Ananya & Rohan

Rohan and I had talked about a trip to Shimla for three years before we actually booked it. Work, weather, other people's weddings — something always got in the way. When we finally set the dates, neither of us realized how much weight that trip would end up carrying.

We'd gone hiking on our very first trip together as a couple, years earlier, and stopped to rest under a huge deodar tree on the ridge above the town. We'd joked back then that it was 'our tree' — the kind of thing you say once and then forget you said.

This time, Rohan insisted on the exact same trail, the exact same tree, even the exact same time of day. I was too busy admiring the view to notice him getting quieter and quieter beside me. When I finally looked over, he was holding the ring box with hands that were visibly shaking.

He'd chosen an oval solitaire with a hidden halo — brilliant in daylight, but with a secret sparkle underneath that only I would really know was there. He said it reminded him of us: what people see, and what's quietly underneath holding it all together.

"Coming back to the exact same tree, three years later, with a ring in his pocket — I don't think I've ever cried that hard from happiness in my life."

— Ananya