/> "First I was her fan, now I'm going to her husband, " says Sunidhi Chauhan's bridegroom-to-be musician Hitesh Sonik.

Shy, reserved, hugely talented musician Hitesh Sonik says he will be marrying singer Sunidhi Chauhan this April. He has known Sunidhi for 15 years.

"She was a little more than a child when she won the Meri Awaz Suno music contest on television. That's when we became friends. Gradually over the years as she grew into a fine singer, our friendship grew into love, " says Hitesh softly.

He is actually the grand-nephew of the well-known music composer Sonik of the Sonik-Omi pair in the 1960s and 70s.

Says Hitesh proudly, "My grand-uncle Sonik was blind by birth. He first struggled to establish himself as a singer. Then when he lost his voice he got together with his nephew to form the successful Sonik-Omi composing duo who gave us such evergreen hits as Kanha re kanha (Truck Driver), Kaan mein jhumka chaal mein thumka (Sawan Bhadow) and Raaz ki baat keh doon to (Dharma). "

Hitesh who served as an assistant musician to Vishal Bhardwaj in 11 films is now trying to establish himself as an independent composer. "I've done songs in Luv Ranjan's Pyaar Ka Punchnaama and Raghav Dhar's My Friend Pinto. Now I'm working on the songs of Luv Ranjan's new film Akaash Vani. "

And yes, Hitesh lets out shyly that Sunidhi has sung for him. "She has so far sung my composition only once, in My Friend Pinto. Just because she is the woman in my life doesn't mean I'd want to use a voice as powerful as hers until it's needed for one of my compositions. "

Hitesh intends to keep the professional and personal apart. "That Sunidhi is a wonderful singer is only a part of her personality. I love her first and foremost for the person she is. She has blended so well into my family. My folks dote on her. And I am also very comfortable with her family. "

Hitesh says there's very little time and so much to do before the wedding. "We thought the wedding would be an intimate affair. But when we went through hers and my invitation list we discovered we had to invite a lot more people than we thought.

We're working on the preparations. April is not far off. She's a very busy singer and I've my assignments. We made sure we both had time to prepare for the wedding. "