PRAYAGRAJ: If "marriages are made in heaven", for 25-year-old Raju Saroj, a TOI report played the match-maker. It was this inspiring report on Saroj and his brother carried by TOI, Lucknow, seven years ago that made Mumbai-based Reshma fall in love with him.
For Raju Saroj of Rehua Lalganj village of Pratapgarh district, it was an act of true serendipity. The same TOI story published on June 20, 2015, had helped him and his brother realise their IIT dream.
Brijesh and Raju, the two sons of Dharmraj Saroj, a daily wager working in Surat, had cracked the prestigious IITJEE and got calls from IIT Powai and IIT Kharagpur in June 2015. But the two could not afford the fee.
After TOI covered their story, help came pouring in, from all parts of India and across the world. Among those who offered help included film star Aamir Khan. The fee problem was taken care of instantly.
The story of Saroj brothers fascinated many, including a young student of Mumbai -- Reshma, who developed a soft spot for Raju. It took Reshma one year to send a friend request to Raju and on August 11, 2016, the two became Facebook friends. After four months, on December 23, they met for the first time.
After five years, Raju and Reshma got married in Mumbai on February 18, 2022, and as he had to join in Bengaluru, the family organized a reception in their Pratapgarh village on Sunday, May 22.
“Being a regular reader of TOI, I also read the report on Raju and his brother on the front page and soon they were on every news channel. I was impressed by his simplicity even when he was drawing so much attention, and then decided to send him a friend request, which he accepted. We met for half an hour after four months, and things moved on to this moment,” said a jubilant Reshma.
Reshma has done MCom and BEd from Mumbai and now teaches English at a private school in Bengaluru after marriage. Her family hails from Sihipur village of Jaunpur district in UP.
Thanking TOI, Raju said: “The TOI coverage of our IITJEE success and then financial hardships opened the floodgates of help from people we never knew. We were in limelight and that has contributed to my marriage also.”
"I first met Reshma on the platform of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai on December 23, 2016, while going to Pune which I often visit to inspire IIT aspirants of a coaching institute," he added.
"I am shy while she is outspoken, but she follows all family traditions earnestly," said Raju, who now works in the electric vehicle section of Mahindra and Mahindra at Bengaluru after getting his engineering degree from IIT Kharagpur.
