MUMBAI: One of the simplest explanations for a sad ending, when a relationship experiences heartbreak, is to claim that they were never meant to be together. However, what if the couple decides to go their own ways despite having given their relationship a second chance? Ayub Khan, of Uttaran fame, and Niharika Khan, his ex-wife, experienced a similar incident.

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While both were still in college, Ayub and Niharika fell in love. The couple had dreamed of their lovely future together, just like any other couple of teenagers in love, without understanding what lay ahead for them. Sadly, fate had other plans, and Niharika's choice to relocate abroad to pursue additional education complicated their romantic relationship.

Nevertheless, Ayub managed to make a marriage proposal to Niharika before she left for the United States. However, the latter turned him down since they believed they were too young to get married. So they split up and moved on with their lives, getting married to different partners.

Before long, destiny arranged for them to recross paths after they moved on in their lives and had erased memories of one another. Both Niharika and Ayub had obtained their divorces from their respective ex-spouses and were eager to start over.

The two former lovers just so happened to run into one another in a salon. The rebirth of their broken friendship and rekindling of their romance then started. Ayub Khan once recalled that significant time in his life, “As luck would have it, we bumped into each other. After we were both divorced, there was no looking back and the rest is history."

After all these years, they looked back on their past and realized that their hearts had always been intended to be together. Ayub immediately made another marriage proposal to Niharika, but this time he did it in an extremely specific manner.

He treated her to dinner at an Italian restaurant and gave her a bouquet of red roses that was specially made for her. Interestingly, Ayub had placed a fake flower with a ring in it among all the real flowers. Unfortunately, Niharika pulled the fake rose out first, believing that the flower shop had defrauded Ayub.

Ayub and Niharika ultimately got married in 2000 after facing numerous obstacles to what might have been their stunning happily ever after. The couple set aside their differences, put their love first, and kept their blissful marriage happiness. Tahura and Zayra, the couple's two kids, were born a short time after their wedding.

While everything between the couple appeared to be going quite well, they eventually realized that they were growing increasingly distant from one another. The mutual affection and admiration for each other had diminished after they realized they barely had any time to spend together. As a result, they made the difficult decision to divorce and were successful in getting divorced in 2016, ending their 16 years of blissful marriage.

Ayub talked openly about their divorce in an interview, emphasizing, “Sometimes you just grow apart. It doesn’t mean I was wrong or she was wrong. We were often not on the same page. Over some time, we realised that both of us are busy with our own lives and don’t have time for each other. It was just not happening despite our best efforts. When we decided to part ways, there was no yelling or howling. We simply called it quits. But the great part is, we are still great friends. I go over to her house to meet the kids. She is very gracious and kind.”

Following the announcement of their separation, a few eyebrows were raised. Like any other rumor story, it quickly surfaced that Niharika's affair with Amit Sadh was the reason Ayub and Niharika divorced. While Amit and Niharika never commented on the matter, Ayub once made a passing allusion to it by saying, “I am sure any partner would get attracted to another person if his/her significant other is not around. It’s just human nature. If she got attracted, she didn't commit a criminal offense. If you like somebody, you need that person to be by your side whenever possible. As I said, we were never there for each other. So, we were only growing apart. Also, there were differences in opinions no doubt.”

The couple did divorce, but there were no fights or unpleasant experiences during the process. In particular, for the benefit of their daughters, the ex-couple maintained and honored their friendship.

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Credit- Bollywoodshaadis