Bhubaneswar: Love is in the air with Valentine’s Day fever gripping everything around. This year, while many indulge in candlelit meals, heart-shaped gifts and exchange cuddly soft toys as a sign of their affection, we bring you 10 unconventional love stories of real people that will move you to tears and force you to believe in love.
Dashrath Manjhi – The man who broke mountains for love
“I would move the mountains for you.” If you’ve ever been in love, you might have heard soothing lines from your partner, or chances are you might have told your loved ones too. Dashrath Manjhi, also known as the ‘Mountain Man’ did it for real. He split a mountain for his love.
Dashrath Manjhi, a destitute person in Gehlour, a small village in India lost his wife when he could not take her to the doctor after she fell off of a cliff. With strong determination, and often being called a ‘psychopath’, Dashrath took 22 years breaking stones in the mountains to pave a 400 feet long and 30 feet wide road that connected the village to the nearby city. His only motive was to provide people of his village with access to medical services so that nobody would lose a loved one like he did. Manjhi – The Mountain Man is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language biographical film based on the life of Dashrath Manjhi enacted by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, while Radhika Apte played Manjhi’s wife.
Faizul Hasan Quadri – The man who made the second Taj Mahal
Built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz in 1632, Taj Mahal is often considered the epitome of love. A 77-year-old Indian man named Faizul Hasan Quadri also vowed to build his ‘monument of love’ for his wife Tajammuli Begum in Bulandshahr district in Uttar Pradesh, India. Faizul married Begum when she was just 14 and he taught her to read and write in Urdu. The couple had no child and his wife always worried if she would be forgotten after her death. Quadri promised to build her a mausoleum and that she’d be remembered for ages.
“We were together for more than 58 years, and love grows with time. Now that she is gone, she is always there in my thoughts,” he says. Tajammuli died of cancer in 2011.
An Indian man who cycled all the way to Sweden to reunite with his love
The story of Pradyumna Kumar and Charlotte Von Sledvin is straight out of a Hindi film. In 1971, Pradyumana, a renowned artist, made a portrait of Charlotte and they fell in love instantly. The two got married according to rituals, after which Charlotte had to leave for Sweden. Pradyuman refused to go with her as he didn’t want her to spend money on the tickets. But he promised her that he’d join her one day. Pradyuman then decided to cycle all the way to Sweden. It took him 5 months to meet his wife! Today, the two have completed 40 years of blissful marriage and have two children. And you know what’s exciting? Sanjay Leela Bhansali is actually planning to make a film on their story.
The love story of an acid attack victim who had given up on love
Laxmi’s ex-boyfriend was the reason for her acid attack. It’s sad that the person you were once in love with can harm you in such a horrible way. But Laxmi decided to move on forgetting her horrifying past. 2 years later, she found love with Alok who is a social activist. Today, the two are living together and even have a baby together.
Ayushmann Khurrana-Tahira Kashyap’s Love Story Began In Their 12th Class
Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana and his wife Tahira Kashyap have set major couple goals in the industry. Did you know Ayushmann Khurrana and Tahira Kashyap Khurrana have been together since their 12th grade?
After college, they wanted to marry but were not sure of their careers. Ayushmann wanted to become an actor. When he disclosed this to his lady love, she lost all her hopes of marrying him because she knew that her parents won’t be comfortable with the idea of Tahira marrying a boy struggling to make it big in Bollywood.
Tahira fought strongly against breast cancer and on the other hand, Ayushman was yet to get success. In that situation, both of them stood next to each other and Tahira won the battle of cancer.
In an interview with Mid-Day, Ayushmann Khurrana had said that Tahira was far more successful than him. He didn’t have any money when he got married to her. She, on the other hand, was a professor, had her PR firm in Chandigarh and was also the programming head of a radio station in Punjab.
Tahira, however, married him because she loved her and had immense faith in his talent. Khurrana says that there was never any ego between them. “Most men in India aren’t secure enough to be comfortable with such an arrangement. It comes with the family” he said.
