We could feel the subtle presence of romance when we caught up with the dignified yet dashing couple, Tripta and Manjit Sood, who celebrated their golden wedding anniversary three years ago. Witnessing the growth of the town from it’s nascent stage, this graceful couple cites ‘discipline and regular, religious lifestyle’ as the mainstay of their life, even though they are well-entrenched in the social life of the town.Tripta gets a little misty eyed when she recollects, “ I was just 17 {sweet!} and Sood Sahib 22 when we got married. He even completed his graduation afterwards from Government College.” So it was a case of growing up together.

Cool tempered Manjit (his better half vouchsafes for it), who owns the Woodland showroom and Embassy Palace, is very fond of singing and dancing. Their friends have still not forgotten their dance on ‘Ai meri zohra jabeen’ on their golden wedding anniversary. Tripta has very recently started taking coaching in shabad gayan, and is thoroughly enjoying it. Interestingly, the gifting in their case seems to all from the Mrs to the Mr!

A product of Christian Medical College, Diabetologist Geeti and Neeraj Arora, an opthalmologist, have stood the matrimonial rigours for the past one decade. It was a very pleasant surprise for them when their children, daughter 9 and son 5, greeted them with roses on the Valentine morning . Their’s is a romance which has matured from a teenage crush to a stable friendship. Neeraj, who works in Gurdev Hospital, feels that “comfort level with each other, even if it is 70%, should be the achievable target.” And Geeti, who works in Deep Hospital and is a social activist too, has something naughty up her sleeve. “It was being discussed among friends that after every ten years, there should be an option to renew the marriage contract,” she grins. That is the new generation for you! This doctor duo loves to go for travel, gymming and swimming.

An MBA in finance, the charming Ramneek and Sukhpreet Singh Khurrana, a young industrialist, enjoyed their Valentine’s Day to the max, with a cuddly lunch and a wild get-together with friends in the evening. Having tied the nuptial knot more than a year back, both Ramneek and Sukhpreet have found this town very progressive. “Even though we had a courtship of eight to nine months, getting to know each other more is very exciting. And we relate so much to such days as Valentine’s, which celebrate love,” they chorus. Not wanting to be branded an MCP, Sukhpreet is looking for an equal equation within the marital arena, and one can almost see his better half nodding in agreement. After a cruise for a honeymoon trip and ushering in the New Year on the beaches of Goa, these youngsters are having all the fun these days.

Young Architects Sheweta and Kanav Khosla describe their eight-month-old tryst with matrimony the McDonald way: ‘I’m loving it!’ Sheweta, who hails from Aurangabad, finds the city very different. “And I am thoroughly enjoying the difference,” she smiles. Exchanging silly, cute gifts and sweet nothings was their way of celebrating Valentine’s Day. “I was so much in the air that we got our parents too to have fun on this day,” Sheweta added. But Kanav, our ever busy architect, has a different viewpoint. “Marriage is quite a learning experience, rather a different cup of tea. Now I have to report back in time in the evening,” he grins. After all, drawings, bricks and mortar and marriage are certainly on a different plane altogether.