For Bhavana Pandey and Chunky Pandey, nearly three decades of marriage have not taken the fun out of romance. From shopping surprises and familiar jokes to family-group memes, the couple says their relationship has evolved while retaining the easy humour that has long defined them.
Long-term relationships are often described in terms of compromise, responsibility and shared history. But for Bhavana Pandey and Chunky Pandey, 29 years together appear to have preserved something just as important: a sense of play.
In an interview with The Indian Express, the couple reflected on marriage, parenting, romance and the changes that come with growing older together. Their answers offered a glimpse into a relationship where affection is expressed less through grand gestures and more through everyday familiarity.
For the Pandeys, modern romance can apparently be as simple as exchanging jokes, sharing memes with family or knowing exactly what the other person is about to say.
Shopping still gives Chunky Pandey butterflies
When asked what continues to make them feel excited about each other after so many years together, Chunky offered an unexpectedly ordinary answer: shopping for Bhavana.
For him, choosing something for his wife still carries the anticipation associated with romance. His playful answer was met by Bhavana’s amused reaction, reflecting the comfortable banter that runs through their conversation.
That exchange also highlights how relationships can retain their romantic spark without depending on elaborate displays of affection. After 29 years, familiarity has not necessarily replaced excitement; instead, the two seem to have found humour in the routines they share.
Bhavana also recalled the kind of playful moments that remain part of their relationship, including Chunky’s habit of surprising her.
Parenting became one of their most meaningful chapters
The conversation also moved beyond romance to one of the biggest transformations in their lives: becoming parents.
Asked which version of her husband had surprised her most over the years, Bhavana pointed to Chunky as a father.
For her, parenting represented one of the most beautiful chapters of their life together. Chunky agreed with her sentiment, describing the experience as something that continues to surprise him.
Their response is revealing because it shows how a long marriage can be shaped by stages of life that extend far beyond the couple themselves. Dating, marriage and parenthood may involve very different responsibilities, but shared experiences can also deepen the understanding between partners.
Now that their daughters are older, the couple are entering another stage of family life—one in which the intensity of raising children gradually gives way to a different kind of companionship.
Their idea of modern love includes memes
Romance in the digital age does not always look like the traditional gestures associated with dating.
For Bhavana and Chunky, humour appears to be one of the ways they stay connected. The couple have spoken about sharing memes in their family group, turning something as ordinary as a social-media joke into a small point of connection.
It is a detail that feels particularly relatable for couples who have spent decades together. Grand romantic moments may become less frequent, but small interactions can become equally meaningful.
A meme, an inside joke, a shopping trip or a familiar reaction can carry years of shared history behind it.
What has changed after 29 years?
One of the most interesting aspects of the couple’s conversation is not that they claim everything has remained unchanged. Instead, their comments suggest that the relationship has moved through several versions of family life.
There was the early stage of their relationship, followed by marriage and parenthood, and now a period in which their daughters have grown up.
That evolution is perhaps what makes their perspective on long-term love more interesting. A successful relationship does not necessarily mean remaining exactly the same people they were decades ago. It can mean learning to recognise and appreciate the different versions of each other that emerge over time.
Bhavana’s description of Chunky as a father is a good example. The role introduced a side of him that she found particularly meaningful, adding another dimension to how she viewed her partner.
Bhavana says she still misses their younger days
When asked whether there were things she once considered romantic in her 20s that now make her cringe, Bhavana did not embrace the premise.
Instead, she looked back fondly on that period of their lives.
For her, the romance of being young was not something she wanted to dismiss simply because the couple have moved into a different stage of life. She said she misses those days, suggesting that nostalgia can coexist comfortably with the realities of a long marriage.
Chunky, meanwhile, responded with his trademark humour, joking that he is still in his 20s.
The exchange captures the tone of their relationship: affectionate without being overly serious, nostalgic without becoming sentimental, and humorous even when discussing nearly three decades of marriage.
The bigger lesson from Bhavana and Chunky’s relationship
The couple’s conversation offers a relatively simple picture of what keeps a long relationship lively.
It is not necessarily about recreating the early years. Instead, it can involve finding new reasons to laugh, appreciating how a partner changes, and recognising that family life creates its own forms of intimacy.
After 29 years, Bhavana and Chunky appear to have retained the ability to tease each other, laugh together and enjoy the small details of everyday life.
Their version of modern love is therefore less about a single grand romantic gesture and more about accumulated moments: choosing something for your partner while still feeling excited, laughing at the same jokes, sharing something funny with the family and watching each other grow into new roles.
For a couple who have spent nearly three decades together, perhaps that is the real romance—still being curious about the person beside you.
Source: The Indian Express interview with Bhavana Pandey and Chunky Pandey, as referenced in the supplied material.
