Roma and Amit
December 4, 2021
This is a story of boy meets girl. Harry meets Sally. Rahul meets Anjali.
The boy is Amit Goyal. He sits in a square bland cubicle, walls lined with corporate policy memos and the emergency escape route. Amit, dark hair and brown eyes, wears a stuffy button-up and faded brown shoes to abide by the corporate dress code. He looks pretty bored.
The girl is Roma Vaswani. She trails after doctors and types furiously in a plain white office. She has long black hair almost as dark as night but her face is feminine and pretty enough to shine like the moon.
The boy, Amit Goyal of Ludhiana, Punjab, grew up believing that he’d never truly be happy until the day he met his “soulmate.”
The girl, Roma Vaswani of Pune, Maharashtra, shared this belief.
Since she was a little girl, she’d only loved two things. The first was dancing. The second was how free it made her feel.
Amit meets Roma on March 18th, 2016 in a crowded and bustling restaurant. In an instant, they will know whether they’re the ones they’ve been looking for. For these two, love at first sight was a bunch of baloney.
This is a story of boy meets girl.
But before they do, you should know upfront, this is not your typical Karan Johar story.
When one strongly believes in something, it takes overwhelming contradictory evidence to change their minds.
Most are devout believers in the idea of “true love.” Not these two.
Most met in a bar, club, work or church for a beer, drink, coffee, or wine. Not these two.
Most lived in the same city. Not these two.
Most are taught not to trust strangers on the internet. Well, here’s where Amit and Roma’s story might change your mind.
This love story begins on a fleeting February 20th. Most days of the year are entirely unremarkable. They begin and they end without creating a single lasting memory. Most days have no real impact on the course of a life. February 20th was different.
Amit broke the ice that day by asking the most serious question of all: What is your favorite NSYNC song?
Roma shockingly broke the news; she was a Backstreet Boys kind of girl.
This wouldn’t be the last time they disagreed. This wouldn’t be the last time they faced an obstacle. This wouldn’t be the last time they struggled. This wouldn’t be the last time.
If Amit and Roma had learned anything… it was that you can’t ascribe great cosmic significance to a simple earthly event. Coincidence. That’s all anything ever is. Nothing more than coincidence.
It was a coincidence that Amit messaged Roma, as insignificant as it was. But four years later is it still coincidence that they decided to tie the knot?
It took a long time but they finally learned. There are no miracles. There’s no such thing as coincidence. Nothing is easy. They knew love takes work. They were sure of it now.
This is a story of boy meets girl.
"Hi! My name is Puja. If you don’t already know me, you probably will soon. Where Roma is, I’m usually not that far behind! If it feels like Roma and I have known each other since birth, it’s because we have! Our parents set up shop right next to each other in Richardson almost thirty years ago and as cliché, as it is, the rest was just history from there. Allow me to not-so-humbly-brag about this because how many people are lucky enough to say they’ve had someone like Roma in their corner since day one? Our history up to this point has been a joint adventure, having gone through preschool to undergrad without leaving the other’s side. Even after that, we were both still local and couldn’t get rid of each other!
So naturally, when I pondered about the type of guy my best friend would marry, my standards might have been just a tad on the “high” side. I knew her like the back of my hand, though probably even better than that because who really looks at their back of their hands? Is that just me? Ok, I digress. Who could measure up to what my best and oldest friend deserves right? The answer lies in a one Amit Goyal, who had coincidentally been in Richardson all along! (Full disclosure, he did go to Berkner, but no one’s perfect.)
If you know anything about Amit, you know he is the master of two things: mystery and detail. He always has something up his sleeve and you’ll never know what it is until it happens. Sometimes he will pay for your dinner bill when you aren’t looking. Other times he will take a secret flight home just to surprise his family. He once planned Roma a Disney themed scavenger hunt so intricately and beautifully done, I think he could have sold it to Walt himself. (I’m not even joking – even the confetti paper was handmade and Beauty and the Beast-themed, as this is Roma’s favorite Disney movie.) Each stop on this scavenger hunt (all locations of their first dates) proved to be another testament of the love and dedication he holds for Roma.
Over the last few years, I’ve seen these two take care of each other in every way imaginable. In this big, crazy world it’s a beautiful thing to find the one that understands you completely and I’m so incredibly happy that they have found each other. Everyone better get ready, because this wedding is going to be one for the ages!"
"I really can't remember a time "before Roma". Proximity set our friendship in motion when our parents worked in the same retail park. Our parent's stores were our second homes, and our friendship was more like a long sleepover interrupted by irritating things like school and sleep. We watched movies, played board games, rode our bikes, and played make-believe for hours on end. I truly wouldn't change a thing."
"I went to high school out of my district so naturally, I had no friends. Roma came up to me one day and asked, “hey aren’t you Indian?”
I said, “yeah, are you?” and in no time we bonded over our favorite Bollywood ballads.
We became the kind of pair of friends that laughed unstoppably at any and everything, could have full conversations in mere glances, and listened to angsty teen rock together.
I am extremely lucky to find the kind of friend who appreciates the small things in life and values love and kindness."
Ameesh is Amit's younger brother by two years. He left Texas after high school, truly having eaten his last-free-roti as they say in the Goyal household. The family and Roma alike anxiously await his visits home, where he's tasked with a laundry list of "tech" jobs.
Be sure to ask him about how many cars Amit has totaled.
"What's funny to me is that I don't remember at all when I first met Amit. I think we were in Biology or History class together [in high school]. I think I started hanging out with him because of Eairheart's English class and then GIPO happened. Should I mention that our friendship was really strengthened when we made that extra credit movie...?"
Be sure to ask him about GIPO and that extra credit video.
"Amit and I first met in early elementary school. We often worked on projects together, played basketball and video games with our close group of friends. As we got older, we went on a number of trips. A memory that stands out was when a group of us went to Iceland. After we checked into one of our Airbnbs in the evening, JJ and I decided to go to sleep since we were exhausted from the flight and drive. It was spring, so the sun was still out (and would be until past midnight). Amit and Chris decided to go walk around, and they later told JJ and I that they had tasted the most amazing food: duck pizza. This claim stands unconfirmed to this day...
Amit introduced Roma during one of our board game nights. It's fun to see them interact, especially when Amit makes cheesy jokes."
Be sure to ask him about the infamous squirrel joke.
"My name is Murtaza and I have been friends with Amit since we were both in 7th grade. I had just moved from another part of Richardson so I didn’t know anyone at this new junior high-school when I arrived. That move was what eventually led me to meet my group of friends that I still have now and that I have been close to for over 18 years. My favorite experience I had with Amit and some other friends was our trip to Belize. We had multiple people almost drown, almost get carried away by an underwater river while spelunking and one unfortunate friend that was stung by a sting ray. The time our mutual friend, was stung by a stingray Amit was 100 percent ready to ditch our captain who had swam out to find lobsters in the ocean 2 hours earlier but hadn’t returned. In his defense he was under the impression our friend was going to bleed to death and that we had to get to a doctor immediately."
Be sure to ask him about more details from the Belize trip.
"The first time I met Amit, he was swiping the window seat I coveted in the office. But since that day, we have bonded and he's become one of my closest friends even though he's a Cowboys fan. Corona may have slowed us down this year, but it hasn't stopped us."
Be sure to ask him about the various food festivals we have attended.
Roma and Amit
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