Barun Sobti and Pashmeen Manchanda's love story: 'We wanted to get married and then travel the world..'

Barun Sobti is one of Indian television's most beloved faces, the man who made an entire generation fall in love with the idea of Arnav Singh Raizada.

But long before 'Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon' made him a household name, he had already found the love story he was never going to let go of in a school corridor, with a girl named Pashmeen Manchanda.Barun and Pashmeen first met as schoolkids when Pashmeen transferred from an all-girls school to a co-ed institution in the 9th grade, where Barun was already studying.

As Network 18 reported, Pashmeen was one of the most popular girls in school, and Barun was simply one of her many admirers, constantly finding excuses to talk to her and even writing poems to win her over.

The report noted that his persistence slowly turned into a genuine friendship, the kind that would eventually become something far more lasting.Years later, on Farah Khan's cooking vlog, Pashmeen herself looked back on how their story began, telling Farah simply, "We're school buddies.

We've known each other since." It was an understated way of describing what would go on to become one of Indian television's most enduring real-life love stories.After school, Pashmeen moved to Australia to study and later began working there, while Barun stayed back in Mumbai chasing his first break in acting.

On the same vlog, Pashmeen walked Farah through that entire stretch of time, recalling, "We've also had a long-distance relationship.

So I was away.

I was in Australia.

I'd gone there to study.

And I was working and everything.

And he had gotten his first show then.

So he was in Bombay.

I was actually working in a call centre in Delhi." She continued, tracking his early career alongside her own time away, "Then he got Baat Hamari Pakki Hai, which was a show on Sony.

It did really well, and it got quite popular.

Till then, you were in Melbourne.

I was still there.

And I literally came a month before we were getting married.

But I had come in between, and that's when he said, Let me meet your parents." The two managed to keep the relationship alive across continents for nearly five years, refusing to let the distance pull them apart.The couple got married on December 12, 2010, in an intimate ceremony held at a gurudwara, with only close friends and family in attendance, true to Barun's famously private nature.Barun and Pashmeen welcomed their daughter Sifat on June 28, 2019, and their son Meer on April 25, 2023.

Speaking with Farah Khan about their children, Pashmeen described their little family warmly, sharing, "We have two kids, we have a daughter, she's almost 7.

We have a son who's 3." Barun has also spoken about fatherhood in interviews, telling Hauterrfly that he tries to stay genuinely present at home, saying, "I'm pretty hands-on with my kids and about maintaining balance.

If I am at home, I like to be present as a father, and that's the only balance."Years into the marriage, Barun has continued to speak about Pashmeen with the same warmth he must have had as a schoolboy trying to get her attention.

In an interview with Free Press Journal, he said plainly, "I love my wife.

I have been in love with my wife since my school days." He went on to add, "We wanted to get married and then travel the world and have children.

It is exactly what it has turned out to be," a rare admission from an actor who tends to keep his personal life close to his chest, but one that says everything about how steady this relationship has remained since the very beginning.