Love Laughter and happily ever After

admin Comments 0 February 24, 2020

An educator by passion,

An Associate Professor by qualification,

 A researcher by education,

A speaker by experience,

A Prolific artist by interest.

A writer by incident, and trainer by accident.  Meet the versatile PhD bride Dr.Shruthi Prabhakar on her journey into wedded life.

Tell us more about yourself.

Hello.  I am Dr. Shruthi Prabhakar, currently working as an associate professor at PES University and also the founder and CEO of two startups – ‘TenOnTen’, a Career Coaching and training institute; and ‘April School of Beauty’, a beauty makeover academy.

I have authored syllabus based text books based on the syllabus prescribed by the Bangalore University in the discipline of Commerce and Management.  I am a person who is ostensibly infatuated with finding impressive new ways to experiment and research towards implementing a collaborative and stimulating learning environment.  With an academic teaching experience in the field of Business Management for almost nine years now, I am also recognized for introducing and implementing innovative teaching methods to increase student engagement. 

My Mantra for life is, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” – Nelson Mandela.

Tell us something about your partner which you find unique to your relationship.

Hoysala, as the name itself suggests, is as unique as it sounds and so is my partner. He is an unique individual and a masterpiece by himself. I am happy and feel lucky to say that he is my best friend and partner for life. He is an adventurous person and a hodophile.  Being with him I get to travel around and satiate my desire of being the gypsy woman.

His openness in expression, honesty in everything he does whether it could be giving respect or just being kind is what endears him to my heart.  He is profoundly independent at all times.  His broadmindedness coupled with understanding and affection are the unique qualities that I found in my partner and not to forget is his great sense of humor. If I have to summarize in one word our bond, then it has to be plain and implicit trust.  It is just like a dish without salt is tasteless, he is the salt in my life.

When was your Wedding? Was it love or arranged marriage?

I entered the holy sacrament of wedding exactly a week after Valentine’s Day in February last year.  Technically it was an arranged marriage.  Both our families were well known to each other and it wasn’t difficult for us to arrive at a mutual decision to enter wedlock.   

However, for me it was an arranged-cum-love wedding and for him it was love-cum-arranged wedding.

How did the both of you meet? Share with us some lighter moments of your journey from the proposal to the wedding.

We had initially met at a wedding a decade ago. Since then we have been good friends.  As life passed by, we both got busy with our respective schedules and apparently lost contact.  It was more of a platonic exchange of pleasantries perhaps a wish on each other’s birthdays. But destiny had other plans for us and neither of us had ever thought that we would, one day, end up  being soul mates. Time passed on and a couple of years ago, I distinctly remember it was on my birthday, he called up to tell me that he wanted to discuss an important and serious matter with me. It was a time when his family was on the lookout for prospective alliances for him and that’s when he actually proposed to me.  I was flabbergasted.  The moment I declined his proposal, he confessed that it was a prank that he pulled on me, because that day was April fools day.  

I took it as a joke, but on his side I don’t think it was a joke, because everytime from then on the topic always popped up in our conversations.  Sometime later in the same year, my family too decidedto get me hitched and began to look out for prospective alliances. Over a phone call.  taking cue of the situation at my home, he mentioned that since we both were good friends why not give each other the opportunity to become partners for life!

I rebuked him for the words he spoke because I wasn’t interested in such jokes anymore.  However I did mention to him that if he is serious then he should go ahead and get both the families consent to proceed any further.  Facing great hardships, finally he succeeded in getting both the families together to agree and today, here we are as a happily married couple.

Who helped you with your wedding preparations?

My Whole family has been together as my backbone from the start.  Coupled with the blessings of my Late Grandparents.  All the credits goes to my father, D H Prabhakar, for the belief and trust that he had in me and my mother, Mrs Komala, my brother Shreyas who flew down from USA, a month in advance before the wedding and stood by me throughout the ceremony.  Special thanks to all my maternal uncles, aunts and all my lovely cousins.

What was your most favourite wedding ritual and why?

Escorting me to the mantapa for the muhurtham by my uncles will forever be my favorite moment to remember.  It was the feeling of love and pride that was bestowed on me whilst being escorted that makes this moment unforgettable. 

What were your wedding and reception outfits?

For my reception I wore a contemporary outfit. It was a saree draped on a lehenga and it complimented my outfit. Hoysala wore a kurti set. On my Wedding day I was all decked up in a kanchivaram silk saree with beautiful green glass bangles complimenting the gold bangles along with traditional ornaments of gold and the groom was looking resplendent in a silk dhoti, angavastram with pheta.

Share some memorable incidents of your wedding preparations.

The most memorable incidents were on the  mehendi day. It was a fun filled event. My friend Mr. Abhishek Bhat, from the Bow tie hospitality hosted the event by being the emcee. For the first time I saw my mother dancing to the music. She danced and laughed enjoying herself to the fullest. My brother was prepped up to the occasion by his team mates and did a ramp walk too. Dance dedications and expressions of my families love for me through songs made my day very special. It was an event where I saw almost all of my family members involving themselves together in playing games, dancing and enjoying like kids.

What do you think about the concept of Bride of Honor?

Every girl dreams of her wedding. Once my wedding was finalized I too went wild with my imagination. Being a beautiful bride waiting for my prince charming to ride on the white horse and take me away for life was a fantasy imagination. As beautiful as it sounds, that stressful it becomes, to make sure every detail and aspect is taken care of in preparation for that dream wedding.  It is a tedious task  and I was lucky to have a supportive family taking care of it. Bride of Honor helps every bride to easen the process by pampering them for their D-day, which I feel is a nice concept and a way to look forward to the upcoming brides and grooms.

Who did your makeup? how was your experience getting dolled up for your wedding?

My husbands college friend Shruthi Badami was the makeup artist for my special day wherein she gave me a HD makeover. Well, getting dolled up for wedding is altogether a different experience and words fall short to express this feeling, it’s something that needs to be experienced.

Any funny incidents that you wish to share that occurred during the wedding?

The moments I had while getting ready for my reception with Shruthi Badami, our mutual friend, who was dolling me up for the event along with my cousins siri and pooja, are very memorable to me. It was an all girls time and we cherished it munching on chocolates.  And post reception, the time with my brother and cousins along with my husband, his cousins and friends was an ice breaker where youngsters of both the families were getting to know one another.

What is marriage for you?

Marriage is a belief. I grew up being told that marriage is not only the uniting of a bride and a groom, but it is a union of two families. I did not know the actual meaning then, but today I completely agree that it’s an amalgamation and a rise of new relationships.

Give us a message that you would like to convey to your partner.

What message can I give to the gift of an angel? I don’t know which line in the palm of my hand joined to unite us. He has been the best gift that I have received in my life. I would like to thank my parents for having given consent to our marriage and I am grateful to my in laws for bringing up and having gifted me their son; Hoysala is a wonderful person as partner for life.

“In the fairy tale of  my Life,you are the prince charming I had dreamt off, you certainly took me away even without riding on the white horse.“

What advice would you like to give to brides and grooms who are getting married?

Don’t marry in haste. It’s a life decision, so choose it wisely.  Listen to your heart and your gut because they are always right. Do not decide on marriage because of family or peer pressure. Achieve your goals and make your family proud. Marry when you feel you are ready, ready to share, care and be responsible and don’t get carried away by looks, words or glamour of wealth as they are perishable with time and trend.

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