It was on December 27, 2019, that television and film actress Mona Singh married her boyfriend, Shyam Rajagopalan. It was right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit India among several other countries and a nationwide lockdown was announced. So naturally, her life after marriage hasn’t been as expected. 

“Life changes for everyone after marriage beautifully, but for us, it was pretty shocking as there was a pandemic, lockdown, coronavirus, and we didn’t know what was happening like many others who didn’t know what exactly was happening,” she said in an exclusive interview with Times Now. 

The actress, however, explained that it was also a “blissful” time for her and Shyam since they were newlyweds and just the happiest in each other’s company. “We were just married, we were at home, we were cooking, we were doing time pass with each other, we were just chilling… Nobody thought that how bad it was outside because you were confined in your home boundary, otherwise we don’t get that kind of time. So it was like a honeymoon period for us, the vacation for you take for 20 or so days, spend time together and you come to your routine.”

While the first lockdown was a beautiful experience for them as a married couple, it was in the second lockdown that they started getting anxious about the entire COVID-19 wave. “The second lockdown was a hard reality. People were losing family members, people were suffering, so many deaths and so many cases. India has been bad in the second wave and still is,” she said, adding, “This time we were anxious and we were feeling helpless. Some days we also felt that this is never going to go and what is happening, it was depressing and disheartening to see everything around us.”

The actress, who will next host the show Mauka-e-Vardaat, said that she completely switched off from all social media platforms in the second lockdown while she was still active in the first lockdown, posting videos and updates about her personal life. Mona admits that she’s glad she got married before the pandemic and has Shyam’s support all throughout the global health crisis.

“I am glad I was married. Because we both were there for each other through our ups and downs and highs and lows. There were days when my mood was off and my husband would lift my spirits up and vice versa. I am glad I got married at the right time,” she said. 

The actress also explained that prior to living with Shyam, she was living with her parents for almost 35 years, so the first lockdown was also a chance for them to know and discover each other. “We didn’t need any other friend around us,” she said.

The actress has often been vocal about her professional life, but not as much as her personal space. Hence, not much was known about her love story. Spilling the beans about how it all started, Mona shared that they first met at a common friend’s birthday party, and knew that they were attracted to each other. 

“It was pretty funny,” she said, adding that they were on-and-off touch for quite some time. Reminiscing that party, Mona said, “I remember him looking at me and I was making fun and telling my friend that he is checking me out what’s happening. So my friend was like, ‘You are single, go talk to him’ and I was like, ‘No no’ and all jazz happened. Then he took my number from my friend and texted me. We started messaging, he asked me out for a cup of coffee. We did go, but then there were days when I was shooting and I was not in town, so there was a break again,” she said. 

The actress recalled that it was at the same friend’s wedding that she and Shyam started to open up and eventually started going out. It was then in October 2019, that Mona thought he can pop the question anytime and he did. 

“I just said, ‘Hello, I can’t decide right now. You have to come over and talk to my parents. And he was like what, then he came and met my parents. My parents knew about Shyam and I told them that there is a guy and we’ve been talking, so I got him home and he met my parents. They said, ‘Kab karni hai shaadi?” (When do you want to get married?). The actress then revealed that it was because both her and Shyam’s sisters were coming to India from abroad in December that they zeroed down on Christmas time for their magical wedding. 

Looking back, Mona couldn’t be happier that she got married in the presence of her dear friends and family members before the COVID-19 pandemic took over.