He put a ring on her... while scuba diving

Every romantic probably dreams about a fairytale-like marriage proposal — in this couple’s case, it came true. Tarunay Roy and Shruti Diwakar, both business analytics professionals, were dating for three years after which they casually began discussing marriage. They even got the families to meet but something told him it wasn’t enough. “Shruti didn’t tell me anything about a ‘dream proposal’ but I had a feeling that she might love one,” says Tarunay.

The duo had discussed taking a vacation and agreed upon Andaman. It struck him that he could plan the big proposal there and he called up a friend, who worked as a scuba diving instructor. “She told me about a place that would help me execute my idea of an underwater proposal while scuba diving,” he recalls.

He feared two things though — “We’re not very gutsy people so I was worried if one of us would back out on the day of the dive. Secondly, I’d purchased a ring a week before leaving and was terrified if it would fall out of my hand underwater.” Somehow, after they reached their holiday destination, Havelock Island, he mustered the courage and met with Andaman Bubbles Dive Center. “They got really excited about my plan and were willing to help me through every step of it,” he gushes.

On the special day, they headed out to dive and during the last 15 minutes, Tarunay was taken to a shallow spot in the sea, where he went down on one knee. He says, “My diving instructor handed me a waterproof neon banner with a doodle of a man proposing to a woman and the words ‘Will you marry me?’ written around it. Shruti was then brought closer by her instructor.”

She chips in, “I was actually pretty anxious through the dive and kept resurfacing to breathe. When the instructor kept cajoling me to dive again and wave at this camera (that was filming the proposal) I was really confused and annoyed. Finally, when I saw Tarunay with the banner, my brain stopped functioning!”

She forgot to breathe and swallowed quite a lot of water. “She kept indicating she wanted to resurface because she thought this was it and didn’t expect the ring. I quickly took it out of the box and though she refused to give me her hand, I just took it and put the ring,” he laughs. Shruti says, “I couldn’t believe what was happening. After we came ashore, I kept staring at the ring and to this date, I can’t stop freaking out!” Is there a better way to show your loved one how much you care?