What is your love story?
Navesh Chitrakar and Reuters Photographers
To mark Valentine's Day, Reuters photographers documented the stories of over 20 couples from around the globe.
Their stories run the gamut from storybook high school romances to the more unconventional, such as finding love after an acid attack.
They include Nhuchhe Bahadur Amatya, 76, a retired accountant at the Nepal Electricity Authority and his wife Raywoti Devi Amatya, 74, a housewife. Nhuchhe was 17 and Raywoti 15 when they wed in an arranged marriage 59 years ago.
"I saw Raywoti for the first time at my home after we officially got married, during the wedding her face was covered with a Ghumto (veil)," said Nchuchhe.
For Haidar Ali Moracho, 20, a transgender man from Spain, his relationship with girlfriend Coral Ibanez began online and had to be kept secret from their families for five years.
"It was very hard. There were times I thought it would be less painful if we broke up, but I couldn't. Together until death do us part," he said.
When Indian acid attack victim Pramodini Roul suddenly regained her sight, years after she was attacked, the first thing she saw was her partner, Saroj.
"I was flying with Saroj and suddenly started seeing things clearly. That was the first time I saw Saroj's face. I had never imagined that I would be able to see Saroj in my lifetime," she said.
Story
True love's path ran smoother for 37-year-old New Yorker Chad Ostrum. On his first day at college, he glanced through a door and a girl unpacking boxes caught his eye, so he went back to get a better look at the woman, Jenny, who would become his wife and the mother of their daughter.
"Through three states, long-distance dating, high times, low moments and 19 years later, we now share a home, a little girl and a life."
Writing by Mark Hanrahan
Slideshow
Rute Magalhaes, 33, and Filipe Alves, 38, at their studio in Lisbon. "We met 12 years ago on the Internet. Photography brought us together and we fell in love. Then we started a studio to help others fall in love with the magic of photos," Rute said.
Cathal King, 31, a veterinarian, and Jessica O'Connor, 28, a final-year veterinary student in Budapest, on Rossbeigh Beach near the County Kerry village of Rossbeigh, Ireland. "We met playing tag rugby in Killarney. We're both very active people. We do adventure races, hiking, and love to travel. We've been together three and a half years. I grew up back here in Rossbeigh so that's the main reason we're here," said Cathal.
Alejandra, 44, an education policy consultant and Razhy, 48, a journalist and a human rights activist, in the Coyoacan neighbourhood, in Mexico City. The couple met in Mexico City in 1998, after Razhy was kidnapped and quit his job as a director of a weekly magazine in Oaxaca, a state south of the country. Months later, Alejandra traveled to Europe to study. "I went to study in France, I returned to the country and all went cold, my family did not accept our relationship. Finally, four years later, we were both without partners and decided to meet again. We got married in the neighbourhood of Coyoacan, the neighbourhood where we walked together and we met again after all those years," said Alejandra. During the earthquake on September 19, the apartment of the couple suffered considerable damage. "Our house was damaged by the earthquake, now we live in another apartment and are waiting for the legal liability to repair the damages and be able to return," said Razhy. The couple have a nine-year-old son.
Bride Amornrat Ruamsin (left), 27, who is a transgender, holds up her five-month-old daughter with her groom Pitchaya Kachainrum, 16, during their wedding ceremony organised by a local TV show, in Bangkok. The ceremony is not legally-binding as Pitchaya in under 17, the legal age for marriage in Thailand. The couple plan to officially wed after her birthday. "I've had relationships with men before, but it was not that good and I was heartbroken many times. I met Pitchaya on Facebook and I first sent her a message to introduce myself. We fell in love with each other. After living together for more then a year, we agreed to have a baby. So now we have five-month-old daughter and today we got married as our parents wanted. This is the happiest day of my life," Amornrat said.
Dmitry Shamovich and his wife Anastasia Kuzmenkova in the village of Sosnovy Bor, Belarus. "Four years ago I was here, at the homestead for the first time - we arrived with other birdwatchers to build artificial nests for owls. And I met Dmitry, the owner of homestead, for the first time, here. Later we met again, when I arrived to be a volunteer in a project related to capercaillie. After that we made more projects together and one day I understood I fell in love with him. It was mutual," said Anastasia.
Daniela, 37, a Berlin-born social educator, and her partner Arda, 39, a German architect with Turkish roots, in front of Altes Museum in Berlin. "I saw Arda in 2015 at an exhibition at the museum. And he recognised me as well. A smile from both sides. One hour later we were sitting together and having a cup of coffee. Now we live together in a nice flat," said Daniela.