Anna and Boris – Two lovers who reunited after 60 years
Russian couple Anna and Boris were only married for three days, when Boris bid him adieu to join the Red Army Unit. Anna and her family were sent to an exile and the two lost contact with each other. Boris tried finding her but had no luck while Anna also had thoughts of committing suicide but remained hopeful that she’d find her man someday.
One fine day, Anna Kozlov caught sight of an old man moving out of his car in Borovlyanka in Siberia and she was breathless. She could not believe her eyes when she knew that the man clambering out was Boris.
“I thought my eyes were playing games with me,” Anna said. “I saw this familiar looking man approaching me, his eyes gazing at me. My heart jumped. I knew it was him. I was crying with joy.” The couple reunited and romance blossomed again after 60 years.
America’s Ex-President, Barack Obama And Michelle’s Love Story
Who can forget this night? It was election night 2012 in Chicago and America’s first Black president, Barack Obama, jusr won reelection against Republican candidate Mitt Romney. He and First Lady Michelle Obama celebrated together in style and we loved every moment. This couple has carved their permenant spot in our history books and this month we pay tribute to their epic, and ever-growing, love story.
Call them a ‘power couple’ or the monarchs of the politics, Michelle and Barack Obama have considerable influence being the first lady of the US and the President respectively. Ever since the couple began their combined supremacy when they got married in 1992, they have stood flawless and highly professional. But what we need to value the most is their romantic side amidst their agendas, hectic political meetings, speeches, and super-busy official tours.
Long before they became the First Family, the Obamas put family first and found total joy in parenting. Here they pose for the cameras on Election Day 2004 just moments before Barack won a seat on the U.S. Senate. U.S. President elect Barack Obama plants a celebratory kiss on his wife right after giving his victory speech during a historic election night gathering in Grant Park on November 4, 2008 in Chicago. The then newbie couple had a successful first date which was all about sightseeing and a movie. And interestingly the movie they watched was symbolic to what they did next. It was Spike Lee’s ‘Do The Right Thing’ that they went to watch in 1989 a Harper Theatre, Chicago and perhaps they did the right thing to become life partners. They dated for three years before getting married.
Speaking about their vows, this is what Michelle said: “Barack didn’t pledge riches, only a life that would be interesting. On that promise he delivered.”
Thereafter, in 1998, they welcomed their first child, Malia and in 2001, their second child Sasha.
Louis XV of France and Madame de Pompadour
In 1730, a Parisian prophetess told a nine-year-old girl she would rule the heart of a king. Years later, at a masked ball, Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, dressed as a domino, danced with King Louis XV, dressed as a tree. Within weeks, the delicate beauty was maîtresse-en-titre, given the title Marquise de Pompadour. “Any man would have wanted her as his mistress,” said another male admirer. The couple indulged in their love of art, furniture, and porcelain, with Madame de Pompadour arranging for her jaded royal lover small dinner parties and amateur theatricals in which she would star (of course). While watching one play, Louis XV declared, “You are the most delicious woman in France,” before sweeping her out of the room.
John Keats and Fanny Brawne
The celebrated young poet’s romance with his neighbor, Fanny Brawne, sparked what is probably his most famous poem “Bright Star”, though the relationship was fraught with jealousy. Brawne was a precocious and flirtatious young woman, Keats a fiercely overzealous bard. The two clashed as often as they coalesced, but the full requisition of their love was hindered by Keats’ lack of money and his illness. Bedridden by tuberculosis, which he contracted from his late brother and mother, Keats yearned in envy over his coquettish Brawne, whose frivolous nature marred her love for the young poet and subsequently aggravated his wellbeing. Though engaged to Brawne, Keats had to end the engagement in an effort to get well in Rome. He died there not long after his arrival, his romance to remain unrequited.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry
It was a love story that captured hearts around the world when Meghan Markle and Prince Harry wed in May 2018. Their life as a couple began in November 2017, when Harry popped the question while the two were roasting a chicken at their apartment in Kensington Palace. Since then, their fairytale has been untraditional, to say the least, but the love shared between the happy couple is clear. As they begin to carve out their new royal roles, amid much controversy, it remains certain that the couple cares deeply about each other and their adorable son, Archie. It’s hard to know what the future holds, but it seems like Meghan and Harry will take it all on together.
