An IAS love story: Tina Dabi, who secured first rank in Union Public Service Commission examination in 2015 is all set to get married. And the guy is twenty-two year old Athar Aamir-ul-Shafi Khan who secured second rank in the UPSC exam. Tina clarified that wedding plans are around the corner, but they are yet to set a date for the engagement.

Tina shared how they met for the first time at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy for Administration in Mussoorie during a felicitation function earlier this year.

“We met in the morning and by evening Aamir was at my door. Uske liye pehli nazar mein pyaar ho gaya (For him, it was love at first sight)”, she said.

It took Athar some time, but by August, he had won her heart.

The couple has been quite open about their relationship, with Dabi sharing pictures of their time together in Netherlands and when with friends.

The pictures have generated much interest and some criticism. “We are in love and very happy . But I must admit that I get very disturbed when I read stuff about us. We have stopped googling our names and reading news about ourselves. I think it is a small price to pay for being in the public eye,” she told. Dabi says their parents have accepted their relationship and were happy about her choice. “As any freethinking independent woman I am entitled to certain choices. I am very happy with my choice and so is Aamir. Our parents are happy too. But there will always be those elements, that small minority who will always pass negative comments about dating someone from another religion. It is just that 5%. The majority are very happy . You would have seen in my Facebook timeline that most of the comments are encouraging. In fact, I am overwhelmed by the support and congratulatory messages. I thought ‘yeh to achcha hai” (this is good.),’” Dabi said.