Dilwale Dulhaniya..

"Na jaane mere dil ko kya ho gaya
Abhi to yahin tha, abhi kho gaya
Ho gaya hai tujkho to pyaar sajna
Laakh kar le tu inkaar sajna
Dildaar sajna, hai yeh pyaar sajna"

~~Anand Bakshi
~Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge

If you grew up in the 90s in India and were a Bollywood fan, you would definitely have watched DDLJ and wished Shah Rukh and Kajol were married in real life. Simran was one such girl.

When DDLJ released in October in 1995, Simran was only 10 years old. Her father, a Major in the Indian Army came home one evening and called her name. "Simran, Sim Run!" he said. One of Simran's favorite-est moments in the day was her fathor returning home at 5:30pm from work. She came running, her mom joined her from the kitchen, she was eager too! When the two lights of Maj. Khanna's life, were in front of him, he grinned and held up tickets. These weren't jazzy tickets from INOX or PVR or the other cinema houses. These were tickets from the Army Open air theater that showed movies every Friday, alternating between English and Hindi. Yellow colored, with rough black colored print, the tickets were worth 25Rs each and included tea/coffee/Coca Cola + Popcorn! The minute Simran saw them, she knew what they were, she screamed, jumped and tried reaching for the tickets her Father held. He gave them to her and she couldn't believe her eyes:

Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge
Hawk Army Open Air Theater, Saugar
October 25th,6:30pm onwards.
Rs 25/-

"Daddy, did you know Kajol's name is Simran in this movie" Simran asked her Father, her face glowing with happiness. The parents laughed and kissed her. Simran was Mrs. & Maj.Khanna's only child and they loved spoiling her. That Friday, Simran watched DDLJ and lost her heart to Raj. The image she held in her heart for the rest of her life was ShahRukh's first shot, running on a football field with yellow, black and white shirt and black shorts.

She grew up to be as bollywood as a girl can get. She loved drama, everything for her was larger than life: tears, happiness, friends, parents. Everything was as grand and as 70mm as Bollywood was. She loved Shahrukh Khan, his movies, everything about him. Her belief in love, was as strong as Pooja's in Dil to Pagal Hai. She truly believed that "someone somewhere is made for you". And Simran was waiting for that someone to come along.

She was a post graduate in English, beautiful, talented and vivacious! Vibrant, confident and just the right amount of attitude, all attributes describing an army daughter! Simran wanted to write and write about the things she loved. She interviewed at a leading magazine and got through the job. She wrote about one of the many things that unites Indians: the love for Bollywood and Hindi cinema. She loved her job, she loved the city she was working in: Bombay.

One Friday, she was on a high! Her article about ShahRukh Khan was approved by the editor! It was also 30th December and the team at work was deciding to celebrate the night with a party. She walked up to the art section and heard something that made her turn around with the speed with which Rajnikant puts on his shades. And it was: "(the click of a tongue) Main nahin aaonga" Her eyes searched for the voice and rested on a man who was lazing on a beanbag with a pencil tucked in his right ear and paint on his chin, casual nay blue t-shirt with blue worn denims. He was smiling a beautiful smile and his eyes were full of mischief. He caught her staring at him and stared back. She quickly averted her gaze, turned her back and proceeded to the Kiran, her friend's desk. Something in her said "Palat" and she turned to find his eyes still on her.

He stayed on her mind for days and she on his. She wanted to go to the Art bay and introduce herself, but her ego stopped her, saying "he should be the one to come and talk to me". She was talking in her mind irritatedly about this while preparing for that month's article, when he heard a "Hey, Im Nikhil" and she almost replied "aur main jhansi ki rani" Kajol's dialogue from K3G. But when she looked up, she was tongue-tied. He was standing tall right next to her desk. She composed herself in exactly 5 mins and said "Hey, Simran" and smiled. He just needed that smile, he drew a nearby empty chair and started talking. They talked, talked and talked. After almost an hour, he got up and said "Let's catch up sometime" and wrote down his phone number at a post-it. Simran, spent that evening dancing in her apartment to ShahRukh's songs.

Nikhil, was from Bombay, and an artist. He loved everything about the city, its people, its cosmopolitan outlook, its fast-paced life, his childhood memories, Sachin Tendulkar, and Bollywood. A huge Bollywood fan, Nikhil was also a collector of movie tickets. The day when Simran saw Nikhil for the first time, he was indeed imitating ShahRukh in DDlJ. When he found her looking at him, he looked back at her and just couldn't draw his eyes away. And when she turned after walking away, he smiled to himself. After a month, he finally drew the courage to go and talk to her. What a beautiful woman, he thought to himself.

They became friends, then very good friends and then inseparable buddies. Nikhil showed Simran his city in a way Simran had never seen Bombay. They watched movies first-day-first-show and went for almost every release, barring the really bad ones of course. When a colleague asked Nikhil if he was dating her, he said "nah, we are just good friends", the colleague, knowing Nikhil's passion for Bollywood said : Nikhil, ek ladka aur ek ladki kabhi dost nahi ho sakte. They both laughed. But both Nikhil and Simran knew that sooner or later, they will admit to each other what the entire office seemed to know.

Then came the day. The magazine wanted to do a special on Shah Rukh Khan and Simran was to interview him. Shahrukh was to come to office the next day and preparation were on full swing. Simran was excited, scared, anything and everything seemed to make her edgy. Nikhil knew how big this was for her and tried to calm her nerves down as much as possible. When ShahRukh's car arrived at the building, Simran's heart skipped a beat. Shahrukh walked into office and everyone was quiet. The editor welcomed him, and ShahRukh said "I have something to say to Simran" Simran couldn't believe her ears. The Editor pointed out Simran to Shahrukh. Shahrukh looked at her and said: "What I am going to say is what Nikhil wanted to say to you, not because he couldn't say it, but because he wanted me to relay the message, so here goes: I love you Simran, I love you very very much....." It was the dialogue from Kal ho na ho. Nikhil came forward and hugged her and the office broke into an applause. Simran had tears in her eyes and she kissed Nikhil and said I love you. Someone clicked a pic of Simran and Nikhil standing with Shahrukh, and that picture occupies the first page of their wedding album.

On the 10th birthday of their daughter, Simran and Nikhil presented Anjali with a DVD of DDLJ.

"Ae waqt ruk jaa, tham jaa, thaher jaa
Waapas zara daud peeche
Main chhod aayi khud ko jahan pe
Woh reh gaya mod peeche
Kahan main
Kahan tu
Yeh Kaisa
Hain Jaadu"