Dual in One - Our Happily Ever After!

Dual hearts, one soul, drama non-stop - in a Selfie!

Once upon a time

Not in Riverdale

Archie met his Betty

To start a fairytale.

They chatted about the world

And had common dreams

Far from the usual

They loved the same themes.

Love blossomed 
They wanted to EXPERIENCE MORE
After they said "I do"
A beautiful life they began to EXPLORE.

If a picture could speak

This filmy one is the one

That defines their dreamy life

The drama, their love and the fun.

Once upon a time

Not in Riverdale,

Archie met his Betty 
And this is their fairytale…

The story behind this selfie? Let's go back in time to LEARN MORE!

Archie meets Betty

It was the night of April 13, 2003. I had given my second-year psychology paper in the afternoon and was feeling pretty good about it. My computer was on and the green flower of the ICQ messenger service icon was blinking on my status bar. Like a normal 20-year-old female in India, I was receiving several messages asking my ASL (Age-Sex-Location, duh!).

By now I had been using the Internet for about 3 years and could easily filter the jerks from those who had some potential. A window popped up that caught my attention:

archie29: Will you be my Veronica?

It was cheesy and cute at the same time. And since I had a nick name that was just as ‘interesting’, I decided to respond:

rhythmdivine: Nah, I am more the Betty types.

Those two lines were the beginning of a life-long romance. Several chats later photographs were exchanged. Though looks don’t matter, I was glad he didn’t look like a character from The Hulk and he was just happy that I was a girl.

You know, boys!

We lived some 1000 km apart and were both studying. There was no easy way for us to meet. On my first birthday as chat friends we wanted to CELEBRATE MORE, and so we both decided to buy a web camera. It was then we had our first picture together, a different kind of selfie experience!

Perfect Selfie? - well, the best was yet to come!

Chat friends in a Selfie

Boy meets Girl

To LEARN MORE about us, in October 2004, on his way to his brother's wedding, he decided to take a detour and hop on a train to my city - Lucknow. I was a nervous wreck, and he was a naive and geeky IITian who had no clue how to impress girls. 

Unslept, unshaven, he walked towards me. The first time our eyes met, I cannot say I was impressed!

The second day was better when he looked more human. Several hours of real-life chatting later, he left. Cupid had done its work, now it was upto destiny to decide our fate.

Six months later, he got admission in IIM Lucknow. He came again, only this time, we were not chat friends, but a real life couple. 

Our second picture together was in a Cyber Cafe from their webcam! We were trying to perfect the art of taking good pictures together!

Besties in a Selfie!

Boy dates Girl

Our dates were discreet and short. I come from a conservative family and seeing me with a boy was not my parent's favourite choice. We were extremely cautious and met only in locations which were far from my place. Also, we were both doing our MBA from different colleges and between our tight schedules, semester exams, project reports and assignments, there was little time to love. 

Needless to say, it was an awful lot of fun and an adventure in its own way. Thankfully free calling between two numbers was introduced and our tiny handsets helped us cruise smoothly. There was no selfie camera in our phones, so he bought a digital camera with his meager pocket money. 

The timer setting helped us click a few pictures, and this one remains my favourite. But did we want more? - You bet!

Lovers in a Selfie

Boy and Girl say "I do"

After 4.5 years of being best friends and then lovers, we decided that we needed to stay together. Although we were both starting our careers and had absolutely no money to start a household, we couldn't wait any longer to declare our love to the world. 

We told our families and after a few days of anxious moments, we got hitched! Again a mirror helped in giving us a different kind of selfie experience! Although I wish it had captured MORE!

Bahu in Selfie

Boy and Girl in a new country

He got a job in the island country of Bahrain and moved there. My dependent Visa took nearly four months - a phase which was more trying than any other time in our lives. It was like we were not meant to get married that soon. 

After several visits to the passport office, immigration departments in India and in Bahrain, hopping  between my house and my in-laws place, my Visa was stamped and I landed in the tiny island country to be reunited with my husband.

Our reunion was like none other and we spent the next few months exploring the new country and our new life.

We were free for the first time and could date without being scared of being caught by a family member! It was one of the best years of my life and this mirror selfie captures it beautifully. If this picture is not perfect, then what is? Well, wait for it!

Man and wife in a Selfie

Boy and Girl travel the world

After two years of making a little bit of money we wanted to ENJOY MORE and so, we set our foot outside Asia. We travelled to France and Switzerland, to Turkey and Greece, to USA and Jamaica, and several other countries. Since we are not tripod kind of people and almost never ask strangers for taking our pictures, we  hardly ever had pictures together before the time front camera finally arrived.

Our memories were etched in our minds, the unforgettable trips were marked in our hearts, and the few couple pictures that we had in our digital cameras, made for great mementos. 

In our nine years of travel, my favourite country is Czech Republic. This picture captures the fairytale that has been our life. But perfection needs more work!

Travellers in a Selfie

Boy and Girl bug each other

As you can see from these pictures, Archie has lost a fair amount of hair. I've got some grey hair as well although I still look like I did in 2004, like I always will!

We have our moments of annoying each other, some arguments here and there, and a fair share of khit-pit. 

In these moments, I can raise my voice but he cannot. That is just a rule in our house. So what does he do to show his frustration? To CREATE MORE drama, he enacts his inner feelings! Not to be a buzzkill or anything, these are definitely NOT my perfect selfies!

Buggers in a Selfie

Buggers in a Selfie

Boy and Girl click perfect pictures

In the fourteen years that we have known each other, we have several pictures together. If I try to remember, most pictures have a story behind it. There have been countless times when he won't take a perfect picture and I would scream at him. Sometimes he won't take the background properly, on other times he would miss my complete dress! We have had fights because he is so repulsive to capturing a moment perfectly. 

However, In this new era,  we did manage to have a favorite selfie. It was clicked in the parks of Amsterdam while I was loving every bit of this amazing city.

I feel that this picture defines our life - dreamy like a poem, dramatic like a film, and perfect like a fairlytale. It captures our love for travel, our crazy poses, the precious moments in the process. It smells like freshly watered grass and oozes of romance...Ah, to me it is just perfect.

Hero Heroine in a Selfie!

I am glad I was online that night. I am glad I responded to a random stranger. I am glad he found his Veronica in me. 'Cause we were meant to be... we are DUAL IN ONE!

Dual in one? The title of this post is inspired by the latest  Mobiistar phone  that has a  front, dual selfie camera which  can capture 120 degree wide angle shot. Just like we aim to EXPLORE MORE in life, the brand promises us to "Enjoy More" through the products functionality.  Now my favourte selfie can have more of the location it has been captured in, including my full dresses! I am also waiting to try the potrait mode in all its glory. All of this for budget conscious people like us.

We aim to create many more memories and experience more of this beautiful life. To RESTORE MORE of these moments, Mobiistar phone's camera sounds exactly what we need!