February is the month of love with Valentine’s Day fever giving an overdose of love hormones in everyone. But for actor Milind Soman and his athlete wife Ankita Konwar, dealing with raging adrenaline isn’t a new thing considering their athletic background. What’s interesting about their equation is that even though it’s their mutual love for running that brought them closer, their idea of love is still so cute and sweet: “My idea of Valentine’s Day would be any day with Milind actually,” Ankita Konwar gushes, while Milind Soman adds, “This day came up because people don’t bother to show their affection on the other days, but both of us try to do special things for each other all the time.”
It’s been 10 years of togetherness for the couple, which includes seven years of marriage too, and Milind feels ecstatic about the feat. “I’ve never been with a person for this long before,” he quips. Ankita recalls having given up on the idea of love when she met the actor. “I was convinced that I’m never going to find anybody, even though I was quite young. I always thought that the things that I appreciate in life are so unique, who else is going to like it this way? I had accepted that I would just have to spend my life alone,” she says.
But then came Milind. “I was quite surprised to meet a person who was exactly like me, who did not mind walking barefoot to a big restaurant, who was absolutely one with nature and really understood himself while being sure of who he was and who he is. That is what kind of kept it interesting for me,” she raves, while after 10 years of being together, Milind reveals the quality of Ankita that amazes him to this day: “She can deal with me, and that is something very special. She’s excited about life and she wants to do new things and the way she nurtures our relationship is just amazing.”
One of the most striking parts about Milind and Ankita’s relationship is their age gap, and the couple doesn’t shy away from addressing it. They, in fact, see the positive side to it. “She’s 26 years younger than me, so obviously there is a huge difference in the way she thinks, in her upbringing and the environment she grew up in. The ideas that she has are all different and incredible. She’s Assamese and I am Maharashtrian, and we are as different as anything can be. We come from different generations, different parts of the world, with different languages and different food habits. Yet the fact that we have managed to find each other and find that space in which we merge our thoughts, emotions and our spirits, that is something very special. I can say that my life has only become better because of her,” says Milind.
Ankita agrees with him and adds, “When you’re young, you don’t realise a lot of things and put plans on hold for the future. But when you are with a person with whom you have that age gap, you tend to realise that each moment is special. I can actually look at life from a point of view filled with only gratitude.”
The athletic and charming couple even have some smart advice on how to sustain relationships in this fast-moving time. Milind opines, “You have to be aware of what the other person wants from their life. Even if they are not clear about it, you have to be on that journey that they are on to find out what it is. And then you have to support it, no matter what.” Ankita gives her two cents adding, “You must learn to give your relationship space to evolve. The other person may not be the same one that you fell in love with, but you have to learn how to keep falling in love with this person again and again.”
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