Next time someone smirks at you for looking for true love on a dating app, tell them Sharu Mulla and Arnaud’s story. And tell them to be patient. As a 29-year-old marketing manager living her dream life in Canada, Sharu never let the pressure of dating get to her. Because once the right person is around, it doesn’t take too long to figure it all out. In fact, two dates is all it took Arnaud, a French freelance web developer, to realise that Sharu was ‘the one’.
Their first date
Credit: Sharu Mulla
Her recollection of their first date is hope-inducing for a generation that is itching to declare if someone is “into it” or not, even before a proper introduction. “On the date, Arnaud seemed reserved so I thought maybe he isn’t into it. Pair that with a loud Italian restaurant and voila, you have the recipe for a not-so-great date. But once we got out, he apologised and explained that he’s an introvert so he takes time to open up and confessed that he couldn’t hear much of what I said. So he proposed taking a walk in the park as a do-over and I happily obliged,” she says.
Arnaud then decided to skip the small talk and so, instead of discussing their favourite colours, they had some real conversations. “‘How was your experience building a life in Canada?’, ‘Where do you see yourself in five years?’, ‘Do you want to get married?’, ‘What about kids?’ and ‘What do you like to do in your free time?’ came up,” says Sharu.
“In my experience, these weren’t first date questions. I would usually ease into the big questions once comfortable with the person. But Arnaud dove right in. He knew what he was looking for and didn’t beat around the bush,” she shares, adding how she really admired that!
Arnaud seemed to have skipped another expectation but are we complaining? He explains, “On a random text, I referred to her as my girlfriend and she was taken aback. She thought it would be a whole conversation but I skipped that step entirely!” Arnaud laughs while sharing this snippet from their love story and I follow, consumed in the sweetness of it all.
The next step
Credit: Sharu Mulla
For most brown people, finding the right partner is not all. Part of the process also involves convincing families when the couple is a deviation from the societal expectations (read inter-caste/inter-faith/same-sex). So when Sharu flew to India in May 2021 to speak to her father in person, she was apprehensive at first. “I took him out to lunch and poured my heart out and thankfully, it went really well!” Sharu reveals, and with that, the two were more ready than ever to take the next big step.
She adds, “The day I returned to Canada, we got engaged. Three months later, we took a ‘meet the parents’ trip. We first went to India and had a small ceremony, and then headed to France to meet his parents. Two months after that, on our one year anniversary, we got legally married in Canada. Yay!” NGL, that sounded nothing less than a dream.
Sharu and Arnaud use just the right words to express how we feel after hearing their story: “Wonderful things happen when you stick with your gut, set intentions and take the opportunities that come your way.” Truly, boys and girls, that’s your cue to keep swiping and go on as many dates as possible!
Social and lead images credits: Sharu Mulla
