"Priya, we haven't stopped laughing, sharing stories, and going on adventures ever since we met four years ago. I want to keep writing our story and going on adventures with you until my very last day. Will you marry me?" asked Debarshi, as he got down on one knee and opened the engagement ring box.
"Yes!" cried Priya, as she fought back tears and wiped her eyes.
As Debarshi slipped the ring onto Priya's finger, the folks at Villa Magia burst into cheer and brought out the celebratory champagne for the newly engaged couple.
Priya and Debarshi were standing on a terrace at Villa Magia overlooking the water and the multicolored, pastel homes on the Amalfi Coast, as Priya tried to put the pieces together of what just happened.
It was 7:00 PM on July 22, 2018, the sun hadn't quite set over the Tyrrhenian Sea yet, and Priya and Debarshi just started on a new adventure.
But how did the couple's story begin? How did the couple end up on that cliffside ledge in Italy in the first place?
……....
Priya and Debarshi met the day before classes started on August 25, 2014.
Emory Rollins School of Public Health faculty, staff, and students were hosting a welcome event for the new cohort of masters students with Pig-N-Chik BBQ, SweetWater brews, and Beyoncé over the loudspeakers in the courtyard between the Emory buildings.
Debarshi had arrived in Atlanta a few days before. He hardly knew a soul in the entire city and decided to attend the welcome event to meet his future classmates when he noticed Priya across the courtyard. Priya was bopping to Beyoncé in her Indian red palazzo pants and winged eyeliner while signing up new graduate students for the South Asian student health group.
“Wait, who is this girl?” Debarshi wondered. Debarshi needed an excuse to meet her. Any excuse.
"Tell me about this student health group? It would be great to learn more,” he lied.
After Debarshi held up the line of students who were legitimately trying to sign up for the student health group, Priya said, “Hey, it was great meeting you. Let’s continue this conversation later?”
“Yeah, definitely,” he replied casually. In reality, Debarshi was floored. Priya spent the summer working at CARE International to improve maternal and child health in Bihar, India. She also visited the Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya (where it is said that the Buddha attained enlightenment). Debarshi also learned that Priya grew up just outside DC.
Debarshi had spent the last couple of years in DC, teaching children and working alongside health professionals. Also, Debarshi had been practicing Buddhist forms of meditation since his junior year in college. The two of them had more in common than Debarshi initially expected.
As Debarshi walked away from the sign-up table, he realized that he didn’t know the next time that he would run into Priya. Debarshi and Priya were in different departments, class years—and in a graduate school with hundreds of students.
It was by the sheer force of luck that Debarshi bumped into Priya a few weeks later in front of the main classroom at RSPH.
“Hey, about to go to class?” Debarshi asked.
“Hey! Yeah, it’s a fun one!” Priya joked.
As she walked into her Epidemiology class, Debarshi knew that he couldn’t leave it to chance or another couple of weeks to bump into Priya again. So Debarshi pulled the only move that someone in his position would take. He was going to wait until the class ended.
So he waited, paced, tapped his watch, and waited some more. "Was this a one-hour or two-hour class?" he wondered. "Or wait, was this a three-hour class?" After what seemed like ages to Debarshi, Priya’s class was finally dismissed.
“Oh, wow. Running into one another twice in a day! What are the chances? Was just let out of my class too,” Debarshi blatantly lied.
“Nice! Hey, so I'm having a small get-together at my place on Saturday. Would you like to come?" Priya asked.
“Yeah, that sounds fun. Let me know what I should bring,” Debarshi replied.
"Sounds like a plan. See you soon," said Priya.
"Was this an ordinary invitation or something more?" wondered Debarshi. "Priya is famous for crafting the best charcuterie boards in all of Atlanta, so maybe this isn't a big deal," Debarshi sighed.
When Saturday finally arrived, Priya asked Debarshi to come early to help set up for the get-together. As they were wrapping up, Debarshi noticed that Priya had a swing on the outdoor patio. “Hey, we're done early. Would you still like to watch the PBS documentary on the Buddha that I mentioned? And want to watch it on my laptop—on this swing?” Debarshi asked.
“Definitely! I’ll bring a blanket and some more snacks,” Priya replied.
It was a crisp, Autumn day and Debarshi and Priya brushed the red-orange leaves off the swing as they took their seats. They picked up their hot chocolate with marshmallows and pulled the warm, furry, blanket over themselves, as they fired up the Buddha documentary.
As they watched scenes of present-day Bodh Gaya, a thought jumped into Debarshi’s head that he never considered before. Could he sip hot chocolate, under a blanket, and watch nothing but a documentary with Priya in a year from now? What about many years from now? In old age? Debarshi caught himself mid-thought and reminded himself that the two of them weren't even dating.
“That reminds me. I want to show you something, but give me a few days,” said Priya.
“Sure. Sounds good,” Debarshi replied, as he brushed away any long-term speculation.
A few days later, Debarshi was reading for his health policy class in the Emory RSPH courtyard when Priya walked up to him.
“Remember when I mentioned I wanted to show you something? Well, actually, I want you to keep something,” Priya said.
“Oh, right! So what is it?” asked Debarshi.
Priya reached into her backpack and pulled beautiful photos that she took of Bodh Gaya over the past summer. The photos had details of Bodh Gaya that Debarshi had never seen before. Carved footprints of the Buddha, the Mahabodhi temple, and a leaf.
“I want you to have these photos, but especially this leaf. It's a leaf from a descendant of the Bodhi Tree that the Buddha attained enlightenment under..."
Debarshi was floored once again. But this time was different. Priya and Debarshi only met recently, but this gesture, this gift, and this moment—it was when Debarshi knew that he was going to seriously pursue a relationship with Priya.
And although they both didn't know it yet, that was the very beginning of their story and adventure that led them to their brunches at Le Petit Marché and Sun in My Belly, dates at the Fox Theater and High Museum of Art, walks on the Beltline and South Peachtree Creek Trail, engagement on the Amalfi Coast, and wedding ceremony at the Foundry at Puritan Mill.
……....
To this day, Debarshi and Priya watch the same PBS documentary together every few months and keep the same leaf from the Bodhi Tree in the living room. They plan to continue watching the documentary at least a few more times.
Photo left: Taken at the Atlanta Rialto Center for the Arts during the Emory University RSPH 2014 Fall Fling event (10/17/2014)