The French Connection

For 31-year-old adventurer, photographer and former French national Géraldine Sandhilya, the real excitement began when she married her Indian husband and had Leonie, their gorgeous Indo-French baby girl.

- Charlene Flanagan

THEY say love happens quite unexpectedly. You accidentally stumble across that one person, and before you even realise what’s happened, you’ve fallen for them. The story of Géraldine and her dance-instructor husband, Praveen, is no different. After studying Travel and Tourism in Rouen, France, a young Géraldine was eager to explore the world, her trusty camera in hand. She found herself moving to the United States and Australia before making her way to India in 2010.

Quite unexpectedly, she fell in love with India and has lived here ever since. What cemented her decision to make this move permanent was meeting her husband at a Salsa dance party that was incidentally, hosted by her brother-inlaw. Of course, her adventures didn’t die down, particularly after she landed a job with Royal Enfield and biked her way around the country, committing her travels to memory in the form of photographs. However, in 2014 when Praveen and Géraldine decided to make their relationship official, she decided it was time that travel took a back seat.

LICENCE TO WED

Marriage is a lifetime commitment, and it usually takes a lot of hard work, compromise and understanding to make it a success. For Géraldine and Praveen, the decision to have a wedding which celebrated both cultures was undisputed by family and friends. “We’re both very attached to our origins, so our wedding was a mix of French and Indian traditions. Since I’m not religious and don’t practice any faith, we chose to exchange vows a little differently. Praveen is a Hindu, but his faith hasn’t really had any negative impact on our marital bliss. In fact, I quite love the happy spirit, colour and joyfulness of it,” says Géraldine.