‘Follow Me To’ Series is too mainstream. What’s trending is the ‘Follow Me-No!’Not getting what I’m saying?

Meet Adhiraj and Daribha, the cute young couple from Mumbai who recently shot to fame on social media because of their hilariously romantic and far more relatable honeymoon pictures from Italy. By the way, this was also a parody on the very famous Follow Me To couple Murad Osmann and his partner Natalia.

Adhiraj, a freelance writer and comedian and Daribha, an Assistant Commissioner in Indian Revenue Services took some time out of their busy schedules to answer my questions.

Me: Starting from the very beginning, how did you guys meet?                                             Adhiraj: We met through our mutual friend Makepeace. I think we were the two geekiest friends she had, so she invited us both for this Ayn Rand film screening. We both hated the film. I must not have made a very good impression because I sent Daribha a friend request later that night and she added me for a day then unfriended me on the next 😛

About 3 years later, in 2013, we bumped into each other at the same friend’s house, but this time we kept in touch, and a few months later we were dating

Me: Describe your spouse on your first date.
Adhiraj: Our first date was walking around the JNU grounds all night, so mostly it was too dark to see much. We talked about Mel Brooks.
Daribha:  Smelly. NO, I’m joking. He was just jhalla.

Me: While you guys were dating was there any embarrassing incident you wish had never happened?
Adhiraj: We were all in Shillong (Daribha’s hometown) and her ex came to visit, and at one point my friend said ‘Shillong boys are so fit, why are you dating Adhiraj and not this guy.’ Very awkward.

Me: Whose idea was it to do Follow Me-No?
Adhiraj:  It was Dari’s idea. We didn’t think it would get this big, it was just a silly thing to show our friends.

Me: Your favorite memory from your recent honeymoon destination, Italy?
Both: Florence, walking from our room near the Duomo, over Ponte Vecchio, to the Piazzale Michelangelo where we could get a great view of the city and the hills of Tuscany surrounding it

It was the only sunny day when we were in Florence and we sat there a couple hours just taking it all in

Me: What is the destination you would most likely choose for a second honeymoon?
Adhiraj: There are so many places I still haven’t seen in India, but as far as an exotic ‘Honeymoon’ location is concerned, I’d like to see the Northern Lights.
Daribha: So many places! Peru, Iceland, Spain, Vietnam, Japan, there are so many beautiful places in the world!

Me: One habit of Indian couples worth making a parody of?
Daribha: Costume-y, cheesy, posed, ‘on-location’ pre-wedding shoots!
Adhiraj: What she said, and also posing in front of things looking straight at the camera (though we may have done that ourselves a few times: P)

Me: Among you both who is crazier for brands?
Adhiraj:  Dari, but I feel the same way about comics and toys: P

Me: Adhiraj, have you ever bought something & kept it a secret from Daribha?
Adhiraj: Sometimes I’ll order a graphic novel or a game on Steam and Dari only finds out when she sees me reading / playing it (and then I pretend I’ve had it for years.)

Me: One reason because of which you’ll unfollow your spouse on social media.
Adhiraj: Tags me in one of those ‘tag your friends’ things.
Daribha: If he posts something stupid, like some sort of meninist thing.

Me: If today was the last day before the end of the world, how would you spend it together?
Both: Staying in with our cat rewatching all Mel Brooks’ films.

Me: Which of these do you share the most: sense of humor, sense of adventure, common sense?
Adhiraj: Sense of humor. Then common sense and last, a sense of adventure.

Me: Adhiraj, if you write a book on your love story, what would you name it?
Adhiraj: The Sound and the Fury.

Me: What changes have you guys experienced in your relationship after the internet fame?
Adhiraj: Everything is the same only, though these 15 minutes of ‘fame’ were a nice way to end the honeymoon
Daribha: We now know how to document all the silly things we do: P

Me: Daribha, what according to you is the wisest investment into relationship?              Daribha: The ability to laugh at yourself. AND, also, on no account should you watch any episode of any web series without your partner (it throws the whole schedule off.)