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If love is the force that binds us all, equality is the glue that holds love together. Now, imagine if somebody, say society, told you that you didn’t have the right to feel any of the above! Yes, many communities in India have been meted out with such subjugations because their sexual orientation is different than what they were born with.

But, while there is a long way to go, there are people who are championing the cause and leading others with examples. If you haven’t been lucky in meeting one, let me introduce you to two. Two bravehearts who met and found love in the waiting room of a Surgeon and are now all set to marry!

According to Mid-day, 46-year-old Aarav Appukuttan from Kerala who was born Bindu, met the woman of his dreams, 22-year-old Sukanyeah Krishnan (born Chandu), also from Kerala, in a chance encounter at a hospital in Mumbai.

The duo met three years ago in Mumbai where they had come for their respective gender reassignment and fell in love as destiny brought them closer over time.

In fact, the good news is that the couple are getting married next month to celebrate their love for each other. Talks are on about a grand wedding filled with friends and mirth.

Looking back at their journey together, Sukanyeah recalled the day they had their first interaction.

“I got a call from a relative, and I was speaking to them in Malayalam about my surgery and health. When I finished my call, he was talking to someone on the phone in the same language.”

“After disconnecting his call, Aarav came to me and asked whether I am from Kerala, after which we got talking.”

The three-hour-long wait for the doctor gave them the time to know each other, and that is where they exchanged phone numbers.

As fate would have it, they continued chatting even on returning to their hometowns.

“He went to Kerala and I returned to Bangalore, where I had moved two years ago for my job. A day later, Aarav called me and we discussed our surgeries and our treatment in detail. At first, we would speak once a week, then it became twice a week. Soon, we started talking very day.

In fact, Aarav admitted that it was love even before they realised it. He even spoke about their future plans and adopting a baby together.

“I didn’t even realise when we fell in love. On one of our visits, we held hands and that’s how it began. We are now planning to get married in a temple, with all the rituals. Both our families are happy for us. We have also decided to adopt a child since we are aware that post-surgery I won’t be able to conceive.”

Neither of them has had an easy childhood. Sukanyeah confessed that she was meant to be a woman, but her family could not accept it.

“They told me to wear boys’ clothes and to play with boys. I would always ask them why they treated me like a boy even though I felt like a girl on the inside.”

In an effort to ‘fix the problem’, her family took her to a doctor who gave her hormonal injections that resulted in several health issues, due to which she was unable to appear for her SSC examinations.

For Aarav, it was a different place but the same set of prejudice. He said,

“Since childhood, I had a strong feeling I was born to be a boy. When I was 13 years old, I realised I was not a woman. After I moved to Mumbai, as I wore men’s clothes and cropped my hair like a boy, the women in local trains would yell at me when I boarded the ladies’ compartment.”

But that’s all in the past now. The couple couldn’t be happier and needless to say we hear to cheer. We wish both of them a blissful married life.