For 30-year-old Faizan Patel and his wife Sana Khan, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is now 'a beacon of hope.'
Since August 4th, Faizan Patel, a lifestyle photographer had been tweeting that his wife, Sana, had misplaced her passport just a few days ahead of their honeymoon trip to Italy. The duo who got married in December 2015 had been planning this trip for almost a year but the missing passport threw a spanner in their plans. The couple from Mangalore now lives in New Delhi.
On Monday, Faizan Patel took off on the trip solo. He decided to tweet to Sushma Swaraj with his wife’s photograph stuck on the vacant seat beside him on the flight.
Ask your wife to contact me. I will ensure that she is with you on the next seat. pic.twitter.com/sktnOMkg0a @faizanpatel
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) August 8, 2016
Within minutes came the reply: “Ask your wife to contact me, I will make sure she’s with you on the next seat.”
On the Minister’s intervention, Sana was issued a fresh passport on Tuesday and she found herself at the VFS office in New Delhi on Wednesday, applying for her visa.
Speaking to The News Minute, Faizan Patel said, "We had got our passports only a month back and we searched the entire house, but were unable to find it.’
Why such a late honeymoon? Having exhausted most of their savings on their wedding in December, Faizan and Sana had settled for a two-day ‘mini honeymoon’ to Jim Corbett.
It was only eight months after the duo got married that they could finally put their long-term plan into action.
Three days into the honeymoon “without his honey”, Faizan hopes that Sana will soon get her visa approved and join him.
Travelling to Italy without wifey. #Yay #PartyTime #HoneyMoonwithoutHoney #milan pic.twitter.com/CNXnNkMdtX
— Faizan Patel (@faizanpatel) August 7, 2016
Faizan has since been regularly tweeting about his trip.
Off to Florence. Sana applied for her visa application today at the VFS. Hoping she gets her visa from the embassy. pic.twitter.com/f1SmtoLPjW
— Faizan Patel (@faizanpatel) August 10, 2016
There seems to be a larger 'public interest' in this story - Sushma Swaraj has the reputation of being one of the most accessible ministers in the central government, and has been commended especially for helping many stranded Indians return home.
It was only a month ago that the solo honeymoon photographs which a woman, a native of Lahore, had posted went viral. In her case, her husband failed to get his visa on time!
Photo Courtesy: Huma Mobin/Facebook