How Far Will a Man Go for Love? As Far as a Powerpoint Presentation

Even the most cynical of individuals appreciate a good love story. We especially seem to enjoy stories that characterize grand romantic gestures, such as:

When Karthik daringly expresses his feelings for Shakti in front of her sister in Alaipayuthey

Or when Noah built an entire house from scratch for Allie in The Notebook

And when Rahul and Anjali finally unite dramatically (after she almost marries another guy!) in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

But these are all movies, which begs the question – does this kind of stuff happen to people in real life? Are grand gestures a thing of the past, fictional world? Well, hopeless romantics, prepare to rejoice. We recently came across a real-life romantic gesture that made us think we were witnessing a movie!

Here’s the wonderful story of how Caroline and Pranav became husband and wife, in Pranav’s own words, from a recent post he published on Facebook:

“Here’s a very personal piece of history, that I would like to share, of how I won over the woman of my dreams – Caroline. Caroline and I first met each other at the University of Toronto years ago. We were close friends but lost touch when I moved to Los Angeles in the late nineties. After my marriage to my ex-wife ended a few years ago, I took some time to reassess the type of person I wanted in my life. I came up with a 15 point checklist (I’m happy to share with anyone who asks!). At about the same time, Caroline and I reconnected through Facebook. We started speaking by phone a lot. She was still in Toronto and I was in LA. After months and months of conversation, and not having seen her in person for many many years, I realized that Caroline was the woman I had been looking for all this time. And this time, I was not going to let her go like I did so many years ago.

So I met Caroline in April 2012 for the first time after nearly 20 years. I told her how I felt and what I wanted. Her reaction was priceless. She told me that over the years, because she had made some poor decisions, she needed her sister to weigh in on this life decision. Caroline said to me “Pranav – I trust my sister Judith and so you need to go see her in Boston and get her approval first.’

I thought to myself, this is perfect! I mean, how could this get any better? After all, I am the best salesperson I know. Within a week, I hopped onto a plane and went to go to see Judith in Boston. But there was a catch, I knew I had to go prepared. You see, while I also knew Judith from my university days, I also knew she was a Harvard professor, ran a scientific research lab there and has one brilliant mind. I definitely could not walk into Harvard unprepared! So what did I do? I created a Powerpoint Presentation of course! I had it printed, bound and laminated. I was ready for battle!

So on April 23rd, 2012 I met with Judith for dinner at a quaint little restaurant. Game on. Within minutes of being seated, the first question posed to me was “Pranav – why should I believe you truly love my sister?” My response was simple and to the point “Judith – You don’t have to believe anything I say, but I did prepare a PowerPoint presentation for you that should explain everything!” She was a little dumbfounded and caught off guard, so I pointed to the presentation laying right next to her on the table. “It’s right there next to you” I said. She looked at it, she looked at me and that was it for all the questions. She actually did not even read it until later that evening after she returned home. I had won Judith over within a minute of meeting her and knew I had the woman of my dreams. This story may sound unbelievable and a bit crazy, but I would pretty much do anything for a lifetime of happiness. Not bad for a guy who did not go to Harvard if I do say so myself. Enjoy the presentation…”