There is one sure fire medicine which cures all pain and opens the way for your greater good. It allows you to sleep well at night, wake up refreshed and filled with enthusiasm for your daily tasks and ongoing relationships. This medicine is abundantly available, has no side effects and can be taken in large or small doses regularly. You need no one to prescribe it. The more you take, the sweeter it is.

The medicine is the practice of thankfulness. Although there are endless cures for anxiety, one thing is impossible - to be upset and grateful at the same time.

When we take thankfulness on as a practice, we see that it is more than a fleeting feeling; instead it becomes a daily practice, a basic way of life. In fact, no matter what we are feeling, we can always perform deeds of thanks; actions that express our gratitude and awareness of the good we constantly receive. Actually, when we perform these actions, our feelings often turn themselves around.

So much is changing in the world, and yet, so much remains the same. Lifestyles of the present generation may bear little resemblance to their ancestors’ lives. Yet, marriages are still arranged, families still look forward to inviting a new member into their midst about whose health, pedigree and character they have satisfied themselves. At least in India, we cannot claim to be a society where marriage is decided solely by the choice and personal preferences of the two people involved.

Which makes the investigation before marriage a very crucial matter.

We grow up with many examples of happy and unhappy marriages in our family and community. As we move towards adolescence and adulthood, fed by images from the media and from the world around us, we develop a good idea of the kind of partner we are looking for in our own lives.

The problem is, sometimes we grow up with too good an idea.

“I think today in India, women are asking more from their partners, because, for the first time, they are qualified, employed, with high self-esteem, and exposed to what’s happening all around the world,” says Aparajita, an entrepreneur running her own jewellery designing business. “Obviously, with such ideas, they don’t want to settle for second best. What’s the point of getting married to a guy who has the same ideas of marriage and women that your grandfather had? The new international branding of men as ‘caring’ and women as ‘assertive’ and ‘equal’ is now applying to India too.”

Rakesh was puzzled. Things between him and Sunaina, his wife had been going the usual way of newly-weds – some fights, some fun, a lot of passion and love to provide the delicious seasoning to everything. Then, for no apparent reason, they started developing some cold vibes and he was at a loss to explain why.

“At the time, neither of us were able to immediately connect the way the maid was behaving with our personal irritation with each other. It took a few weeks for us to understand and finally decide to get rid of her. After that, we changed the house rules – I am completely in charge of the house help. He never intervenes, unless I specifically ask for help,” reveals Sunaina.

Does the thought of proposing to her make you nervous? ‘What if she refuses?’— Is this the thought that runs through your mind?

All you need to keep in mind are the following points.

Don’t schedule your proposal on a holiday or her birthday. Pick up a day meaningful to your relationship, such as the anniversary of your first date.

The ring that you have brought for your beloved is only for her and will obviously be special for her. Don’t allow other women to try the ring. Make sure your fiancée is the first to see and wear her ring.