WMDs!

People who are married would be the ones who I think could appreciate this piece. Others just read on and pick up as much as you can.

I have lots of friends and their friends and their friends… who are married. Have heard enough stories, seen lives/relationships falling apart and getting together stronger than before. I feel the same way as ex-President Bush when I hear the words WMD. Just that it means something different to me. I read it as Weapons of Marriage Destruction. Yes, there are several weapons which a husband/wife uses while expressing their difference of opinion and perspectives on various issues.

I would like to categorize the weapons like this:

1. Short distance (sur)face to (sur)face missiles – shouting at each other on face.

2. Long distance air to air missiles – shouting at each other over phone.

As conventional wisdom says these are non-nuclear and hence the impact is contained.

But the fun is when ballistic missiles are used. I am talking about NOT talking! Just like this statement, life gets complicated. Situations can be turned from bad to worse and to worst by just NOT talking. Usually this weapon of NOT talking is employed through both modes of delivery as explained above. The first mode has less impact because still there is an option of making up. But when the weapon of NOT talking is delivered over phone (air to air missile), its impact is huge. The communication gap would widen and could result in possible separation.

Finally, the clincher is tipping the warhead with nuclear material – NO TALK and NO SEX. The mode of delivery is (sur)face to (sur)face. This has a deadly impact.

When two nations or empires go to war, they use nuclear weapon as the last option. Probably you would have heard/read in Indian mythology that Brahmastra (Indian mythological equivalent of atom bomb) was never used.

The moment a couple start employing the nuclear option as the first option, remember, they are going down the path of complete annihilation. No one wins. Both end up losing.

The moment a fight/argument moves from just a difference of opinion it should stop.

Think!

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Sundararaman Viswanathan is engineer by qualification, manager by profession, aspiring writer and a wannabe entrepreneur at heart. He currently works as a Transition Manager, with vast experience in managing the support of mission critical IT systems.