the person who knows me better than most people.
The boy whose pink lips surprised me at the railway station became the man whose presence became familiar.
The stranger I was afraid might be a fraud became someone I trusted with pieces of my life.
The Facebook mutual friend became my boyfriend.
And eventually…
my soulmate.
Maybe that’s why we shouldn’t be too obsessed with “types.”
Because sometimes our type is based on imagination.
But love is based on experience.
The Most Beautiful Part?
We are still together.
Since 2017.
Not married yet.
But hopefully…
one day. ❤️
And I don’t know exactly what the future will look like.
Nobody does.
But after all these years, I know one thing:
We have already lived through enough chapters to know that this isn’t just a crush.
This is history.
This is friendship.
This is patience.
This is effort.
This is growth.
This is choosing each other again and again.
And somewhere between a Facebook friend request in 2011 and all the years that followed…
a stranger became home.
Maybe That’s How You Meet Your Significant Other
So, how do you meet your significant other?
Maybe through your best friend.
Maybe at college.
Maybe at work.
Maybe on a dating app.
Maybe on a train.
Maybe at a café.
Maybe through Instagram.
Maybe through Facebook.
Or maybe…
through a random friend request you almost don’t think twice about accepting.
You never know.
Because life doesn’t always introduce important people with a grand announcement.
Sometimes it simply sends you a notification:
“You have a new friend request.”
And you have absolutely no idea…
that you’re looking at the first page of a story that will last for years.
❤️ And This Is What My Love Story Taught Me
Love isn’t always love at first sight.
Sometimes it’s:
trust at first conversation.
Then friendship.
Then curiosity.
Then patience.
Then effort.
Then countless ordinary days.
And finally, one day, you look back and realize:
“Oh.”
“This person became my person.”
That’s perhaps more beautiful than love at first sight.
Because attraction can happen in a second.
But trust takes time.
And love that survives time…
is something else entirely.
🌹 One Last Thought
If you’re single and wondering:
“When will I meet my person?”
Don’t worry too much about the timing.
Your story might already be somewhere in the making.
You might meet them tomorrow.
Or next year.
Or five years from now.
You might meet them at a party.
Or on a railway station.
Or through a friend.
Or…
through a Facebook friend request.
And perhaps, just like me…
you’ll initially look at them and think:
“Not my type.”
😂❤️
And years later, you’ll smile because you will realize:
“Maybe they weren’t my type.
Maybe they were simply my person.”
🕊️ SHREEBIRD
Some love stories begin with fireworks.
Some begin with a friend request.
But the best ones are written in the years that follow.
Written by: SHIVASHRI GUPTAA
🌐 SHREEBIRD: shreebird.wordpress.com
🛍️ My Recommended Reads & Favourites:https://link.amazon/B04t8anMf
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Live deeply. Love honestly. Keep flying. 🕊️
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