Tulsi and Bunty had been talking for about a week after matching on Dil Mil when Tulsi grew tired of waiting and decided to give Bunty her phone number (you go girl).
After texting back and forth for a few days, they decided to FaceTime. They both got off that five hour call with a profound sense that they had found exactly what they had been looking for. They knew in their hearts that they wanted to be together forever, and decided to take the next step to meet in person and see if this truly was a match made in heaven. Bunty flew from California to Philly to meet Tulsi (for a 10 day trip!), and as soon as they met they knew this was real. They spent the next year doing long distance and visiting each other when they could.
However, things weren’t always easy. They faced some pressure from both sides of the family – Bunty’s family had a more modern lifestyle, and Tulsi’s mom really wanted her to settle down with a Patel (preferably a doctor). Bunty and Tulsi wanted their families to be happy and struggled to stay together without their blessings. With this pressure weighing on them, they eventually chose to separate, sacrificing their happiness in the process.
They spent a year apart dating other people and trying to move on, but deep down they both knew they were meant to be together. After the hardest year of their lives apart, life led them back to each other and they reignited their love in March 2018. Bunty went and bought an engagement ring within the first couple of months after they got back together, knowing that this time nothing was going to keep them apart. As if they didn’t have enough obstacles in their way, the engagement ring accidentally got sent to Tulsi’s house! While she didn’t open the package, she knew what it was and started preparing for a proposal during Bunty’s next visit. This is when Bunty pulled the ultimate James Bond move and secretly had her brother swap out the ring for a random flashlight. When he finally visited a couple of weeks later and opened the package in front of her, the disappointment on her face was clear. He eventually proposed during her next visit to California, convincing her that they had to go to a co-workers birthday party. He invited all her friends and family from Tampa to be there in person for the perfect surprise, and of course she said yes.
Adorable couples like this keep our belief in soulmates alive. Despite many of their friends and family having doubts and telling them they were crazy to try and pursue this long distance relationship, Tulsi and Bunty followed their hearts. Tulsi says it best: “Our relationship has definitely proved to us that when it comes to true love, there are no boundaries and sometimes just sometimes, no matter how crazy you sound, love is worth the risk and every once in a while you have to trust your gut because soulmates are real and there is a such thing as meant to be.”
#OnceUponaDilMil
