During a time when just making a call is expensive, couples in love did not mind phone bills. It was the chance to be in touch, no matter what time it was. To a great many, a few minutes of talk were the prelude to a night of talk, and the threads of friendship wove their way through space.
Harbhajan Singh and Geeta Basra’s first connection
In the middle of cricket tours and film shooting, one of such love stories happened in the case of Indian cricket star Harbhajan Singh and Bollywood actress Geeta Basra. It was a long distance phone call that gradually turned into a romance. The liaison would result in one of the most desirable cricketing-Bollywood marriages.
The initial ember was in the course of the 2007 Indian tour of England. Harbhajan and Geeta got acquainted in a party given by a common friend. Numbers were shared and what ensued were informal chats that slowly evolved into long and deep chats across countries and time zones. The friendship increased as time went by.
Harbhajan Singh’s Rs 27,000 phone call
By 2008, the gravity of their relations became obvious. India was on tour to Sri Lanka and Harbhajan Singh was the man of the moment. He was lost in his head when his teammates were basking in the glory of a historic series victory. He was preoccupied with the late night conversations with Geeta Basra in England.
It is reported that one of such phone calls led to an outrageous bill of almost Rs 27,000. Money was never a concern of Harbhajan, however. Quantities were afterthoughts to affection, and those conversations became priceless memories to them in the future to draw them even closer. It was one of the chapters that revealed his priorities.
Geeta Basra’s career focus amid relationship rumors
Although the couple had developed a closer relationship almost eight years later, they chose to maintain the relationship secretly. Geeta Basra desired that her acting career be her identity and not her personal life. At this point in their relationship Harbhajan Singh was occupied with the strenuous life in cricket.
There were always speculations in the media that they were more than just friends but Geeta totally denied these allegations. She would say to me that we are good friends but there is something more than just friendship between them. Off-screen they needed to balance romance and career aspirations, and build a trust that would survive challenging years.
Wedding celebrations of Harbhajan Singh and Geeta Basra
The couple took almost ten years to take their love out of the limelight and make it official. Harbhajan Singh and Geeta Basra married in a conventional Punjabi wedding ceremony including rituals, family, and blessings on October 29, 2015, at Jalandhar.
They had even more celebratory wedding reception in Mumbai. The cricketing and Bollywood celebrities were there to make it one of the most talked about parties of the year. It was a festival of two worlds integrating with each other.
Geeta today has retired in films to concentrate on her family and Harbhajan Singh has left the cricket field to commentary and politics. The story of theirs stands as an ideal example that love, given time, can be stronger than career, distance and even Rs 27,000 telephone bills.
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