Statement from Priyanshu Painyuli and Vandana Joshi on their Dehradun wedding

At the start of 2020, we were comfortably coasting along, not knowing what’s going to come our way. Every day ever since has been a reminder of precious family and loved ones are. The pandemic put a halt on wedding plans across the world but Vandana and I took it in our stride and decided to have an intimate gathering. For those of you who couldn’t be there, I know you all were omnipresent in spirit.

We tied the knot as a reminder to us and everyone else that no matter where life takes us, the family remains sacrosanct and must be our priority. It was the best day of our lives and what made it even more special is the realization that when everything around us is so devoid of hope, God has been kind enough to bestow us with the biggest joy in the world.

To each other, we promise a lifetime of being best friends, soulmates, partners, and equals. You’d ask what’s love in times of coronavirus like? In the words of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “ It was time when they both loved each other best, without hurry or excess when both were most conscious of and grateful for their incredible victories over adversity. Life would still present them with other moral trials, of course, but that no longer mattered.”