There is no clear definition of Love, however, love stories have been an integral part of mankind since time immemorial. Love stories have been written about, seen and experienced in novels, movies, and everyday life. Every love story is beautiful in its own special way.

Our growing up years were spent reading Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and watching Bollywood movies of which love stories were an integral part as well. Hollywood love sagas like the Titanic must have been watched by all cinema freaks. The first love story was a Russian piece, “First Love” (Первая любовь) written by Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev, published in 1860. Cut to circa 2022 and a variety of love stories that are more colorful and unique have emerged and passed on through generations.

We bring you one such story from Udaipur, that of Berfin Khan. Berfin (a Kurdish name meaning Sundrop Flower) is a 28 year-old Turkish woman who was born and raised in Germany. She has been a student of Educational Science and what is even more amazing is that she has been working since she was just 15 years old.

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The Full Story

She enjoys traveling and has traveled to many places in India and other countries, and while on such a trip, she met Sarfraz Khan at Udaipur, Rajasthan. That’s when her love story started.

It was Friday, a very special day for them to get married as the Quran invokes the importance of Friday as a sacred day of Worship, says Berfin. Four years back in 2018, Berfin came to India and before that, she didn’t know anything about Udaipur. She got to know about the city through an NGO called Animal Aid where she wanted to work as she loves animals. Long back when her father was alive, she used to watch movies of Shahrukh Khan along with her father. She was very fond of Indian movies and that is how she got interested in Indian Culture and tradition. She further added that she loves wearing Indian clothes and is very fond of shopping and Indian jewelry. 

 “I grew up watching classic movies of Shahrukh Khan.” - Berfin Khan.

 She loves animals, and in 2018, four years ago, she found an NGO named Animal Aid India, on the internet. She had never heard of Udaipur before but she wanted to visit the city and be a part of this NGO. She also met Sarfraz Khan during this her maiden trip to Udaipur. 

“ I knew only about big cities in India like Mumbai, Delhi, Kashmir and knew little about Udaipur.” - Berfin Khan. 

Berfil usually stayed in a hostel, which was very close to Sarfraz Khan’s shop during her visit to Udaipur when she was associated with Animal Aid. When they first met, Berfin had an impression of him being arrogant. Berfin and Sarfraz were in connect through a friend of Berfin at Animal Aid. 

“It was quite funny; when I first met him, he appeared to me as an arrogant man” - Berfin Khan.

A few days later, a friend of hers from Animal Aid took Berfin and another male friend out to dinner. They were unaware of the man's reputation among tourists, and Sarfraz joined them for the meal. Sarfraz was extremely displeased that the man had joined them, given the reputation he had in the neighborhood. Then she and her companion went to Sarfraz Khan's store where Berfin asked for an Earring. She claimed that the way he answered was so cold and impolite that she remarked, "If you are not interested in taking the money then great, I will not buy from here." 

When she first met Sarfarz, she was looking for a bowl to offer a dog water to drink. She asked around in the local shop for one, but nobody helped. Sarfraz was the first one to get her a bowl, and at that moment, she felt good about him. Peace, according to Berfin, is the fundamental factor in their relationship. Sarfraz brought her calm, so she agreed to marry him. 

“God says without peace there is no love and I found peace with Sarfraz.” - Berfin. 

The second meeting of hers was on Eid ul Adha when he invited her to his home and it was unexpected that she visit his house. Sarfraz was glad to see her and was very happy at that moment. She shared one of her dream that she saw before meeting Sarfraz Khan. “Exactly one year ago before meeting him I saw a dream, where two men wearing white kurta came asking me about my father, so I responding that my father is no more but then her father appeared and the two men asked for my hand in marriage and my father agreed. Exactly one year later, I saw Sarfraz in a white kurta on Eid Ul Adha and that’s when I decided he is the one for me.” - Berfin 

Prior to this meeting on Eid, Sarfraz had proposed to Berfin multiple times, but she rejected. Sarfraz said that after her visit to his home, she was the one who proposed to take their relationship further.

Berfin’s fascination about Indian Culture 

Berfin claims to genuinely like attire in Indian culture. She likes to wear traditional Indian attire since it suits her style more than western wear, she says. She also loves Indian Jewelry, which was one of the things that drew her to Sarfraz Khan because he formerly had a jewelry shop (a Kashmir Handicraft Business) in the walled city area of Udaipur. He subsequently quit the shop and signed a contract with a tourist hostel in Udaipur and is presently employed there. Post their marriage, separation was unexpected. After exchanging vows at the Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer in April 2018, Berfin left for Turkey in January 2020. After two months the COVID outbreak happened and lockdown resulted in her being away from Sarfraz for a period of two years. 

On being asked whether unexpected outcomes have turned out to be better for her… she said with a big smile, "I've prayed for this for many years, and I'm getting what I've hoped for." She continued, "In any prior relationship, I've never felt like this and met anybody whom I can claim he may be the one, but then God gave him to me in a lovely way." She said that if she had to pick just one person, she would spend at least a year getting to know him, but with Sarfraz, everything happened so quickly that it felt like it was a part of God's plan. Berfin and Sarfraz were associated for nearly two and half months before getting married. 

Ending this love story of Udaipur with a beautiful quote by Jane Austen…

“Then I examined my own heart. And there you were. Never, I fear, to be removed.”