Pride Month 2021: Four queer couples narrate their incredible love stories

Relationships are bound to come with feelings of love and affection. It takes a lot for two people to be in a relationship with each other. Commitment, understanding, loyalty, love, and being there for each other are the pillars of a healthy relationship. As we celebrate Pride Month, we bring to you 4 queer couples who talk about how their relationships magically worked out despite the challenges life threw their way.

"When the first wave of lockdown hit, Atulan was stuck alone at his place and couldn't travel back to his hometown. It seriously took a lot of convincing on my part to ask his parents to let Atulan stay with me. The time we spent together helped us in getting to know each other. We were quite literally each other's home away from home. We explored our relationship and talked about things that couples usually talk about way down the line of their journey together. Now, we are just two individuals who accept each other's imperfections and flaws and look forward to spending the rest of eternity together against all odds. "

---Atulan Purohit & Divesh Tolani

Picture Credit: Instagram @honey.imm.home

"Staying apart from each other for 5 months was tough. I remember Ashish mentioning that long-distance is not his thing. But I guess it was our love and affection that made Ashish rethink and give long distance a shot. It felt like a 5 months long tenure where we would have date nights every weekend, watching our favorite movies together. The huge distance didn't seem like such a big deal when we had love in our hearts. To keep the spark going, we would try to meet each other in person every other month. Either I would fly down to Bangalore or Ashish would end up in Mumbai. These 5 months gave us a better reason to connect emotionally. It brought us even closer and we got to know each other better. We stood against the distance like two pillars in love. Working towards our relationship each day is the only thing that keeps us going. Love is indeed above all boundaries, be it distance or gender."

---Inder Vhatwar & Ashish Srivastava

Picture Credit: Instagram @inder_and_ashish

"At the beginning of our relationship, I was hospitalized a few times. I had gone through excruciating pain and almost lost hope in life. Besides my mother, Neeta was the only person who looked after me. She held my hand and stayed by my side until I was better. She went days without sleep and quit her job just to see me recover. I'm doing great now, and I can never thank her enough for all she's done. She’s what makes me a better person and keeps me going. Society never mattered to us and we never let its opinion affect us in any possible way. Every single day has been a blessing. Home never felt so warm as it does with her. We’ve come a long way, and it’s been a beautiful journey so far. Of course, we’ve also had our share of ups and downs, but together we’ve overcome every obstacle. And that’s the plan for the rest of our lives."

---Maitrayanee Mahanta & Neeta Basnet

Picture Credit: Instagram @mmaitrayanee

On discovering my sexual identity, I was all in to embrace it. I went on to date my partner, Sandi who I met through Facebook, and even started our own organization called 'Mobbera Foundation for Queer Rights.' We went to Pride Parades and discovered the beautiful world of acceptance and love. However, my parents had something else on their minds. They tried to take me to doctors for conversion therapies and shock treatments as they were homophobic. I was on the verge of losing my life while fighting for my rights. Having seen all that cruelty that went around, I opted out of my parent's home and filed a petition against them. Now, I and Sandi live at our place with our cheerful dog, building a life with dreams full of love and acceptance for all. After all, how hard is it to accept someone for who they are and embrace their identity as an individual?"

---Anil Savitri & Sandi Kushary

Picture Credit: Instagram @minionofhumans

By: Samriddhi Bisht