In this weekly self-help series, mental health and life coach Anu Krishna tells you how to take control of your life.
Is your relationship causing you stress?
Are you feeling lonely, helpless, indecisive?
You are not alone!
Mind/life coach, NLP trainer and mental health guru Anu Krishna wants you to talk about your problems.
Every week, Anu will answer your queries, address your concerns and offer expert advice on how you can take control of your life.
- Ask ANU: 'I feel suicidal. What can I do?'
- ASK ANU: How do I deal with loss of a loved one?
- ASK ANU: Are couples fighting more in the lockdown?
- ASK ANU: Do couples have less sex after marriage?
- ASK ANU: How NOT To Talk To Your Teen
- ASK ANU: Stressed by online classes? Seek help!
Dear readers, if you have a question for Anu, please e-mail it to getahead@rediff.co.in (Subject: Ask ANU) for her advice.
Meanwhile, here's the unedited excerpt from Anu's latest offline session with readers:
KS: Hi Anu, it's been 5 years of my marriage.
From the last few months I am feeling disconnected from my husband. I ask him about it. He mentioned that he met a guy somewhere in November and had a one-night stand with him. He explained to me the initiation was from him and that he likes him. After few days of conversation with him my husband started having feelings for him. But it was for limited time period coz that guy was trying on someone else or many others (according to my husband)
A few days earlier he mentioned that he is being confused if he is gay or straight. He now has feeling for another guy but he has a family and sees him as friend.
My husband is continuously telling me to understand him. He needs to find him etc etc... And deep down I know he has no future with any other man.
He doesn't feel any physical attraction towards me (it's what I think). I do like him. Physically also. But he doesn't. We don't have any child. He is 36, I am 34.
Now I am super confused what to do. I do love him.
Please help.
Dear KS,
It’s still unfortunate largely in our country and in few other places outside of India, sexual preferences and orientation is still considered a taboo or something to shoved under the carpet.
It’s treated as an illness that will go away like a cold and fever.
Your marriage possibly comes under this confusion and hence both you and your husband are struggling.
He never got a chance to figure out which gender he leans into more maybe due to societal pressure or from family; and it has surfaced after marriage.
For you, it feels like you have been cheated and though you love him, do know that it might not be a marriage that might work especially if he chooses to root himself to his current sexual orientation.
I suggest you weigh out the pros and cons of being in this marriage and have a frank discussion with your husband.
If he has nothing to offer to you and in this marriage, you know what is to be done.
Whatever it be, do know that this has happened at the right time; just imagine the confusions if there were children in the picture.
If after the discussion, it was just something that he experimented with, I guess there might be scope to grow into the marriage.
Have that discussion and do that NOW; a lot will ease.
Yes, it perhaps might be a heartbreak, but better to MOVE either way.
Be strong and all the best!
C: I’m 39 male, married for last 10 years and have 2 kids.
We were in a relationship and got married I love my wife and she also loves me a lot.
We live in a joint family with my two elder sisters. One of my sisters got married in 2012 and got divorced.
She lives with me and my other sister got married 4 years ago. She lives with her husband in the same house.
We have a big bungalow. My 2nd sister’s husband’s house is very small and my sister doesn't want to live there that's why she lives in the same house with me. The problem is my wife doesn't want to live there with my sister. She always asks why your sister is not going to her husband’s house? Why is she living here? They don't like each other. They talk to each other for the sake of formality.
I told my sister to go and live with her husband's house but she says 'I don't want to live there with their family; I will live here. This is my parents’ house.'
Because of this I don't talk to her too much. My wife says I don't want to live here with them, let us stay in another house. But I cannot afford another home.
I tell my wife that stay here because we cannot afford another home. This is our home.
But she does not understand and we fight every week about this.
I am stuck and cannot focus on my work because of this. Pls suggest what should I do?
Dear C,
It’s a small crowd that you are all living in.
Too many people in one home can have its highs and lows. Privacy can be invaded and too many interferences from family members can cause a crack in the marriage.
Having said this, I do empathize with the fact that affordability of another home is an issue here.
So, have you tried getting back to the drawing board, bringing in all the members together and literally asking them to throw all that they have for and against one another.
If not, please initiate this. Simply explaining to your wife isn’t going to solve the problem.
If so many of you live under one roof, then it becomes everyone’s responsibility to pool in physically, financially and emotionally.
Your 2nd sister cannot cite reasons that she doesn’t want to live at her husband’s home. If she lives with you, how is she contributing to the home?
These are things that must be ironed out sooner than later. So, what are you waiting for?
Plunge in, bring everyone into the ring, talk, delegate responsibilities and ask them how they would like to contribute and share.
This will also allow your wife a feeling that you care, but that she needs to know your financial situation as well.
All the best!
MM: Hi, my daughter got married in 2018. Her husband works in the US. Immediately after marriage she left with her husband to the US. My daughter is a single child and had a protected sort of life. At times immature and stubborn, she also has anger issues. She was not supposed to work, as my SIL wanted a housewife.
There was compatibility issues between them from the beginning. He is from a very conservative family which we were not aware of before marriage. She got depressed there as the climate did not suit her and had no one to talk to. Most of her neighbours were working. SIL was busy with his work. They used to go out for drives or visit nearby places.
We were not allowed to visit her. She finally came down to India homesick and in depression in 2020. Since then, he seems to be totally indifferent to her. She misses him terribly but he seems disinterested. He is only career driven and she has to message him always. He doesn't want to video chat or voice-call her. It’s nearly two years now. We tried talking to his parents but since they are financially dependent on him, they are not doing anything. What is to be done in this case? Please advise.
