A ‘controversial’ TOI pic that an IAS officer now treasures

They were initially incensed, seeing their flirty, romancing-the-rain photo on a laid-back Thiruvananthapuram street that appeared in TOI long ago as an intrusion into their then anonymous selves. Eventually, Chandni Chandran, a IAS officer and Arun Sudarsan, a researcher, happily married now, came to view that May 2016 chilling-out photo as presciently symbolic of how their lives would soon acquire such a fairytale cast.
Chandni Chandran, currently posted as director, school education and special project director Samagra Shiksha Abhyan, Agartala, tweeted about this picture a day ago and and her tweet along with the pic has now gone viral. “Results of civil service Exam 2015 were expected to be out & I was roaming with @mrarunsudarsan to not stress over it. I did not make it. Next day newspapers were filled with pics of toppers & The Times Of India published this pic of us!” read the tweet by Chandni, along with the photo published in TOI which has now garnered about9,000+ likes. “I took it as a sign that my photo was destined to be there in the paper filled with UPSC toppers and that I can happily walk towards any destination with someone holding an umbrella and looking out for me with love unbound when I take each step,” her tweet reads.
I remember that 2016 day as a usual working day for me at the TOI office in Thiruvananthapuram when my bureau chief told me about a complaint received from a reader. Gears shifted rapidly in my head, as I tried to figure what I may have done wrong — I had seen a young couple walking down under an umbrella in heavy rain, it made for a lovely shot and I clicked it and now I was rather surprised to know that my picture had irked the couple. I explained that the couple was in public space and they never objected to me clicking and the matter was over. It turns out that Arun, who was clicked along with his then girlfriend, now his wife, also had to do his share of explanation to do on the day it was published.
Arun’s father MR Sudarsanakumar who is a TOI reader happened to spot the picture and jokingly enquired with his son about where all the couple was “roaming around” the previous day. Arun who was disturbed by the "unpleasant conversation" which the published photos led to, had then called TOI to complain.
But all that is in the past. The couple has now come to cherish the photo and hoard it as a souvenir. Days before Chandni compiled a thread of tweets recounting the entire episode, I received an e-mail from Arun. He reminded me of the picture and asked if there was any way he could have the photo. Since the photos are filed date wise and Arun had provided the exact date, I could help them with a copy of the picture.
It was a pleasant surprise for me to learn how a casual photo taken by me had turned out to be so special for someone.