Ms Copparum Swarnalakshmi and Mr Kumerasan knew each other as children. Ms Swarnalakshmi, 30, was about 11 years old when she first came to Singapore in the mid-1990s from Chennai with her family because of her father's work.

She was introduced to Mr Kumerasan's family as they went to the same meditation centre.

Mr Kumerasan, now 36, is a third-generation Singaporean. As the families grew close, Mr Kumerasan and Ms Swarnalakshmi's elder brother became best of friends which increased his visits to their home.

However, after four years, Ms Swarnalakshmi's family had to return to India. Once back in India, the family missed their life in Singapore and realised their future lay in the island-nation.

A few years later, the family returned. By then the children had grown up and taken jobs in their respective fields. Ms Swarnalakshmi, an IT graduate, started work in a human resources firm. They also renewed their ties with Mr Kumerasan's family.

It was the two mothers who thought Mr Kumerasan and Ms Swarnalakshmi were a good match and proposed marriage, which the couple agreed to, despite never having had romantic feelings for each other. Their ties were made by others. Their relationship was arranged. Yet, today, the couple say it has been a "marriage of love".

Ms Swarnalakshmi says: "We had known each other since childhood. Hung out together. Shared so many jokes and memories together. Yet, when our mothers suggested we marry, my initial reaction was one of shock. I had never seen my husband as anything more than a friend."

But slowly the couple realised that it seemed the most natural progression for their relationship. A marriage whose foundations lay in true friendship. The couple wed in 2008 and have a four-year-old daughter K. Seedhana.

Mr Kumerasan, who works as a technical officer at the Catholic Junior College and as a freelance music composer for Vasantham, says: "It took time to get used to the fact that we were getting married. But in the last four years I have realised that she is perfect for me. She is supportive of my work and passion. Nobody understands me as well as she does."

Ms Swarnalakshmi now runs her own software company called Vibgyor Works. She says she has never been happier and calls her marriage a "special romance".

"We are very happy with where we are now. We have recently bought a new house and look forward to moving there and building our lives together and growing as a family," Ms Swarnalakshmi says.

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