Dear MM,
I am not against getting daughters married to people who live abroad, but at the same time, there’s only little that you know of them.
Just because the boy lives in the US, does not mean that he is broad minded and progressive.
Sadly, your daughter has fallen into a family that does not value feminine charm and power and wants to cull it before it can spread its magic around.
How do you explain something like this to her?
As a woman and mother, will you tell your daughter to grin it and bear it?
Someone who doesn’t have the decency to initiate a call to talk to his wife, sitting on a throne waiting for her to call? (I am going by the details provided by you as I don’t know his side of the story here).
It might be worth the effort to talk to your daughter and find out, if she has also put in the necessary work into growing into the marriage; as living far away from the family might have made her homesick and not working might have made her feel lonely.
This might have also caused her to isolate herself from the marriage which in turn would have caused cracks in it.
Hear both sides, and then come to a wise decision! Ultimately, she’s your daughter and I do know that you want what’s best for her.
So, think and act in a manner that’s best for her; unbiased to begin with.
Best wishes!
MK: Hello Anu,
Pls help. I am in a lot of mental trauma right now. I wrote to you earlier but my article was not published.
I am a 36 years male married for the last 7 years with 2 kids. Last year when I was alone and my family was at my native place, I got close to one of my female school friends who is single. We came close and talked a lot. Gradually I fell in love and gifted her close to Rs 2 lakhs rupees to fulfil her shopping and household expenses. On realising that I am being trapped with no future in sight, I asked to return my money. This infuriated the girl and she abused me citing that I am making fun of her poverty and all. I understood the situation and told her to just return Rs 25k and stop. Thereafter we started talking again but obviously the intensity reduced. Over the last 8 months, my family is back and I cannot get over her. I constantly try to ping or call her but 90% of the time she doesn’t respond. I recently sent her Rs 15k for her birthday which she accepted after initial refusal. Now when I messaged her to know how her day was, she really got angry and blocked me on all social media platforms. I reached out to her sister to assuage her and apologize. She called and really abused me citing the constant family surveillance she is under. I promised I won’t text or call her for the next 2 months. Now I don’t know what to do. Should I ask her or her sister for the money to be returned if this escalates? Because she warned me that she would report to the police if I don’t stop messaging. She fears that family members know about me. She doesn’t have parents but is under constant family surveillance. Pls suggest the next course of action. Should I cut her off completely and risk losing the 2 lakhs and gain my mental peace or try to communicate intermittently? The day she abused me I really lost my mental peace. Pls advice.
Dear MK,
What advice can I give you when the solution is right in front of you?
She wants to get your attention and fulfil her monetary needs; that’s all, Doesn’t that tell you anything? And when you try and contact her, she says that she is under surveillance.
How much of this has affected your marriage? What exactly was the need to step out of marriage for this attention?
Sometimes, we fancy things that are prohibited and this happens when we do not feel grateful with what we have and constantly chase what we don’t have. Time to work on your marriage?
Start first by loving yourself as this will tell you how much ignoring oneself can cause havoc in core relationships. Why should your wife bear the brunt of what’s going on? Your full commitment
is what she seeks and here you are mulling over a relationship that is based on selfishness and need-basis.
Can you please re-evaluate what your priorities are and put your life back in order?
Do this for yourself and your family…Your work, health and state of mind will start to improve. It’s time you took charge and I am sure you know how to do this.
All the best!
S: Hi Anu, I got married in Jan 2019 and it was an arranged marriage. Before marriage my husband loved me and we used to meet often and go out. But after marriage i got to know that his parents are extremely controlling and strict, they brainwashed him. A week into marriage we started fighting, and since then it's been a see-saw of love and hate. Soon we found out that he is impotent, but I helped him get over it, be it doctor's appointments or medicine, I took care of everything, it took us a year but we finally consummated our marriage. Then due to covid we moved to my in-laws’ house at his request. And then this marriage became hell to me, my in-laws started verbally abusing me every day though my husband tried to protect me but failed. I thought after the baby they would stop but it got worse so I took my 1-month-old baby and moved into my parents’ house. My husband came and begged me to not leave him, he said we'll move out to our own place. I agreed but then he called and told me that we'll go to another city after a year and I should stay with my mother till that time. BTW I am taking care of the baby all on my own financially, he won't do it unless I start living with him. I am financially independent. I don't know whether I should leave him or not, help?
Dear S,
Time this one out! Which means, drop a deadline by having a conversation with your husband as to when your family will finally have a chance to function independently from in-laws or any other external circumstances.
Dropping deadlines means, both of you will be under the pump to put down a plan as to what needs to be done to clear out the existing muck and how beautifully you will create a loving environment for your baby to grow.
Not taking care of the baby or you, is not an option for him; but I guess it has become a convenient arrangement for him as you live with your parents and he does not need to take care of the fights and expenses as well.
This could only mean he is escaping reality and finding peace in avoiding it. Put him in the face of reality and that goes for you as well.
Being too accommodative can also become a habit where you rely on the comfort of what it brings to you; in this case the comfort at your parents' home.
For the sake of the baby, work together as a team and create a beautiful relationship; which will help the baby grow healthy, physically and emotionally.
All the best!
Anu Krishna is a mind coach, author and co-founder, Unfear Changemakers LLP and Soulful Exploration LLP. She's an NLP Trainer (National Federation of Neuro Linguistic Programming, NFNLP, USA), Energy Work Specialist (Institute for Inner Studies, Manila), Executive Member of Indian Association of Adolescent Health (M.I.A.A.H) and Member of Quality Circle Forum of India (QCFI). She has authored the self-coaching book: The Secret of Life – Decoding Happiness.
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