Maintaining a relationship takes a lot of hard work, but ending one is even harder. And the hardest part of all? Getting over and moving on.
So say Mumbai's youth, who increasingly find themselves mired in nasty break-ups and suffering from the stress and depression these break-ups often bring about.
According to Dr Rajan Bhonsle, senior relationship counsellor at the Heart To Heart counselling centre in Mumbai, the key to recovering from an ended relationship is to achieve 'emotional closure'.
We've compiled three case studies from young couples in Mumbai. Here, Dr Bhonsle reviews them and gives his expert advice:
Poonam and Arif
Poonam Mallik*, a 25-year-old public relations worker, and Arif Aslam*, a 26-year-old investment banker, were dating for nearly four years. What started as a flirtatious college friendship soon developed into serious talks of engagement and marriage. According to Poonam, her world revolved around Arif: friends said she increasingly ditched them and her parents still hadn't quite forgiven her for passing up the opportunity to study in London. And then there were the extended family members, who opposed the relationship on religious grounds, insisting Poonam settle down with a boy from her own community.
"Honestly," Poonam says, "At that point, I didn't care. I thought I'd be with Arif forever and that's all I needed."
But last month, Poonam's world came crashing down, when Arif suddenly broke things off.
*Names changed to protect privacy.
Text: Matthew Schneeberger | Photograph: Abdelhak Senna/AFP/Getty Images
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