It started with a strategic move: Esha, tired of dating lovely-but-not-quite-right people, swapped her dating app location from Seattle to the Bay Area. The algorithm, she figured, just needed a little geographic encouragement. Rishi maintains she cleverly omitted the small detail of actually living in Seattle.

The first month unfolded over text and phone calls. One particularly memorable one came right after Rishi finished a 10-day Vipassana silent retreat in Hawaii. That's 10 full days of not speaking to anyone. Naturally, he had some catching up to do. Esha, a certified chatterbox by every account, clocked in at exactly 5% of the conversation (Yoodli AI Communications Coach was running in the background). Her verdict at the time: maybe Rishi talks too much. The texts and phone calls went on pause.

Enter Rishi's older brother, Sheel. A couple of weeks later, Sheel decided to publicly tweet Rishi's "date me" doc, the modern biodata, out to his followers. One of those followers, conveniently, was a friend of Esha's, who forwarded it her way within the hour. The doc made Esha smile. Their values lined up in all the ways that mattered, and as far as re-engagement strategies go, it was a pretty great one. Esha flew down to the Bay Area for work, they finally met in person, and the rest (as they say!) is history.

Their relationship blossomed over the next many months, built on a steady rhythm of flights between San Francisco and Seattle and weekends spent somewhere new. Going on city walks, chasing sunsets, hunting down the city's best vegan restaurants, and saying yes to the occasionally absurd (Esha's first Burning Man, for one). They hiked some of the most breathtaking trails the Pacific Northwest and Bay Area have to offer and discovered that the best conversations tend to happen somewhere above 6,000 feet.

Suddenly, Esha building her company in Seattle and Rishi living his social and well-rounded life in San Francisco didn't feel so lonely after all. Two cities, one story, and a lot more to come.

The first proposal happened on November 28, 2025, the Friday after Thanksgiving, in Esha's college town of San Luis Obispo. Her friends Varun, Tarini, Andrew, and Tiffany were there in person, Eli and Bri surprised them, and even more friends and family joined by video call.

A second proposal followed on December 13, 2025, on the island of Bimini in the Bahamas. They were there for Rishi's sister-in-law's birthday, surrounded by some of Rishi's closest friends.

💍

After two proposals, it felt fitting to celebrate more than once. Puebla is one of three weddings, and they can't wait to share this one with you.

“His talk time was too high, but I gave him a second chance.”

Esha