You might remember the Bollywood movie “2 States”. Cross-cultural weddings always carry a special charm. But I will be honest. I never really felt it before. Not deeply. Because I don’t think I had ever attended an actual inter-state wedding. At least, not until Vidhi Karelia and Srinath Narayanan’s reception on 22nd February. Even before the event, I was texting my friends: “Guys, how cool is this? A real-life 2 States wedding!” And honestly? It was.
A new pairing on the Indian chessboard! | Viral Memories and Totography clicks
I know Vidhi personally. She previously worked as an Events Manager at ChessBase India. We met for the first time at The Big Chess Diwali Camp in 2024. We talked. We played a Blitz game. During the camp, I noticed her talent for teaching. She was guiding players through difficult positions, correcting their sheets, and explaining where they had gone wrong. It was genuinely inspiring. I also stayed with her for a few days during that period. That’s when we really connected. The kind of talks where you stop being “colleagues” and become “friends”. I still remember one moment from our conversation when she said, “Mujhe padhana bohottt pasand hai”, meaning, “I loooove teaching.” Her passion was impossible to miss! Vidhi loves dancing, especially belly dancing. She is also a great cook. In fact, many more interesting things about her deserve a mention. 🙂
You will often see Vidhi in a fun mood, but the moment she starts teaching, she becomes fully focused.
Srinath, on the other hand, it’s like, we know him, but we don’t know him. We know the credentials, obviously. They are impossible to miss. He is India’s renowned coach who led the Indian Men’s team to that historic Gold medal at the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad in 2024. He is the one who has trained some of India’s absolute top players and some of the future stars we will be hearing about soon.
Name an Indian chess player, and chances are Srinath has worked with them.
In many ways, their worlds are completely different. And perhaps that’s what makes their story so fascinating. This is what they write about in books and movies: “how two people with completely different journeys eventually find their way to each other…”
So… how did they meet?
They met online! September 2021. That’s when the talking started. The usual “getting to know each other” phase. By October, they were in regular touch and at some point, they both realised that this connection deserved something more than just texts. So they decided to meet. Srinath flew down to Surat, and the two spent a couple of days together. It was kind of a turning point. After that, they planned trips together and their connection grew stronger. At that time, neither of them could have predicted where the story was going.
Vidhi and Srinath’s first picture together.
Chess played a role in both their lives in very different ways. Vidhi’s chess journey started in a rather unexpected way. She was around seven years old when her mother enrolled her in a summer camp at school. Kids had to choose one indoor and one outdoor activity. Vidhi first tried table tennis, but there was a small problem: she was too short to properly reach the table! So she ended up sitting nearby, watching another group where a coach was teaching chess. By the end of the camp, there was a small tournament for the children who had attended the chess sessions. Vidhi joined in. And she won a medal!
Over time, she started playing more tournaments and even reached the national level during her school years. But life had other plans, too. When Vidhi started studying medicine, competitive chess slowly faded from her daily routine. For a few years, the game took a back seat. What stayed constant was her love for teaching. She enjoyed helping people learn the game, explaining ideas, and solving puzzles together. Later, when she moved to Mumbai and things were a bit tight financially, teaching chess became a practical way to earn some extra money.
More than money, chess brought her joy.
Srinath’s chess story is more familiar to the chess community. He discovered the game during a family trip when he saw his brother and cousin playing. His curiosity turned into fascination, fascination turned into practice, and practice eventually turned into a professional career. He became a Grandmaster and one of India’s most respected coaches. For Srinath, chess is not just a profession. It is part of his identity! The way he looks at challenges in life is often similar to how a chess player approaches a difficult position: analyse the situation and find the best possible move. At some point during his career, he realised that teaching and mentoring players gave him a deeper sense of connection than simply playing tournaments. That eventually shaped the path he chose.
Another interesting contrast between them is how they approach teaching chess. Srinath’s approach is very goal-oriented. When he works with a player, he tries to help them reach the maximum of their potential. His focus is on players who are serious about pursuing chess at a high level and possibly building a career in it. Vidhi, on the other hand, sees teaching a little differently. For her, it is more about sharing the beauty of the game. She loves introducing beginners to chess and helping them fall in love with it. Titles, ratings, and professional goals are secondary. She often says that chess has given her a lot in life. Teaching, for her, is a way of giving something back to the game.
