A Fine Romance

A love story that began on Snapchat and a wedding that broke Instagram— SONAM K AHUJA and ANAND S AHUJA have perfected intimacy in a very public age. But what’s the real story behind the It couple? In a candid chat, the newlyweds reveal how between sneakers, vegan chocolates, day-long walks and late-night calls, they’ve created a life together.

- Shalini Shah

Two years ago, after two months of conversations that began on Facebook and Snapchat, and progressed to latenight phone calls, Sonam Kapoor and Anand Ahuja decided it was time they met. The sole agenda was to see if the camaraderie and niggling romance developed over two continents could survive the daylight glare of an actual meeting. Sonam chose London, since Anand lived there and she had a fitting with designers Tamara Ralph and Michael Russo in the city prior to her Cannes appearance. The two were to meet in the afternoon, but excitement and apprehension meant patience was in short supply. So, they met immediately—he in his gym clothes, she in “gross” trackpants and tee. They spent the entire day walking around London, talking. And exactly two years from that day, they wed in Mumbai.

I meet her shortly after the wedding, and Sonam, her hands still bearing traces of the henna, is dressed in a yellow tee printed with the ideals of the French Revolution. She recalls her first date, “I was apparently wearing the worst sneakers he had ever seen. I keep telling him that he fell in love with me despite my bad sneaker game... That day, walking and talking in London, I knew he was the love of my life. He apparently knew the first time we spoke on the phone… It was just so easy.”

TWO WORLDS