RELATIONSHIP TIMELINE LETTER

BACKGROUND

1. My name is Samip Shah; I am 25. My wife's name is Dhiloni Shah; she is 23
2. Her contact is +919724445157; d_shah20@gmail.com; and my contact is +64224594275; samshah19@gmail.com.
3. We first met each other on 02 September 2018, got engaged on 02 November 2018. Our court marriage took place on 15 November 2018, and we got married according to our culture and rituals on 05 February 2019.
4. You can contact us via email or schedule a call for any time or day if need be. I am usually available after 06:00 PM NZT and Dhiloni before 11:00 AM or after 07:00 PM NZT.
5. My family members consist of my parents, and for Dhiloni, her parents and brother.
6. I am currently working as an accountant in Auckland, Dhiloni works as a travel agent in Ahmedabad.
7. Dhiloni's primary residence on all her legal documents and correspondence has changed to my residential address in India at 14 Ashirwad – III, Prahladnagar – 15. Since I am in Auckland, she has not entirely left her parent's home, she instead lives with my parents mostly during weekdays, and then over the weekend, she goes to her parents' home. I want to add that this is not a set pattern, but she mostly follows it.
8. Since we are currently living apart, we spare time to speak to each other over the phone every day for about 30 mins and have also kept in touch with each other and each other’s family members through calls and chats.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE RELATIONSHIP

9. My mother first introduced us. She had spoken to Dhiloni's parents about the possibility of an arranged marriage; they also were interested in the proposal; hence we first met online over a video call. 
10. Despite our first meeting, which was meant to be more casual, we connected instantly and spent a good hour speaking to each other. We never felt that we had not met or spoken to each other in the past. 
11. After our first call, the frequency and the duration of our calls kept on increasing. I was meant to go to India in 3 months, but we considerably came to know each other during these three months. Even before our first meeting, we both felt that we had already decided to spend our lives together. Two months into knowing each other, we were talking about serious relationship topics.
12. The time came for me to visit India and meet her for the first time. I arrived on 31 August 2018, called her the next day, and we decided to meet up on the 02 September 2018 at a well-known café.
13. We liked each other’s company very well and had spent almost 4 hours with each other on that day. We then decided to meetup again in two days. We continued meeting each other for about 4-5 times. I then decided to propose her on one of these dates. This was a an extremely dramatic moment for both of us. After this, we decided to tell our parents about our intentions.
14. Both our parents were happy that we had found each other and were happy to have a family meeting.
15. Dhiloni’s parents had invited me and my parents over to their house for a dinner, and we met each other on 20 September 2018.
16. Fortunately, all went well with our parents too, and as a family we decided to host a small ritual which is common in our culture when the marriages are decided. This is known as “Gaud Dhana”. It is a usually conducted at a small scale in front of a few immediate relatives from both sides. This event took place on 29 September 2018 again at Dhiloni’s residence.
17. After this event, everything about our relationship was made known to our distant relatives and our friends.
18. We kept meeting each other in private, but both our families also introduced us over a few dinners during this period. We also introduced each other to our friends. During this period, our families had also started preparing our engagement which we decided conduct on 02 November 2018.
19. On 02 November 2018, we go engaged, this was a very special occasion not just for us, but our family members too. We are all happy, emotional, and in joy.
20. I had come on a holiday period; I was meant to go back to Auckland on the 29^{th of}November. Because I took a leave of almost 3 months, I wasn’t going to get a very long leave around next year Jan-Feb. This meant for us, that we legally got married before I fly back to Auckland on the 29^th.
21. We therefore got married in court on the 15 November 2018. On this day, we were officially a married couple.
22. After this, I did some preparations like ordering clothes, as they are all custom made, helping Dhiloni with her shopping, and we also prepared for my departure.
23. The day came, when I had to finally come back to Auckland, and resume work. All of us were a little bit sad, but were happier, that we got to spend good time, and more importantly, we found each other.
24. I came back to Auckland, and resumed my work, and kept in touch with Dhiloni and her family through chats and phone calls. Both the families and Dhiloni got busy in the marriage preparations, Dhiloni also filled in for me, whenever there was a family gathering from my family’s side.
25. This kept on going until I went back to India on 26^thJanuary 2019. Since, I couldn’t come early, or even stay longer this time, all my family members, Dhiloni, and her family members had together prepared everything for our wedding day.
26. All the pre-wedding functions were supposed to start from the 01^st of February. We all had great fun during this time, we all enjoyed. The wedding day was extremely emotional, especially for Dhiloni’s parents . After the wedding, we held the reception on the next day.
27. Our honeymoon was booked in from the 07 February to 12 February in Goa. We had the best time of our lives.
28. After coming back, I was due to fly back to Auckland in 5 days. During this time, we completed all the necessary paperwork to open joint bank accounts, changes names and address on Dhiloni’s  legal documents.
29. I wasn’t going to probably come back to India for a long time, so I also spent time with my family and Dhiloni’s family.
30. The time came when I had to depart back to Auckland. Along with Dhiloni, my parents, and my friends, Dhiloni’s parents, some of her immediate relatives and her close friends also came to see me off at the airport. It was a very emotional moment for us.
31. After I came back, I resumed my work, Dhiloni had taken a long term leave from her work since September, so she also joined her work back.
32. As mentioned above, Dhiloni’s main place of residence is now my house in India, however, she lives with my parents for around 50% of the time, and with her parents equally.
33. We call each other every day and talk to each other over the chat. I also, speak to her family members once a week.

FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF THE RELATIONSHIP

34. We have a joint account in India. Currently Dhiloni is using that account for her day-to-day expenses. Her Salary also gets deposited into this account.
35. Along with this we also have a joint term deposit account, where I transfer some of my savings monthly.
36. We also have joint life insurance policies
37. My father has bought Dhiloni a two-wheeler moped for her to easily commute to work and other places.
38. During the wedding, the jewellery shopping was done for us through each other’s family.
39. The wedding was hosted by Dhiloni’s family, where as the reception was hosted by my family. Expenses for all the other events, were shared by both family members.
40. I hold investments through a mutual fund, where I have added Dhiloni as a beneficiary, and a nominee.

SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE RELATIONSHIP

41. Both I and her have meet all of our extended family members from both sides. We know all of them very well and also keep in touch with them from time to time.
42. We also keep in touch with each other’s friend’s group.
43. We have been added to each other’s family’s WhatsApp groups and have been added in our Friend’s WhatsApp group. We regularly interact with all our social connections.
44. I know some of my wife’s close work colleagues, and they have also met me twice over at lunch when I was in India.
45. Dhiloni knows my friends in Auckland, and we regularly do a group call, and they are also eagerly waiting for her to come to New Zealand.
46. When I was in India, we also attended three weddings one from my family’s side, and two from her friend’s circle.
47. During this time, she had also attended on birthday party of my friend’s son in India.
48. The family whom I am currently staying with also knows Dhiloni very well, and casually speaks to her sometimes, when I am on a call with her.
49. Dhiloni’s native place is a small village, about an hour’s drive from Ahmedabad. People whom they know in the village, also know about our relationship, some of them very invited in the wedding, but we have also been there (during one of the rituals) and had visited some of them personally.
50. Some of my parent’s friend circle, and Dhiloni’s parents’ friends also keep in touch with us from time to time.

FUTURE PLANS

51. I and Dhiloni both intend to live in Auckland, New Zealand.
52. Once she comes here, and gets a work visa, she will try to get some work experience, after residency, she might consider some study options for better career prospects
53. We would also like to bring in our families on a visitor visa and visit the country together.
54. Once we can have enough savings, we plan on buying a house in New Zealand, and plan for family.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT EVENTS IN OUR RELATIONSHIP

SUPPORTING RELATIOSNHIP RELATED DOCUMENTS

1. Chat history from different periods
2. Call history/logs
3. Relationship support letters from friends and work colleagues
4. Photographs of different events including captions
5. Photographs with friends and relatives including captions
6. Casual photographs together
7. Evidence of wedding arrangements and shopping (shopping bills, jewellery shopping vendor’s receipts venue booking etc.)
8. Marriage certificate
9. My flight tickets to India for both the times
10. Honeymoon (photographs, air tickets etc.)
11. Joint insurance
12. Joint investments
13. Joint bank statements
14. Investment in mutual funds
15. Chat history with friends and family members
16. Social media posts
17. Money transfer receipts from my end
18. Change of Dhiloni’s middle name, and address on some of her legal documents
19. Vehicle purchase receipt for Dhiloni