Indian Administrative Service (IAS) toppers of 2015 Tina Dabi and Athar Amir-ul-Shafi could not have had a more romantic setting than the picturesque Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir to tie the knot.
The south Kashmir town has been buzzing with activity for the last four days as guests from Shafi's ancestral village in Anantnag district and Dabi's parents, relatives and friends from different parts of Rajasthan and Delhi poured in to attend the wedding ceremony.
Dabi had topped while Shafi stood second in the civil service exams.
A graduate of Delhi’s Lady Shri Ram college, Dabi shot into prominence after she became the first ever Dalit girl to top the UPSC examination.
It was love at first sight for them. They had met at the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) office in Delhi during the 2016 felicitation ceremony.
Shafi belongs to Mattan town while Dabi is from Delhi.
The couple have withstood criticism as they came from different religious background. When the media sought Dabi's reaction to it, she said: "I think it is a small price to pay for being in the public eye."
The couple visited Shafi's ancestral village on Sunday.
While Shafi had opted for his home state cadre and Dabi for Haryana, both got Rajasthan cadre of the IAS.
