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A Facebook Love Story

MANJEET SEHGAL

 

 

 

 

 

When in love, the world seems so right.

The adage, "everything is fair in love and war" proved right yet again when British airport security officer Sonia Mariekeats found her love, Gagandeep Singh, on Facebook.

Gagandeep, 24, is an engineering diploma holder and a resident of Punjab's Amritsar district. Mariekeats, who is in her thirties, belongs to Southall, England, a suburban district of west London.

The British airport security officer met Gagandeep, a mason's son who lives in Amritsar's New Gurnam Nagar area, on the social networking site a year ago. Sonia, who has been visiting the Southhall gurdwara ever since she turned 12 years old, wanted to be a Sikh and had visited Punjab two years ago to pay obeisance at the Darbar Sahib.

She befriended Gagandeep, who is active in local Sikh affairs, on Facebook and became very close to him.

"I told him that I would first adopt Sikhism and then marry him. I reached Amritsar on March 26, 2015 and was formally initiated into Sikhi by taking Amrit at the Golden Temple. We got married on April 3. I am so happy and don't have words to explain it," Sonia says.

Sikhism, she says, teaches humanity and is modern as compared to other religions. "We are united by Sikhism. My interest in Sikhism brought me to Punjab. My childhood dream to marry a Sikh came true when Gagandeep accepted my proposal," she said.
 
Gagandeep's mother Sukhbir Kaur, meanwhile, is overjoyed that her new daughter-in-law is learning the sacred verses of Sikhism.

"She may not be a Sikh by birth, but her interest in the religion brought her to Amritsar. She recites hymns and will be able to adapt to the culture soon," Sukhbir Kaur said.

Sonia and Gagandeep had never met in person before she came to Amritsar. She said 'Sat Sri Akal' when the couple first met at the airport.

"I was surprised to see the Ik Oankar tattoo on her hand," Gagandeep said.

Sonia had got her parents' nod for marriage before coming to Punjab. "I cannot read and write Punjabi, but understand it 'thorri ... thorri'. I can cook chhole-poori, chilli paneer and paranthas," said a confident Sonia.

[Courtesy: India Today. Edited for sikhchic.com]
April 15, 2015


 

Conversation about this article

1: Aryeh Leib Lerner (Israel), April 15, 2015, 7:32 AM.

"A Sikh by birth." As far as I'm aware, this is a contradiction in terms.

2: R. Singh (Surrey, British Columbia, Canada), April 15, 2015, 3:20 PM.

Southall has for a long time been the "headquarters" of the Sikh community in Britain. I am happy to hear that someone from a non-Sikh background locally has turned to Sikhi.

3: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), April 16, 2015, 6:59 PM.

This is a great story.

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