Yolanda Zuniga, 66, and her husband Antonio Carrillo, 65, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. "He has been my sweetheart since I was 14 years old. We lived in the same neighbourhood. I always loved his sense of humour and we got married when I was 19. My parents wouldn't let me go out dancing. Dancing has become our hobby. We go dancing on Saturdays and Sundays in downtown Ciudad Juarez, dressed as Pachucos. We have five children, 13 grandchildren and six great grandchildren," said Yolanda.
Aviva Ephrati (left), 84, retired kindergarten teacher, and Israel Ephrati, 87, retired supervisor at a higher educational institution, sit in the living room at the protective housing in Kfar Saba, north of Tel Aviv. They've been married for 64 years. "In 1950 I met Israel by accident, who was a soldier then, when I was trying to push away another young man who wanted to date me which I didn't want during an evening out in Jerusalem. After that young man left the scene, Israel asked me to date him and I refused, I was willing to be a friend of him but I didn't want anything romantic. In the next four years, I almost got married to another guy who disappeared two weeks before the wedding after his father gave him an ultimatum after finding out that my father was not originally Jewish. During these years Israel kept on sending me letters for New Year and checking on me. It took four years, until I showed a friend these letters, which I still keep, who told me that I am stupid not to get on with him. We are married for 64 years now, we have three children and few months ago we got our first great grand daughter," said Aviva.
Asha Ahuja, 71, a housewife poses for a portrait with her husband Chandrabhan Ahuja, 73, a businessman inside their house in Mumbai. Asha said: "It was the summer of 1971 when I met him for the first time. It was our engagement day which was just six days before our marriage. We didn't talk to each other until we got married. I was a free girl and used to go to jam sessions and enjoy time with friends. My life became completely different after I married him. He comes from a religiously conservative family. From a family of four, I had to live in a joint family of 20. I heard from my parents that he was also a religious person. I got to know about his devotional side when he went to a temple at 5 AM after spending our first night together. When I woke up I was alone. I sacrificed a lot after our marriage to adjust to a new environment. We are from a generation where we had to make a lot of compromises to make the marriage work, unlike today. I have no regrets as he loves me and I have a great family. Now half of the time he is in the temple and the rest with me in the house. But I am happy for him as he feels happy with his religious activities." Chandrabhan said: "I am a happy person. I am thankful to God who has given me such a great wife who has helped me to achieve whatever I wanted in life. A lot of credit goes to her how she has handled me for the last 47 years. We have become closer now as we are growing old. I now accept whatever she says. I am a happy and satisfied person."
Noor Djait, 31, an architect and Ismail Benmiled, 36, a businessman with their three-year-old son Said and four-month-old daughter Malek at their house in Tunis. Noor and Ismail lived on the same road and went to the same schools growing up, but never became close until they met in a nightclub when she was 17. "That night was the first time we really made eye contact with each other, the first time I talked to him. I remember I took off my shoes to dance on the table. At the end I only found one, Ismail found the other. He brought it to me two days later, like Cinderella." They began a relationship but, with Ismail five years her senior, she was concerned about their age difference and they broke up. But Ismail persisted, staying in contact with her, until he came to Rome years later, where she was finishing her architecture studies, proposing marriage shortly after. "We have been married for six years, we have two children and our love has not changed an iota. We are as in love as we were in the beginning," Djait said.
Huang Fusheng, 83, and his wife Tang Lanfang, 80, hold their wedding photo taken in 1958, at Prince Fu Mansion built during Qing dynasty, where they worked together from 1965 to 1992, in central Beijing. Introduced to one another by their supervisor in 1956, the couple worked together at the mansion, which housed an office under the China National Publications Import and Export Corporation, for 27 years. "I think our marriage is still fresh because we believed in forgiving and understanding each other," said Lanfang.
Huang Chenfeng, 63, and her husband Zheng Dingguo, 63, at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center. Huang has been taking care of her husband around the clock since he was admitted to the hospital for cancer treatment. The couple had an arranged marriage, organised by their parents in 1972.
Zakir Omur, 58, and his wife Nurgul Omur, 53, at their home in Bogatepe village in Kars province, Turkey. Zakir is a farmer and Nurgul is a housewife. They have been married for 29 years and have two sons. "When I was young my mother wanted me to marry, I thought it was too early but traditions came first, then young people's will. They said there was a girl, Nurgul, that could be my wife. It was impossible to meet a girl anywhere else. So me and some of my relatives met Nurgul and her family at their home. We got engaged at our second meeting and after a short while we got married. When we were newly-wed, we started to live in this house with my mother and father. After a while my parents moved next door but we stayed here. During those years there wasn't a chance to date a girl. There wasn't a place to go. My mother didn't ask me if I loved Nurgul or not. She said, 'If you don't love her, keep in your mind: I like her!' But once we got married I got to know her better. I loved her. Now it's just the two of us living in our small home. We don't have any reason to get angry at each other. We all need someone to be together with in peace and have conversations. Life could be really difficult if we didn't love each other. The place we associate with our relationship, is our home. This is the place where we have lived since day one," said Zakir.
