Happy 2023 everyone :)

First and foremost I want to thank y'all with everything I have for letting this book touch so many hearts and become my most-read book on this platform! I knew this day would come. That it might cross my previously most-read book (Dreams Woven Beautifully, a Sidlia FF). And it did within a few years. This would not have been possible without your valuable support. 

I love you guys so much. 

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Masai Mara, 2021

[Ranbir's POV : enjoy ]

Finally, time for New Years getaway. I've been eagerly awaiting this moment. Last year me and Alia and our combined families spent time together at Ranthambore. A much needed vacation for both sides. 2020 was by far our most painful year. It taught us many lessons but more importantly, taught us the value of family, of love, and relationships. 

That you never take those close to you for granted. People die and are gone in a second. Nothing remains for posterity. But what does is how you live your life with them while they're alive. Loosing dad was and is a shock from which my family hasn't yet recovered. Maybe we will never. And it is justified. We lost a major part of our soul. Especially mom. 

But we are healing day by day. Thanks to the brilliant support system in the form of family and friends. Alia and Ayan have also been my pillars of strength. I cannot imagine my state especially in this phase of my life without them. They made the lows look less miserable. The highs more appreciable. In fact I derived all my energy from them. 

This year has been a major turn out for both me and Alia. We were constantly shooting for all our delayed movie schedules and the upcoming ones. We could barely sit across each other and watch sunsets or just laze around in our balcony, a habit we so dearly cherish. 2021 also gave us a dose of COVID, a wretched virus. It separated us on Alia's birthday and later she caught the stupid disease too. But through it all we walked together. Side by side. 

And it's only fair to finally put an end to ours and our family's misery. To finally step into our next phase. Our beginning of a new dawn. 

She and I were planning our wedding for the last 4/5 years. We were supposed to be wedded by 2020 end. But thing's never went our way. None of us were talking about it. We wanted to see how life takes us. It needed to come organically to us. And this year I wanted to end on that bright happy note. I wanted us to sign the deal and hop on for wedding. Even though we shared a home together, I couldn't help but want us to stop playing cat and mouse with the media and the fans. We were seriously serious. And I wanted us to be okay enough to hold hands in public, walk together without feeling a hundred eyes judge us and our relationship. I wanted us to officiate our togetherness. Put an end to all the criticism and make it more real. 

Alia remained clueless when I suggested we go to Masai Mara again this year. Last time we spent a glorious week in this magical wilderness. The impact remains irreplaceable. What better place could I get than Masai Mara, amongst the wild and beautiful, in the middle of nowhere, to propose the one woman who managed to seep into my restless cold walls, shattering all my self defensive guards, dusting off my guilt and permanently nestling in the depth of my heart. 

My sun and all my moon. My Alia. 

Life without her I can never imagine. I wonder how I lived before she swooshed in. What was life like before her entry? Oh just a cold misty place. A dry desert with no signs of rain. 

My beautiful Alia, the soul who met my mate. 

I wanted to keep my proposal a thick secret. And what's the best way to keep a secret? Keep it a secret! I didn't involve any third party within those we mutually know. Only I knew what was I upto. From Van Cleef and Arpels, a french luxury brand, I personally customized this massive-sized diamond ring that could easily make any knees go weak. I wanted it to be large and bold. People should know I meant LOVE. She deserves nothing less. 

It had eight clustered little diamonds encrusted around the main piece. Eight stands for our eternal favorite number, our obsession. Eight is also infinity in reverse. Promising us a lifetime of togetherness. I also wanted us to remember our personal vows to each other by grafting the words - MRS. HIPSTER, where each word stands for a relationship philosophy we both abided by. It was personal, exclusive and private. Just so us. Out there but still hidden. 

I couldn't just wait to see her reaction. But I also didn't want to spoil the fun and give away all of my excitement at once. So with caution I head towards our truck, that came to pick us up for the last ride of the year 2021. Tomorrow a new sun will dawn and with it would come our new beginning. 

I clasped my pocket very hard. My bag hugged closer to my heart. There lies my deep secret. Which would turn our lives for the better. I could not hide my stupid smile along with my stress of getting caught. Alia was a clever clever woman. She pretended to be a fool. But for some reason she seemed like she's got no whiff. Thank God. 

I climbed inside the truck and sat next to my lady. She smiled at me and tossed back her hair as the wind rushed to greet us from all sides. The open van was led by two abled officers of the park of which one was the driver and other the guide. They knew everything about this giant wild space and were already our favorite people so far. 

Alia kept clicking pics of random scenery as we went by. She was in her early stages of photography. Learning from the best of course. I would try very hard myself to click pics very often, trying not to give away my surprise, wanting to look pretty normal. We would then exchange our clicks and see who took the best. 

"Oh come on Ranbir that's just a weird looking tree! Where's your attention today? You seem lost." Good girl. You caught on well! 

"No I'm not." I responded defensively, looking the other way. Meeting eyes was danger. 

"Sure" she agreed with nonchalance. 

We stopped at a potential animal trail for spotting and a good place for sunset viewing. I personally told the driver, secretly, to help us get to a good sunset spot. He knew what I meant without much provoking. He must have seen many. 

I quietly handed over my camera to the guide and carefully walked beside her. She was already enjoying the weather and the vast horizon that looked ready to envelope the sun. I made sure to walk us to a good distance from where the guide could take clear picture. Once we stopped, I turned towards her. 

Okay Ranbir, don't ruin this. You can do it. It's HER. 

"Alia" I called. My voice went a bar below thanks to my nerves. I may have even squeaked her name. 

