A marriage is as powerful as the sum of the two partners’ strengths. For BHG’s 10th anniversary special, we decided to talk to couples who were propelled into extreme adversities but held on firmly to emerge winners.
Victor Salz, author of the famous book, Between Husband and Wife, had this to say about marriage: “It is easier to throw up barriers than to overcome them.” Come to think of it, he’s right. As we settle into the humdrum of domesticity, each partner recedes into their respective comfort zone and even though they would like to get closer, they keep drifting apart. If, in this situation, external stressors come into play, keeping the marital balance intact becomes more difficult. Read on to know how four couples faced this common adversity, battled it head-on and are today stronger in love than ever.
THE WARRIORS
Gitanjali & Soumendra “He is an armyman, while I am a distracted Gemini!”
Gitanjali, 35, has been married to Soumendra for over 12 years. Recalling the avalanche that hit their marriage, she says, “I got into an arranged marriage at the age of 23, simply because that was the norm. So, after one year of the customary honeymoon, it was time to hit the next milestone—motherhood. However, with this began the 10 long and gruelling years of fighting infertility. Post five miscarriages, three molar pregnancies, one failed IVF and a brush with ovarian cancer, I finally succeeded the second IVF attempt. Basically, I had a roller-coaster journey towards motherhood.”
It’s not hard to imagine the toll this would have taken on her marriage. “When my first IVF failed, I was at my lowest ebb. I blamed my husband for everything that was going wrong in my life, often telling him that we shouldn’t even be married; that if I wasn’t married, I wouldn’t have to go through this ordeal. I just wanted to run away. In fits of anger and emotions, I would plead him for a divorce, so that he could enjoy his life—I just could not stand seeing him run in and out of hospitals with me,” she says.
This story is from the March 2017 edition of Better Homes & Gardens India.
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This story is from the March 2017 edition of Better Homes & Gardens India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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