Hayes Mehana, 78, and his wife Om Hany, 60, pose for a photograph at a vegetable market in Cairo. The couple have been married for 42 years and have 12 children. Their love started at a vegetable market and now they dedicate their time to their 50-year-old vegetable shop business which they both worked to expand. "Our families don't know about Valentine's Day but we built a big family as it was our dream. Every day with my wife is like a festival not just one day," Hayes said.
Mezbah Ul Aziz (left), 34, and Mausumi Iqbal, 33, pose for a photo in a coffee shop where they hang out on a regular basis in Dhaka, Bangladesh. "Our story was not love-at-first-sight type. In fact, we used to remain at opposite ends of the class mostly when we met first, but you know about magic, it always happens with surprises. Both of us are dentists and married for eight years now. Before that, we met at our dental school on June 1, 2004, on the first day of the class. We both were invited to give a short speech before our classmates and teachers. I went first, and later him. We never admitted, but maybe we felt some spark on the first day, but it was definitely not love. Later, we chose different paths, chose different reading partners for daily life. But fate brought us together after a year and a half. I was being bullied by some of my friends and my reading partners, then he came out of nowhere. He did not need to help me, but he did. From that day, we started our journey together. Our story was being written as one by fate and now, we have a treasure too, our five-year-old daughter, the centre of our attraction, the sign of our love," said Mausumi.
Kazuhiko Kobayashi, 80, and his wife Mieko Kobayashi, 73, at their music shop named Ameyoko Rhythm, specialised for Enka, traditional Japanese popular ballad, in Tokyo's Ameyoko shopping district. "I met her in 1963, 55 years ago. She was a classmate of my younger sister. One day she came over to my house and I took a shine to her because she was so charming. Since that day on, I called her every day. In the beginning, she did not seem to be interested in me, but I conveyed my passion to her. On our first date, I waited at a meeting place for an hour. It turned out she had been advised by her mother and older sister to be late for an hour to see whether I was serious about her. My feelings got through to her, and we married on October 15, 1964, five days after the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics. Fifty four years have passed since then. We see each other most of the time, both at home and at this shop, which has been in business for about 50 years, but I still find her charming every day!" said Kazuhiko.
Oladipupo Baruwa, 44, an investment promotion officer and Funke Baruwa, 41, a gender and development expert, at their home in Abuja, Nigeria. "Well, he is persistent. We met at a church on the first Sunday service of the year 2000 and he followed me home after every service from that day on until about two years later. I just loved his persistence and the fact that he didn't want to give up," said Funke. After the birth of their first daughter in 2003 the pair made a commitment that, whatever lay ahead, they would face it together. "For me that has always been the unifying factor... Marriage is a commitment, it is a hard work and when you are willing to work at it, you get better," Baruwa said.
Tony Wakaiga, 18, an art and design student and Suzzy Konje, 18, a hospitality management student along Banda Street in Nairobi, Kenya. Tony met Suzzy at a modelling photo session on Banda Street and they soon started dating. "We have been very good friends for a long time and our passion for each other has matured like wine. This Valentine's Day, I have a special surprise for Suzzy that will knock her heart out," said Tony.
Tattoo artists, Kathriel Zambrano (left), 23, and Yohanna Gonzalez, 28, in front of the bar El Molino where they first met, in Caracas. Yohanna was working at a bar for an event called InkFest. She was piercing. Meanwhile, Kathriel was being tattooed in front of a stand where she was working. "I didn't give him much attention, because, at the time, I was with another person," said Yohanna. He didn't stop looking at her and tried some pick up lines. "When I saw him, he impressed me because he has very big eyes and the colour was very impressive but nothing else. I left early." One day he texted and asked her what she was doing and if he could go and visit. "He bought me a bottle of anise liquor, but I told him, 'honey, I don't drink, you can buy me a chocolate if you want.' One day she arrived home and "on my bed there was a gift bag in the shape of candy, with a lot of makeup, a necklace and a little book that said, 'do you want to be my girlfriend?' and that's where it started..." They have been together for over five months now. "One day he grabbed me in a queue, and asked me if I really wanted something serious with him, I said yes, I was willing to be with him forever. Then he knelt, gave me a ring and proposed to me. I started laughing a lot because I got very nervous." Now they are engaged. "We have not been together for long time, but we really feel that we know each other all our lives, it was such a brutal chemistry at the beginning that it has been impressive," said Yohanna.
