“He whispered in my ear, ‘I’m going to ask you to marry me this year.’”
“We met at university in Amsterdam. It was my first day and I was kind of lost. Oleg was the first person I met there– he was the student body president. When he spoke to me, I immediately felt that ‘spark’– but all the while I was thinking, ‘Shit, I’m in a hoodie!’ We only got 6 months together at Uni, since he was in his final year. We only met in the dining hall or when we bumped into each other on campus. There was always this slight flirtatiousness, but we didn’t act on it. After he left university, we weren’t in touch and only wished each other on birthdays.
Then 5 years later, he replied to my birthday wish, and said, ‘If you’re ever in Amsterdam, let’s get a meal.’ I was in London at the time and didn’t say ‘yes’ immediately. He had a ‘bad boy’ vibe at Uni, so I made him wait for 6 months after which we finally met for dinner. And as soon as I saw him, all those butterflies came rushing back. It was a perfect night– we spoke, laughed and just…connected. He even remembered what I was wearing that first day on campus, despite meeting over 2000 students! It was our first date, but I knew he was the one.
I returned to London and we’d meet up every 2-3 weeks after. We’d constantly be on the phone, watch movies, or Skype– the distance made the moments we had together special. I still remember our first kiss– he was dropping me off at the train station when he pulled me towards him and kissed me.
That year on New Years Eve, at midnight, he whispered in my ear, ‘I’m going to ask you to marry me this year.’ I honestly thought he was just drunk; especially since he didn’t bring it up after that! But he didn’t need to– we knew this was it and decided to move in. On our first day at home, I remember Oleg smiling ear to ear when I was simply making a cup of coffee.
A few months later, I got a dinner invitation from Vogue, and it happened to be in a palace at Udaipur, but Oleg had to cancel because of work. So I went alone– on the day of the dinner, I went to the courtyard to find Oleg there in a tux, down on one knee, asking me to marry him. I was like, ‘How are you in India!’ Amidst all the shock, I threw in a ‘yes’ with tears in my eyes.
Our wedding was the perfect mix of European and Indian culture! I still remember, a few months before, my mom ran Oleg and I through all the ceremonies of an Indian wedding. When the part of the woman touching the man’s feet came up, our immediate response was, ‘Why just the woman?’ So at the wedding, Oleg touched my feet and I, his. We even adopted each other’s surnames; Oleg is Oleg Büller-Khosla, and I couldn’t be prouder to be Diipa Büller-Khosla!”
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