Eijaz Khan and Pavvitra Punia on their relationship: This for real and forever

Actors Pavvitra Punia and Eijaz Khan are excited to celebrate their second Valentine’s Day together. She is “nervous and excited” to surprise him and for his surprise.

“Last year, family wala mahul tha as we celebrated with our families. It was lovely and this year, it will be just us,” she reveals. Khan, who calls himself as “socialist and not capitalist”, admits to not conforming to “special days specifically to show love or grand gestures”. “But if one particular day gives me a chance to do something special for my loved one and bring a smile to her face, why not? I am excited about this Valentine’s Day as it is another day to build on our relationship and make it stronger,” he exclaims.

For Punia, Valentine’s Day is like a festival and she believes in going all out to celebrate it. “Jaise shaadi hoti hai, yeh ek aur festival hai, of showing your love. It is a special day and one should celebrate it. I expect it to be exciting,” she says with a laugh, adding that her partner has made plans for the day.

They have been together for a year and a month now and have often been asked about the next step in their relationship. Punia says, “People are curious and while we don’t any pressure or want to disrespect the expectation of people par thodi freedom khatam ho jaati hamari. At times, we don’t want to share or reveal something before others and try to keep certain things private.” Khan adds that “other than our families, everyone else is interested in our future plans”.

“Our families are chilled about it. They say, ‘It (wedding) will happen when it has to’. But when people ask, it insinuates ke kyun nahin kar rahe ho, problem kya hai? We are dealing with lives, the pandemic and there a lot of other factors and you just don’t start making doll houses. This for real and forever, we want to do it nicely, aaram se, take our time and enjoy the process. If people are in a hurry, they can find other couples to pander and ask when are you getting married?”

The couple, who got together in a reality show and took their relationship forward, have been vocal about their love on social media and don’t shy away from PDA either. Ask them the secret to a successful relationship and Punia says commitment and understanding are needed while for Khan, “there is no secret sauce”. He explains, “What works for two people keeps changing from time to time, including what you expect from the other. As you grow, the understanding increases as does the relationship. What matters is, if there is love, you don’t give up and keep working on it. If I am not the same person two years ago, I don’t expect my partner to remain the same. Your wants, concerns and needs keep changing. It gets tough and I am being real here. Sometimes we fight, sometimes we brush things under the carpet but basically, we are still figuring it out. In happy times, we laugh about our fights and concerns. What we know for sure, that this is it and there is no going from back from here, so you work on it.”