Passive-aggressive communication, like turning your head the other way and saying, “I’m fine, stop bothering me”, when you’re clearly not, is part and parcel of a relationship. However, if your communication suffers severely because of prolonged unresolved hostility, noticing and acknowledging it before it rots your relationship from the inside is critical. With the help of Shazia Saleem (Masters in Psychology), who specializes in separation and divorce counseling, let’s try to understand what passive-aggressive behavior in relationships can look like so you don’t end up misconstruing building resentment for temporary annoyance....

Resentment makes a person bitter and toxic. It creates trust and anger issues and can be detrimental to one’s mental health if left to pester within for too long. Resentment can break the strongest of relationships because it’s a nagging feeling of having been treated unfairly. Dealing with resentment and figuring out how to let go of anger are important. It may seem hard at first but it’s imperative that you learn to let go of it....

When it comes to scents and perfumes, you have to find one that’s best suited for you, and as strange as it may sound, it must match your personality. It may take a bit of experimenting, but the result is always worth it. What Is Science Of Scent? The jury is still out on human pheromones, much to my disappointment. I genuinely believed in them until recently, when a study poured cold water on all researches on the relevance of human pheromones in sexual attraction....

Bill and Melinda Gates caused quite a stir when they announced their separation in May 2021. Divorce after 25 years of marriage! In a Twitter statement, they said, “We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives.” Even a cursory glance at the statement may pull you in at the “next phase of our lives” part....

Can You Move On Without Closure? Once upon a time, I had a husband whom I adored and who adored me too. I was still in high school when we met and he was in his freshman year at university. After seven years of embodying relationship goals, we had a small, intimate wedding ceremony in our backyard, followed by one cold beer and one hot Chinese lunch shared with our two guests....

(As told to Joie Bose) Related reading: A beginner’s guide to Divorce The first time, a secret I was 21 when I got married the first time. I was living in Pune with Richard, my teacher from film school, who was 40. My parents didn’t know. They would have been shocked to know that my beau was from a different religion and so much older and that’s why I didn’t tell them....

These 10 Things Are Better Than Sex… Sex is on everybody’s mind. Let’s just accept this truth. But there is more to love than meets the eye. Romance is like a bottle of scotch; to savour it you need company to cherish. While sex can be one way of enjoying it, there are other ways, too. So in order to get better sex for couples you should be doing these....

LGBT Themes in Hindu Mythology However, for many of us, queer romance is not only healthy but also beautiful, as beautiful as a straight couple, if not more. If we look at LGBT themes in Hindu mythology, there are ample incidences which resonate with our modern conception of same-sex love being acceptable. The story of Bhagiratha from Bengal is one such tale that celebrated queer love with aplomb. Bhagiratha is a prominent mythical figure not only because he is born to two queens but also as the king who brought Ganga from heaven to Earth....

My husband’s drug addiction was a rude shock to me I was under the impression that he was falling out of love or he wasn’t interested in sex. This addiction came as a rude shock to me. I felt cheated and violated. To me, addictions were scenes only from the Hindi movies, and now it was at my doorstep. It wasn’t a dream but a reality to be faced. The addiction was not something post marriage I was sure....

He Had A Troubled Childhood He belonged to Bangalore but studied in a boarding school in Nainital till class 10. As a kid, he was bullied because his Hindi language skills were not up to the standards of the local boys from the northern part of India. He came back to Bangalore to finish his high school and was living with his mother and sister. His father passed away in an accident when he was just a year old....

Interestingly, Damage depicts a rather realistic view of what happens when two people who are in relationships start cheating and get embroiled in an extramarital affair. Little Children, on the other hand, takes a more utopian view of two married people having an affair, with both getting away with their transgressions without consequences. But can the two relationships remain unscathed and unscarred when both cheaters are married? Psychologist Jayant Sundaresan guided us to understand the dynamics of two married people falling in love and embarking on an extramarital affair....

Everyone has been in love at least once in their lives. Some lucky ones have experienced it more than once. Even the most unromantic or prosaic person would have fallen in love at some point, no matter how much they might try to deny or hide it. But why do most people find it so difficult to describe the feeling of love? What exactly is love? Where does this little butterfly come from and how do you know you are in love?...

What happens when you reject a narcissist? Do you think that nothing can bruise the narcissist’s inflated ego? Do you assume the narcissist in your life is immune to feeling hurt or weak? Think again. Although they will never tell you explicitly, the narcissist fears, dreads, and hates rejection more than nearly anything else. Nobody likes feeling rejected. It’s a vulnerable and painful experience, and it can trigger profound emotions of insecurity and incompetence....

Among many memorable things that have happened to me in the past year, December 10th perhaps shines the brightest. I was receiving my first journalism award, instituted by a gay magazine, and it was a great moment of personal glory, but this is not about that. Another monumental thing also happened that evening. Realizing What Makes A Real Woman The event was attended by a small community of vibrant individuals of all sexual and gender orientations....

Some things in life are perfect in thoughts, like happily ever after, unless you wish to live forever with rose-tinted sunglasses up your nose. But then that’s what life tells you… make your own Utopia. So here go my thoughts on what was and what is life before and after marriage. Life before and after marriage Life does change dramatically after marriage. The single life is something that is quite different from married life....

Given that 75% of partners cheat at some point or another, it is imperative to reflect on: Is having feelings for someone else cheating? As long as your partner is not acting on their attraction for someone else, why not let go of it as a normal – almost inevitable – human tendency. The next time you are fretting over ‘my boyfriend is attracted to someone else, what should I do?...

Do you want to bite your boyfriend? Are you fighting the urge to sink your teeth into your boyfriend’s neck? You’re not alone. Many women find their boyfriends so irresistible they can think of nothing better than taking a bite out of them. There are several reasons you might want to bite your boyfriend, and none of them have anything to do with vampires. When you look at the animal kingdom, many animals express themselves orally, not by speaking....

The other day she was running on the treadmill in the neighborhood fitness centre and two girls started giggling, looking at her. She knew they were gossiping about her affair too. This instance seemed to completely consume Payton’s life and there was nothing she could do about it. Do you really want to know, why do people have affairs? Then hear it from Payton directly. This real-life account is sure to give you a deeper insight into affairs — why they happen and what makes people indulge in them....

That is dependent on commitment, making one another a priority, and having the will to change. Well, a man can have commitment issues in general or particularly with just one person. There lies a difference between not being a relationship material and not wanting to have a relationship with you. That depends if he is unsure about his feelings or if he is playing with your feelings. It’s an exhausting experience that leaves you in confusion....

While the toll that this constant scrutiny takes on the mind and mental health of singles is still marginally discussed, the spotlight is hardly ever shone on the mindset behind judging singles. In this article, psychotherapist Dr. Aman Bhonsle (Ph.D., PGDTA), who specializes in relationship counseling and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, decodes the psychology behind judging singles for their choice to remain unattached. Why Is Being Single Looked Down Upon?...