One month before Apurva Agarwal and Anirudh Sriprakash could make it to the aisle, their vows faced the ultimate test. Agarwal, a finance professional, was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL).
Instead of planning menus and honeymoon itineraries, the couple was now planning chemotherapy routines and navigating survival. As Agarwal’s parents recall, the moment reshaped everything. “We were sitting in Delhi when we heard the news. We froze. You worry when your child has a simple fever, this was beyond that,” her father says. “We flew to be with her the
very next day.”
Though the focus was now on her treatment, the couple did not want to wait any longer to solidify their commitment to one another. They exchanged vows in an intimate ceremony in March 2023 at her uncle’s home in Chicago, officiated by her brother-in-law.
“It’s tough to be a caregiver and learn the language of being a part-time nurse, but Anirudh did it gracefully. While most people in this situation would have left, he made it clear that his commitment wasn’t conditional,” says Agarwal. “Isn’t that what ‘in sickness and in health’ means? The true anatomy of a vow, if sickness came before? Most couples never get to see this side of the story and if they do, it is not before they begin the most beautiful chapter together.”
The civil wedding was shaped by their circumstances. Agarwal was accompanied by her father and tau ji (uncle) in a floor-length red dress, her choice to go bald in the face of chemotherapy-induced hair loss underlining their new reality. She adds, “My cousin sang ‘Perfect’ by Ed Sheeran, a song that encapsulated our bond, fighting against all odds.” With both sides of the family standing steadfastly by the couple, Agarwal’s brother, Arpit, doffs his hat at his brother-in-law’s strength of character. “Cooking, cleaning, working, staying at the hospital, being a part-time nurse, learning medicaljargon, all for my sister. That’s pure love.”
After more than two years of intense treatment, Agarwal was finally cancer-free. The first thing the couple focused on post-treatment was celebrating their union the way they had originally planned to, with a wedding in Mysuru. Though other locations were considered, they ultimately returned to Club Mahindra, where the wedding was scheduled to take place in 2022, completing what had been left unfinished 1,123 days earlier.
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