The multi talented ”Mira Sethi” shares her adorable love story with a heartwarming note shared on her social pages announcing her engagement with the love of her life ”Bilal”.
Image Source: Mira Sethi Facebook Page
A very cute post shared on Mira’s Facebook page said:-
It All Started …
In the spring of 2017, a tall, funny, curly-haired dude walked into my life. I’d known this curly-haired dude all my life — in the way you know your parents’ friends’ kids — but we’d never sought each other out. (Weirdly enough, Bilal and I overlapped at Oxford in 2008—he was doing his PhD, I was spending my junior year abroad. But we never looked each other up, never bumped into each other in that tiny cobbled town.)
Image Source: Mira Sethi Facebook Page
A Decade Later in Lahore
Almost a decade later, we met in Lahore on a warm February evening. We vaguely agreed to meet for dinner sometime.
A few days later we were at Spice Bazaar, and it was suddenly cold again. Bilal asked what I’d been upto: he nodded across the table and asked gentle, probing questions. Lots of questions. In between licking mutton kunna gravy from my fingers, I found myself answering his questions with an openness and ease I hadn’t encountered in myself in a long time. Later, we sat in the garden of my house and played with Max. My brother joined us. The three of us talked. Bilal dug his hand inside Max’s mouth and pulled out a sharp branch. Max was all over him.
Image Source: Mira Sethi Facebook Page
A few days later Bilal lost his mother to pneumonia (she’d had Parkinsons for a decade), and it was a wrenching, difficult time. Bilal and I would text. Talk about light stuff. He used the heart emoji unselfconsciously, as a friend might. The conversations veered from TV shows to politics to “plan for the day?” The few times we met before he left for DC, he talked openly about his regrets and hopes and dreams. Sitting across from him in Cosa Nostra, this time not very hungry because my body was clenched with affection and interest, I listened. He was warm and funny and brilliant. That night, I curled up next to him and we watched a show on Netflix.
The next year was a whirlwind. We travelled together to Lisbon, Brussels, Amsterdam, New York, Islamabad, Reno, San Francisco. We went to a festival in the desert and slept under the stars. We danced to really bad music. We biked across the desert at night, our cycles glowing with fairylights. Bilal biked ahead so I could follow him. He would slow his bike down every few minutes and ask, “Tum theek ho? Thand tou nahi lag rahi?”
“Theek houn!” I’d shout over the wind, pedalling furiously to keep up with him.
I love you, he said.
“Very happy to be here,” I said moronically, wiping snot off my frozen nose.
I watched him with his friends: always encouraging others to take center stage, to shine, to do whatever it is that expressed the most vivid and vital part of who they were. And I saw how he was changing me: a Mira more spontaneous, more adventurous, more open. Also vulnerable—and increasingly okay with the idea of vulnerability. This was new terrain for me.
Her note ended with a lovely paragraph, addressing Bilal:
Bilal:
I love the way you walk into a room with your head thrown back, every ventricle of your heart open to the goodness or mischief or complication on offer. Every day I learn from your sensitivity to sadness, to pain, to the scurrying heartbeats of dogs that hide under sofas when they hear fireworks going off. I remember walking on a downhill slope, in San Francisco, smiling sidelong at you every few seconds knowing something serious was creeping into my system; I remember randomly melting into your arms in a puddle of tears; I remember waking up at 5 am to watch the Champions Trophy with you; fighting with you and feeling the stark, dark emptiness of time moving without you in my life; following your lead in how to love generously, and precisely; shouting and being told to take it easy; withdrawing and being told to not take it so easy; having the simple inexpensive pleasure of wrapping my hand inside the vast, long-fingered warmth of yours; getting to know your Abba, and growing to love him, because so much of him is you and so much of you is him.
Image Source: Mira Sethi Facebook Page
I ♥️ you. Here’s to many more bike rides in the desert, Inshallah.
Mira Sethi Engagement —) The sweetest love story ever, this is is beautiful, adorable and heartwarming, lots of love and best wishes to the couple.
Image Source: Mira Sethi Facebook Page
Sania Iftikhar believes in the power of clear, straightforward writing. Her blog posts tackle everyday topics with relatable insights and easy-to-follow advice. With a conversational style, she makes complex subjects feel understandable. She’s dedicated to sharing knowledge and empowering readers to take action. Find her latest posts on trending in social.
