Kalpana threw caution to the wind and took a leap of faith when she agreed to a marriage proposal from someone whom she has never met in real-life and was on the other side of the world -- in the United States to be exact.

Kalpana wrote:

"LOVE. This four-letter word is so magical that I never knew that it would touch me in the most unique way of this century.

"I was 24 years old and was never in a relationship, basically because I was not the most attractive woman and was tied to family commitments after my dad passed away when I was just 18 years old.

"But on top of all, I still believed in this thing named 'arranged marriage' and 'horoscope compatibility' and gave that responsibility to my mum.

"After some failed proposals, I totally did not want to get married at all.

"I had this interest to further my studies and decided to stop all these nonsense but my sister decided to register me in a matrimonial website, hoping that I will find someone.

"It was quite funny to have people emailing you to express their interests but I have to be interested in them in the FIRST place.

"I rejected most of them. Some of them even called me to express their feelings but I was not interested.

"Suddenly in March 2010, everything changed. I did not know that my life was going to change FOREVER -- Jothiram, but I called him Ram. The guy who changed my entire life.

"He called me from all the way from Pittsburgh at 3.30am (US time) after he saw my profile and wanted to know me better.

"But, he called me at the wrong time, I was busy marking my student's work and I was not eager to entertain him.

"I just took his email id and told him that I would reply and hung up.

"But, i just viewed his profile briefly and forgot to reply him back!

"One week had passed. I received an email from him.

"I felt so bad for not replying, so I decided to respond to his request and agreed to meet him on Gmail chat at night.

"It was morning for him. We started at 10.30pm and spoke till 1.30am and I had to work the next day.

"But, I must agree that I was really harsh and a little rude because I was scared.

"I did not know what I was doing. We exchanged photos and suddenly he proposed. He said that he liked me and would like to marry me in the future.

"I WAS SHOCKED! I was shaking inside.

"I kept telling him that I am not that beautiful and all sorts of things but he was strong in his decision.

"I told him that I need to think.

"For the next two days, we chatted and I realised that we had a lot in common and I was slowly falling in love with him.

"On 24th March 2010, I said yes.

"I cannot believe I said yes to a man whom I have not met before..

"Over the next month, I told my mum and he told his mum and we exchanged horoscope and it was compatible.

"My mum said yes to the proposal and his mum said yes to me.

"ALL these happened and we still have not met each other.

"Up till today, we still wonder how our parents said yes when they know we are not going to meet each other for a long time.

"For the next year and a half, we only saw each other on the web cam and spoke only through the phone.

"It was a 12-hour time difference but it did not stop us from loving each other.

"I would miss him so much that I cried. He would call and tell me that he would like to go back as it was painful to stay single anymore.

"But we would console each other. He also encouraged me to take up a job offer from MOE which comes with a contract.

"When I told him about it, he just told me that he would come to Singapore to stay with me and look for a job while I finish my contract.

"It was a big step for him and he did.

"It was very difficult initially.

"I had my fears. My friends kept asking me if I had taken too big a risk. They were worried for me and in return worried me at times.

"But, I would tell myself that he and I need not love someone who is thousands of miles away when we can find love nearby.

"This is something that we have chosen to do. It was the love that kept us together. It was the trust that we had between each other that let everyone know that we are meant to be together.

"It was the respect that we had for each other that told us to wait.

"We waited for each other patiently while we started our wedding preparations.

"Yes, we were ready to get married even without seeing each other in person. Everything was set.

"And finally, on 15th October 2011, just 2 months before our wedding, we met in person.

"The moment that we both have been waiting for.

"I was shivering while I waited for him at the airport, but the moment I saw him, everything was blur.

"We fell in love again. We knew in our hearts that we have met our soul mates.

"It seemed like we were not meeting each other for the 1st time.

"The hug that he gave me is priceless.

"Those 5 days were magical -- unexplainable beyond words.

"On 5th Dec 2011, we got married.

"We have brought our love to the next level.

"For the next 50 years, our love is going to bring us through."

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