James Callis has been with his wife, Neha Callis, since before the turn of the century. But he nearly did not end up with her.
The Blood and Tressure actor always knew he had some friendly connection with her.
However, he realized soon enough that he did not just want to be friends with her. He wanted something more, and fortunately for him, she did, too.
The story of how Callis realized Neha was the one began not with her but with another woman he met at auniversity. Writing for Cosmopolitan (via jamescallis.tripod.com), he shared the story of how he realized the differences between wanting a friendship with a woman and a relationship with one.
In his first week at university (he attended the University of York, graduating in 1993), he met a "really beautiful, funny, sweet girl." She had a boyfriend, but he did not stop trying to get close to her.
James Callis with his wife, Neha Datar. (Photo: James Callis/Instagram)
So, after weeks of pursuing her, they finally ended up in her room. But when things started happening, he stopped everything in the middle.
"Something in me stopped. It just didn't feel right," he wrote. "We were great friends and she was attractive but not in the same way that a lover should be."
The girl, too, agreed with him. And that was the incident where he realized a man and a woman could definitely just be friends, even though sexual intimacy and intimate friendship shared a lot of the same traits.
With this wisdom, he soon realized it was different with Neha, even though their connection had a lot of the traits an intimate friendship would have initially.
"She was beautiful, easy to talk to and even easier to laugh with - it had all the makings of a good friendship," he wrote.
However, as he stated earlier in his piece, "most men know deep down, from the very first meeting, if a platonic relationship is as far as they want it to go." And he did not want it to be platonic with Neha.
"I had an overwhelming feeling that if I didn't ask her out immediately I would regret it for the rest of my life," added Callis. "I didn't want to become "friends" and risk losing the chance of romance between us."
So, he decided to let her know exactly how he felt. "Luckily, she felt the same way," he wrote.
Callis married Neha (full name: Neha Datar) on December 30, 1998. She is reportedly from India or has Indian origins.
James Callis' children (from right to left) sons Joshua Amaan and Sacha, and daughter Anika Jahan. (Photo: James Callis/Instagram)
The couple has three children — two sons and a daughter. Their first — Joshua Amaan Callis — was born in late 2003, possibly around October 2003, going by his birthday post for Joshua on his Instagram.
Sacha Callis, their second kid, arrived on August 13, 2005. And they welcomed their youngest, daughter Anika Jahan Callis, in 2009.
Callis and his wife are fairly secretive about their family life — Callis does not post much about his kids, whereas Neha keeps her Instagram private.
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