"Hmm"

She was still looking ahead, her hair flying dramatically. Cinema Gods please be kind. 

"How do you think will our 2022 look like?"

I wanted to go slow and steady. 

"Bright I'm sure. We've got films lined up for release. See you at cinemas finally coming true."

"Not professionally, personally what you think?" I added. Now curious to know her heart. 

"Hmm.." she grinned. "Happier and maybe more time for each other."

"Where do you see us?"

"In Masai Mara with you again and again." We laughed. 

"With our children" I added with a shy smile. "I cannot wait to bring our kids here."

Her eyes found me. Her dimples deepened. 

"Don't tell me eight is what you want." I laughed louder in my own donkey-ish way. 

"Maybe three? Three is fine." She giggled and hit me lightly on the shoulder.

"Ranbir do you think we can make it till there?" Now it was my turn to look her way. 

"What do you mean?" My heart pounded heavily. 

"No...I keep wondering sometimes. Five years with you was fun. Great in fact. But do we have it in us to make it till what you just said, kids? I know we've been talking of greying old and everything but tell me honestly do you see us really there? Or is it just a moment of bliss that we keep thinking this would last forever..?" 

"Why do you say so?" Scared of things going downhill. 

"We can't be sure of how we feel the very next day and the day after. We can only be sure of our present, our now. That thought frightens me." 

"What do you think of our now?"

"Now?" 

"Yes"

"It's perfect." 

"With me?

"With you." 

I nodded in peace. Without wasting much time I sat down on one knee, my hands quickly pulling out the precious blue box from my pocket, now out in the open. Her eyes widened. 

"Then let me do this right here."

I cleared my throat for clarity. 

"You just told me that with me, right now, you feel perfect. Then let me add that I feel the same with you, every moment. We may feel less perfect the next day or the day after. But I want to promise you all of my days, weeks, months and years. Alia, I want you to be mine."

I caught her face going red, eyes still wavering around mine. 

"Never in my thirty nine years, have I met a woman like you. You are the reason I wake up and look forward to the day. You make my heart pump with joy. I smile because of you. And I sleep in peace knowing your next to me and I will wake up to your face. And guess what these five years weren't enough. I want more of us, more of you. More of our silly fights, sulking games. More of our Chinese delights and wine nights. More of our comfortable silence and movie dates. More of our laughter and love, our tomorrows and our entire life. I want it with just you."

She passed me an emotional smile. Her eyes moistened. 

"Rabba ne tujhko banane mein kar di hai husn hi khaali tijoriyaan..."

She laughed aloud. I was clearly making a fool out of myself, singing for her in the middle of a gigantic forest. But who cared as long as she heard it. 

"Kaajal ki siyahi se likhi hai tune jaane kitno ki love storiyaan" I presented before her my ring and her face glimmered with love. 

"Alia Bhatt, will you please be my forever and ever and ever and ever and let me marry you?"

"I promise to make you smile and sulk and fight and cry and dance and sing with me. I promise to be your best friend, your pillow for strength, your man and your husband. As long as I live, I will love cherish and protect you with all I have. And trust me, you've got no idea how much you mean to me! I hope to show my heart to you as we live our lives together, grow old and see our see our grandbabies get married together. Please be my wife. I really truly desperately madly love you and only you. You are my light, my heart, my soul and my life."

"Will you-"

Her delicate arms wrapped themselves around me before I could ask anymore. 

She hoisted me up and dug onto my flesh. I could hear her cry softly. I knew she was going for a yes (who could say no to me?) but what I didn't knew was that I could be such a poet for her. It was all impromptu but so very well put. HOW? I smiled and melted into her arms.

We pulled apart for me to quickly put the ring onto her finger and officiate our engagement. 

We smiled till our mouths hurt and I kissed her with a passion I've never felt before. 

With a lifetime ahead of us, we embraced the last sunset of 2021, waiting for 2022 to bless us with a happy marriage and new innings. 

Life was never gonna be the same. 

I found my woman, at last! 

Thank you universe, number eight, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Imtiaz Alia, Koffee with Karan, Israel flight, Brahmastra and our Ayan. This wouldn't have been possible without y'all. 

Maybe it would've. After all we were made by the skies, together. 

NOTE : December 2022 was a complete mess. I wanted to update but had net issues at home. January came with even crazier surprises. I shifted home, stopped being an active admin of my ranbir_aliafc page on instagram (yes, lol), sem 3 exams of my MA and what not! Only now I get to breathe a little. 

I may or may not be a regular here. It all depends on my creative juices though. 

But since y'all have so very kindly stuck with me for this long, I gotta thank you with an update. Plus my mind's still under the wedding hangover of our babies (one year flew like heck!). I don't think I'm over that era. Raha has not yet entered my system lol. She's a myth for now (until her 1st bday caption by alia or a major pic). 

I decided I need to focus on my life now. Enough of the fangirling consumption. Therefore I won't be an active admin of any of my fan pages be it on instagram, twitter or here. Except for few updates on this book or few stories on ig fc whenever I feel like coming. 

I hope y'all have a great year. I really hope mine gets as awesome as Alia's 2022! That's the goal haha.

So far stanning Alia for the last 10 + years and shipping Rk-Alia for 5+ years has been a major delight and source of comfort. I'd never erase those memories. They shaped my childhood and youth. Now I want to step into my own real life and do something for myself and my family. Become a worthy stan of Alia hyper hardworking Bhatt. Be as good sincere and loving as my AlooBir and maybe meet them someday after getting somewhere in life, worth telling them :) 

Wishing a bright, full of life, positive and safe 2023 for you guys. 

Love always and always,

Jemi :)