Ratan Rajput has certainly come a long way since the days when the audience loved her as Laali in Zee’s Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo. Now she has grown up and there are number of suitors who line up to find an entry to this charming actor’s heart. And thanks to the current trend of marriages being made on television and not in heaven anymore, Ratan has found her soul mate in the show Ratan Ka Rishta. In an exclusive interview with TellyChakkar, Ratan talks about her life post her engagement with Abhinav Sharma and much more. Excerpts… How has life changed after the engagement? Well, now I am on the phone for long hours as I am in Mumbai and Abhinav is in Delhi. I am sure that the phone bill will go up drastically. On a serious note, I am happy that he has resumed his job as software developer after a break of three months. Have you ever been in a relationship before? No. I have never even been on a date, unless you tag the act of sitting and sipping coffee with some guy as a date. I think a real date is one when somebody asks you out romantically but that has never happened with me. Nobody has ever made me feel special but in Ratan Ka Rishta I got the chance to date many men and in fact I went out with Abhinav for the maximum number of times. Is your family and close friends happy with your decision? Everyone is really happy with my decision to get engaged to Abhinav. I am happy to say that everything is just perfect right now. But we need to spend more time together off-camera. It usually gets quite awkward when we talk like a couple, so we try to keep our conversation as friendly as possible How would you define your relationship? Right now we are comfortable with each other but we are yet to experience the elements of love and romance. But now we are engaged and we definitely feel for each other. I was in the show with 16 different guys so falling in love is something that couldn’t have happened immediately. Aren’t you planning to visit Delhi? Yes, I have plans of going to Delhi to meet Abhinav but right now there is some pending work that I have to finish. Furthermore, Abhinav has just resumed work and I can’t really pressurise him to come to Mumbai until he finds a job here. Does it mean you have some projects lined up? No, it’s not related to my profession. I will just have to finish some household work and then leave for Delhi. When are you both getting married? Nothing has been decided yet. We are still getting to know each other. We will get married when the time is right. Abhinav is very caring and we both respect each other. In fact, he gets really excited whenever he reads something about me in some newspaper or magazine. Are you in touch with Abhinav’s family? Yes, I usually talk a lot to his bhabhi. I also talk to his taiji. What is one common thing between you two? It will certainly be anger. We both are short-tempered and straightforward individuals, which can prove to be good and bad at times. It is monsoon and it’s raining in Mumbai. Don’t you miss him in this romantic weather? I do miss him and I wish he was in Mumbai. I would want him to take me out on a long bike ride and I would ride pillion holding an umbrella. I would want him to be by my side while sipping green tea and watching people get wet. It’s sad that we are not together in such a romantic season. He is a guitarist. Does he play songs over the phone? I think it will look a bit odd if he does that as he stays with his family. But he does sing for me over the phone and I think from now on I will ask him to pick up the guitar as well (laughs). What was your first off-screen moment with Abhinav? When we were done with the media interaction after the engagement, we went to the Radhe Krishna mandir in Film City. Then I took him to the sets of Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo and our next destination was Mahalaxmi temple. Well this was the only time together that we spent off-screen and if you’d like to call it a date, then you can.