If monogamy is très vanilla for you, then perhaps you’d like to open yourself up to other options. Perpetually shrouded in mystery and carrying a certain stigma, open relationships have intrigued us all. Puneites who have dabbled in non-monogamous kinships give us their take on them.
Abhinay Desadla (34), is a firm believer in the institution. “I’m at an age where I want to explore my sexual preferences and I see no harm in doing so with multiple partners consensually, of course..
“I have found a primary partner in David. Both of us have arrived at an understanding that allows us to be involved with other lovers without it affecting our relationship. Simply put, unlike other couples, we healthily admit that we find other men attractive! Flings are permissible, while love is something I enjoy solely with David.
“It is incredibly liberating.”
Tushad Gangwani (24), is a naval cadet who sees his future as a lonely sea-farer. “In my mind, it’s rather impossible to merely have a girlfriend or wife ashore, if I’m on the ship for most of the year. Rather than cheating, I’d like to be in a situation where my woman back home is allowed casual encounters just as I am given the freedom to have a friends-with-benefits situation on the ship.
However, it is clear Tushad harbours doubts about the long-term possibilities of such a situation. “A girlfriend may agree to this, but a wife may not. Things would get complicated quickly when we want to start a family,” he thinks out loud.
Open relationships are also fated to crash and burn should one partner crave exclusivity.
Rohan wanted Anusha. But the 20 something belle was crystal clear about the fact that she sought variety in her love life. “Since exclusivity was not an option, I agreed to an open relationship,” admits Rohan.
“She’d declined my proposal saying she wasn’t a one-man kind of woman. But I’d sooner have a part of her, than none at all! Thus we began, though she remained sceptical of my ability to sustain such a relationship. I figured she would eventually become jealous of my partners and agree to exclusivity.
“That didn’t happen though. I was the one who was crushed, just over a week in. Open relationships are not for me! Perhaps it could work in a scenario where both parties want the same thing,” he muses.
Indeed, in a world where everyone has their own quirks and distinct needs, looking to one partner to satisfy them all can be a tad unrealistic. Thus, an open relationship can seem awfully liberating.
To each their own!
#Respondent names changed to protect privacy
#Views expressed in this column are the authors/respondents.
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