Alphonso mangoes have flooded the Indian markets and coincidentally, we have received a delightful Indian Muslim wedding with a palette inspired by this very King of fruits. We are about to describe a cheerful summer wedding with bright colours that are toned down with softer shades of peach and pink, creating a perfect summer wedding palette. Bride Zainab has also given us interesting personal details about the events leading up to the day.
Zainab chose a beautiful mango-orange-gold-pink lehenga for her main ceremony. Complementing this theme was the wedding decor which looked magnificent in similar hues complete with elegant fabrics and exotic embellishments. For her Mehendi and engagement, she selected an outfit in red and purple. All events were documented beautifully by Pune based candid wedding photographers, AmourAffairs.
Read on for Zainab-Murtuza’s love story…
Bride and Groom: Zainab Poonawala and Murtaza Hafizji.
Wedding date: 17th March 2014
Wedding venue: Husainy Baug Pune. It was chosen as all the Bohri weddings in Pune take place here.
Our Story
First, a little bit about Murtaza. He grew up in Dubai, though his family was always based in Pune. They had moved to the Gulf 30 years ago. After finishing his schooling from Dubai, he came to Pune for higher studies and acquired his computer engineering degree here.
As for me, I’m a Pune girl through and through. (First, St. Mary’s School, followed by Fergusson College and finally a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Maharashtra Institute of Technology.)
I believe that our story is one that is ruled by Destiny; every bit unfolded so beautifully as if it were being orchestrated just to match the tune of our individual harmonies.
For me, it started in December 2011. A very close friend of mine was getting married at that time. At her Sangeet (which I almost missed), I met a common friend of ours, Riddhi. She asked me if I was dating anybody and I wasn’t. She told me about Murtaza and offered to set us up. I didn’t really make much of it then. But after the wedding, Riddhi called me up and told me that I already had him on my friends list on FaceBook!! Honestly, I don’t have any recollection of adding him on Facebook, and Murtaza claims the exact same thing. To this day, it’s a mystery as to who added whom? But anyway, we were already friends…so I checked his profile out. He seemed nice; except that he had just moved back to Dubai that very month for work-so I kind of lost heart. It didn’t seem like it was going to work out as I am not really a big fan of long distance virtual relationships. So I let it go.
Now, right about the same time, my mom’s best friend who lives in the same society as my in-laws, told my mother-in-law about me. I had no idea about it. My mother-in-law in turn told Murtaza about me so he also checked my profile out on Facebook.
All of this unfolded simultaneously. By the end of January, I had a notification on Facebook. “Murtaza Hafizji likes your photo”. So I liked one of his, after almost two weeks. And after another two weeks he sent me a message. “Hi”. (Yes, that’s it- just one word). Luckily we built up on that, and slowly we started chatting. I am (or at least was) quite anti-social networking. Still, I got Whatsapp installed so we could keep in touch. None of us were in a hurry. Conversation was easy and insightful. We got to know a lot about each other and more importantly we forged a really strong friendship, which I believe is the foundation of any good relationship.
Since he had just started working, he could come visit me only by the end of the year. October 3rd. His flight landed at 7 pm in Mumbai. And he was outside my gate by 12 30 in the night. We finally met each other in person. We had a really good time.
The next morning, my mom woke me up and told me to get ready. What for? Yes. I was ACTUALLY getting engaged that day. It was a Friday and bhaisaab had given a time of 2 52 pm. I think the parents had already been conspiring behind our backs because; all the preparations had already been done. That’s how fast it all happened. And he left for Dubai on the 5th.
We got married a year and a half later. He came to visit me twice and I went for a holiday to Dubai in 2013. I’d say we know each other very well. We’ve had a series of Skype dates and BBM conversation but the real life story is just about starting. Sometimes it’s like we don’t know anything about each other. Luckily, that works for both of us. ( I feel that getting to know something about him makes each day very interesting). We are, to be honest, very very different people. I’m laidback and easy going, some might say lazy. He’s a perfectionist and obsessive, almost on the verge of a disorder. So, things never get boring. Thankfully, our idea of fun is the same, so there is never any lack of that. We love going for long drives…and relaxing on the beach. Movies and TV shows are a big addiction. We have very different preferences in this regard, but it brings more to the table in terms of variety. Working out is something both of us can’t live without. So hopefully, neither of us will ever gain weight. But one thing that both of us have in common despite all the differences and I know this might sound like a terribly cliché, is our similar family backgrounds and religious values. We understand each other, as well as the contradictions between modernity and conventionalism. That really helps us work through the worst of fights.
I don’t know what else to say about our relationship, because we are still at a very nascent stage. And secretly, I wish that we always stay here. Our journey has just begun. To think I was actually going to ditch my friend’s wedding for a Goa trip…..ha-ha…like I said… destiny! 🙂
I shopped for all my outfits from Pune’s local markets and did all my makeup myself.”
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