For ten years, ace badminton player Saina Nehwal had to hide her relationship with fellow shuttler Parupalli Kashyap.
The reason? She was from Haryana, while he was from Hyderabad, and the stigma around inter-community marriages was still prevalent.
The story had a happy ending, however, and Sania married Parupalli exactly one year ago on December. Today, the two celebrated their first wedding anniversary.
Parupalli posted an emotive tribute to his wife on Instagram, sharing a series of cute photographs of the two of them together. “You are simply the most amazing woman in the world. I couldn’t ask for a better wife. Thanks for making the first year together so wonderful. I love you so much. Happy anniversary!! 😘😘❤️ “.
Saina also posted on her Instagram page. “Happy first anniversary to us ❤️❤️❤️...#oneyearofmarriage💍”.
She also shared a clip of Parupalli dancing on the occasion.
Many celebrities wished the couple in the comments, including Esha Gupta and Archana Vijaya.
In September, Saina had posted the story of her romance with Parupalli on Instagram. “I first met Kashyap at our badminton coaching class and eventually, our friendship blossomed into something more. :blush: What more could you ask for than to fall in love with your closest friend?! After spending enough time with him, I knew he was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with!
"But there was one issue that I'm from Haryana and he is from Hyderabad, and inter-community marriages are still quite rare in our country, which is why we had to hide our relationship for the longest time. It's sad that societal barriers like community, religion, gender and age still become a reason for people to give up on their relationships.”
Then, Parupalli also shared some insights into their relationship on Instagram, describing how he met her when they were both children.
“Ours is such a classic love story if you think about it. We first met at badminton classes, when we were still kids and were childhood friends throughout. Then, slowly and steadily that friendship grew into love as we started spending more and more time together. So much so, that soon I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.”
"But there was one issue that she is from Haryana and I am from Hyderabad. In our country, inter-community marriages are still so rare that there are even many movies and books written about the North Indian girl and the South Indian boy or vice-versa. This societal barrier is so common in the country that many couples succumb to the pressure and give up on their relationships due to the fear of being judged by others.”
Saina is a former World No 1 with 24 international titles to her name. She is currently ranked 11th in the BWF Women’s Singles rankings. Parupalli is ranked #23 in the BWF Men’s Singles and was the gold winner in the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games in the men’s singles category.