A perfect example of their approach is the Masterclass that was held last year in Hyderabad for chess players. Srinath took care of the training part, while Vidhi conducted some mindful exercises for the players. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy
There is a moment in their story that Vidhi shared. Around early 2022, Vidhi was preparing for an important medical entrance exam, which had been rescheduled. She was mentally and psychologically drained. Srinath came with an idea! He planned a surprise trip to Delhi with her childhood friends. Delhi held a special place for Vidhi since she was born there, but she had never really experienced the city properly. Srinath secretly coordinated with a couple of her friends who lived there and planned a small 3–4 day trip so she could take a break and reconnect with a place that meant something to her. It was also their first proper trip together. It was also Vidhi’s first flight!
Their first trip together!
But then something unexpected happened. On the second day of their trip, Srinath received a call. Because of the geopolitical situation at the time, the original host of the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad could no longer organise the event, and the chess world was suddenly searching for a new host country. India was exploring the possibility of stepping in.
Checkout the video about Srinath’s Meeting with the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
Srinath was asked to be available urgently to set up a meeting with the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to explore the possibility of hosting the Olympiad. The timing was difficult. They had just started their trip, and Vidhi was already going through a tough emotional phase. Leaving immediately meant cutting the trip short. But both of them understood the significance of the moment. So Srinath flew back. Vidhi stayed back in Delhi with her friends. And a few months later, the Olympiad actually happened in India.
That was a very challenging time for him. Because he was trying to start something new with me. He saw me in the most psychologically down phase, and he was not sure if he should leave me and prioritise this. And that was the 1st time it really hit me what kind of person I was dating, it’s kind of a celebrity. Because these will be the kind of sacrifices we will both have to make in our personal lives, so that something huge can happen.
Vidhi shared.
They both still kept their relationship very private. During the Olympiad, they were both there in completely different roles. Srinath was involved with the Indian team, while Vidhi was volunteering and helping with organisational work. Interestingly, during the entire event, they barely interacted. Partly because they wanted to keep their relationship private, and partly because the tournament demanded absolute focus. In Vidhi’s words, it was the first time she realised how much pressure comes with being closely connected to someone responsible for preparing a national team at an event of that scale.
Like any good partnership, they balance each other. Srinath admires Vidhi’s attention to detail and her ability to understand people emotionally. According to him, she notices things about people that he might completely miss. Vidhi, meanwhile, often talks about Srinath’s patience. In her words, his calm presence slows down her otherwise very chaotic energy.
She once described their relationship using a beautiful image. “It’s like solving a jigsaw puzzle,” she said. “And then suddenly you find the last missing piece that makes the whole picture complete.”
When asked to describe their partnership using a chess term, Srinath said: “Pair of bishops.” For chess players, that analogy makes perfect sense. Two bishops operate on different diagonals. They don’t overlap, but together they cover the board beautifully.
A beautiful photo taken during the Big Chess Summer Camp in 2024.
A natural question arises when two chess players are together: do they actually play against each other? Vidhi admits she becomes extremely competitive during these games. “He usually agrees to play two or three games,” she joked, “but I keep asking for more because I don’t want to keep losing badly.” Srinath, meanwhile, has a rule: he never takes it easy on her. Despite that, Vidhi once managed to hold Srinath to a draw. Which, if you think about it, is probably the most accurate chess analogy for marriage: nobody loses, nobody wins, you just agree to share the result!
Of course, when two people from different parts of the country come together, culture naturally becomes part of the story. Vidhi grew up in a Gujarati household, while Srinath comes from a Tamil background. The food, the languages, the little family traditions, many things are different. But both of them see it less as a challenge and more as something exciting. For them, it’s an opportunity to learn, adapt, and slowly understand each other’s worlds.
Well, this was Vidhi and Srinath’s story. I had actually planned to write this article many days ago. After the reception, we decided to sit down with the couple for a small interview. I was all set with my list of questions. Unfortunately, I had to rush to catch my train and ended up leaving just before the interview actually happened! But but but, I had my very own little “team” there. Huge thanks to the amazing people who stayed back, asked the questions, recorded the conversation, and made sure I had enough material to put this story together. Without them, this article probably wouldn’t have happened.
My trusted army (left to right): Harsh, who took the initiative to conduct the interview, Pratima, who handled morale and peri peri fries logistics, and Adarsh, who made sure the recording actually happened!
One happy picture with the stars of this real-life story!
Take a look at some beautiful moments from the wedding and reception ceremony. Photographs were captured by Viral Memories and Totography clicks.
The couple also hosted a wedding reception in Pune and Chennai on 6th and 8th February respectively. Himank and Aditya Sur Roy from ChessBase India attended the event in Chennai and captured some beautiful moments.
