Kolkata has always had a way with romance. Between its vintage colonial facade and buzzing new age eateries, the city often plays cupid in the most unexpected places — from crowded lanes and jam-packed buses to bookstores, university corridors and theatres. This Valentine’s season, My Kolkata brings to you five fascinating love stories that found their beginning in the city’s fabric.
A Facebook message, an Olypub meeting and a life rooted in the hills
Preksha Sharma Chettri and Diwaskar Chettri
Nearly 12 years back, Preksha was coping with homesickness when a Facebook post popped on her screen. Little did she know that it would change her life forever.
“In early January 2014, I was in Kolkata, recovering from a health setback and staying with my brother. Diwaskar, an acquaintance from Darjeeling, had come to the city for his passport. Spotting his Facebook post, I messaged him my number, craving a chat with someone from home after months. He didn't call right away, but that evening, we met at the iconic Olypub on Park Street. We clicked instantly,” she recounted.
The next day, Preksha helped his sister shop before they returned to Darjeeling. A week of messages followed, and then she took a leap of faith.
“I followed my heart to Darjeeling and proposed, without overthinking his reaction. He was speechless at first and wanted me to give it some time, but that lasted just a week. From Pokhara, he sent a long message ending with ‘I love you’,” the 40-year-old entrepreneur recalled.
Just 15 days in, Preksha suggested engagement. “Careers felt shaky, but we trusted the process. To our surprise, both sets of parents embraced the idea. On her father's birthday, February 23, 2014, they met, and our engagement was set for June. We wed in December and she conceived our first daughter, Maisah, a month later,” shared Diwaskar, a 39-year-old entrepreneur.
Soon, they started their first homestay in Kurseong. By 2016, several milestones had been achieved.
“We had bought our first car, switched from joblessness to entrepreneurship. Today, 10 years on, we're a family of five in a serene village — us and our three daughters. We run Dharti The Glamping Haven, a sustainable farm stay where we grow our own food, host guests, and embrace slow living close to nature,” concluded Preksha.
From Kolkata streets to foreign skies and a home away from home
Aindrilla Das and Soham Mondal
For Aindrilla, who describes herself as a hopeful romantic, love was a matter of chance.
“We met at a gathering of mutual friends in Salt Lake, back in 2016. I was in college at that time and Soham was my cousin’s friend. He was working then. We started dating a month after our first meeting. This February marks 10 years of togetherness for us,” she said.
The 28-year-old Logistics coordinator shared that the city watched them grow together in love.
“Kolkata basically watched us fall in love — from College Street to Gariahat, CC1, tram rides, metro scenes, Esplanade shopping, and South City dates. Once we started earning, we made it our mission to try every restaurant possible,” Aindrilla shared.
After seven years of dating, they got married. In 2023, they moved to the Netherlands. Their first year abroad saw them exploring nearly a dozen countries together, including Belgium, Spain, France and Portugal.
“Cut to 2026, we still disagree sometimes, but we always figure it out — because in a whole new country, we’ve realised we’re each other’s home,” said Soham, a 31-year-old software engineer.
A breezy Dashami afternoon, phone calls and a decade of never letting go
Avi Chakraborty and Krishna Das
It was Dashami, 2016. Everyone everywhere in Kolkata was preparing for a bittersweet farewell to Goddess Durga. The afternoon felt slow as Avi strolled around a pandal with his friend, Surojit Bose. Krishna, then a stranger to him, was also there with her sister. As destiny would have it, the two stumbled into each other. The meeting was purely accidental and yet meaningful enough to lead to lunch at a James Long restaurant.
“After devouring Biryani and chicken kasa, the four of us decided to head to our respective homes. Outside, the road was chaotic. Instinctively, she held my hand. And I had a feeling I had never felt before. I felt a weight had lifted off me and at the same time my heart raced. I can barely express it in words,” said Avi, a 33-year-old Physics teacher.
Facebook messages followed. Long phone calls filled nights. Soon, they began dating, spending most of their days strolling by the Rabindra Sarobar Lake. But, their love story has had its own challenges.
Avi’s family never fully accepted the relationship — a truth, he admits, “still breaks his heart”. In 2024, they planned to get married in December, but Krishna’s grandmother passed away, leaving the couple crestfallen.
A year later, gathering themselves emotionally, Avi and Krishna tied the knot on December 15. “With the sindur daan, 10 years of love found its culmination,” shared Krishna, teary-eyed.
They then moved to Siliguri.
Equations, evening walks and ever-evolving companionship
Sushmita Saha and Subhrayu Majumder
Sushmita and Subhrayu lived in the same neighbourhood in Jadavpur. Subhrayu was her senior and often came over to help her with mathematics, a subject she always dreaded.
“Mathematics terrified me back then, but he had a way of breaking it down so simply that it almost felt like a friendly puzzle rather than a subject to fear. Somewhere between solved equations and quiet explanations, he became a friend, then a confidante,” shared Sushmita, a 26-year-old content writer.
Their first proper date at Nicco Park in 2016 was “awkward, exciting and unforgettable”. Kolkata soon became the backdrop of their love story.
“We spent afternoons at the Victoria Memorial, watched the Hooghly flow past us at Prinsep Ghat, slipped into old churches on quiet evenings, and took countless walks that always felt special. But our most cherished moments were the simplest ones, wandering through the bylanes of Jodhpur Park, sharing phuchka, rolls, and whatever street food caught our eye,” said 31-year-old Subhrayu, who works as a data analyst.
When Subhrayu moved to Hyderabad for work, distance tested them but never broke them. Every return to Kolkata became an excuse to rediscover the city together. They married in 2025, and Sushmita moved to Hyderabad with Subhrayu.
“Though we now live far from the city where it all began, Kolkata continues to live in us because some cities don’t just witness your love story, they shape it. Kolkata did that for us,” concluded Sushmita.
An Orkut connection, a bond beyond labels and love that chose to stay
Debjani Chatterjee Alam and Mehebub Alam
Debjani and Mehebub’s story seems straight out of a romance novel on modern-day dating. It started casual but culminated into a happy marriage.
“It's a long story that started in 2005. I was pursuing my postgraduation from Kalyani University in Rural Development and Management. Mehebub was doing his Bachelor’s in Architecture from Jadavpur. We met on Orkut and after months of chatting, we felt there was something, something we were afraid to define, especially because our religions were different and we knew what that meant,” said Debjani, 41.
They waited six months and then met each other at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport. And that’s where their love story took off from.
In 2010, they married through a quiet court ceremony. Families weren’t overjoyed, but they didn’t oppose either. Life after marriage wasn’t easy — jobs in different cities, higher studies, long distances made it all the more challenging.
“At that time I was working in Bihar and he was in Delhi. We pursued higher education after our wedding. He was doing his Master’s in Architecture and I was securing a second Master’s degree in Development Finance. I shifted to Delhi after that. We welcomed our daughter Renaissance Chatterjee Alam in 2013. She has no religion besides humanity. Renaissance enjoys the company of two furry friends — Coffee and Luchi,” Debjani shared.
Sixteen years later, they continue to make it work across cities. While Mehebub, 43, works as an architect in Bhubaneswar, Debjani works as an ESG and CSR specialist in Kolkata. He returns every 15 days. Love, they have learned, does not always need proximity. Sometimes, it just needs whole-hearted commitment.