Anar & Chirag

Like many great love stories, Anar and Chirag’s starts with enough missed connections and mishaps to fill a feature-length romantic comedy. They met at the Indo-American Center (IAC) off of Chicago’s famed Devon Avenue in late 2017. Anar had just moved to the “second city” to begin her PhD fieldwork and was volunteering at IAC, where Chirag was a long-time employee.

Chirag, admittedly, was smitten from the start and proposed meeting for drinks over email several times, leaving Anar very confused each time he dropped the ball whenever she provided her availability. This behavior was so absurd, one wedding photographer instinctively reacted, “Chirag, WHAT!”

The months passed and in February 2018, Anar joined the staff at IAC. This time, Chirag tried a different approach. Like a kindergartner with a crush, Chirag made it his mission to pester his way into Anar’s heart. Stealing her office chair and giving it to another coworker, prank calls, and an endless array of backhanded compliments. Those who know Anar know she’s not one to just sit back and take it. Chirag was known as the informal office tech support guy, and one summer afternoon Anar propositioned Chirag with a bet: she would go one week without asking for Chirag’s help on any IT or tech related problems. The loser had to buy the winner a drink. Unsurprisingly, Anar won the bet and Chirag continued to put off buying Anar a drink for several more weeks.

One Friday evening in August , Anar and Chirag were texting about their plans for the weekend. Chirag mentioned a friend’s neighborhood block party the next day. When Anar mentioned she was thinking of stopping by, Chirag responded less than convincingly, “up 2 you.” The invitation was less than whole-hearted, but something prompted Anar to go anyway. She showed up at the block party, where Chirag was hanging out with his brother, Sanket, and cousin, Sheetal–who were wondering who that random girl was for at least 20 minutes. This is where Anar got her first glimpse at how bad Chirag is at making introductions.

The rest, as they say is history…After more than seven years taking their love story across the country from Chicago to Los Angeles to Providence to Charlotte to Atlanta, Anar and Chirag decided it was  time to get serious—meaning, they decided to *finally* have an acceptable to every aunty’s favorite question, “when are you getting married?" They got engaged on a beautiful autumn Saturday at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens in November 2025 with some of their favorite people by their side 

Pictured from left to right: Purvi Didi, Kanan Didi, Anar, Chirag, Sheetal (Sanket 2), and Sanket