Dear readers,
I've received comments saying it is confusing to understand the emotions of Geetanjali from the book Shades of Our Marriage.
So here I'll explain.
She never loved Rohan as a lover, even though he loved her deeply. And sometimes, that is a truth people find hard to accept — that love cannot be forced, no matter how genuine or patient the other person is.
She respected him, his feelings, and the way he treated her. To her, he was a very close friend — almost a best friend. When she chose to leave, it wasn’t out of cruelty, but out of honesty. She knew that if she married him, the relationship would eventually break. He would continue loving her, while she would live under constant guilt and pressure to return feelings she simply didn’t have.
She did try. She dated him for years, hoping something would grow so she wouldn’t keep hurting him through rejection. But even then, what she felt remained the same — care, gratitude, trust, and support, but not romantic love. Loving someone as a friend is not the same as loving them as a partner, and she couldn’t pretend otherwise.
Leaving was her way of preventing deeper pain for both of them.
After marriage, when she thinks of Rohan and her husband, it isn’t longing or regret. It’s irony. She once had someone who loved her completely, but whom she couldn’t love back. Now she is married to someone who was distant and unacknowledging at the beginning — where love was missing in the place she wanted it most.
It’s a reflection of circumstance, not misplaced affection — the wrong person at the right time, and the right place without the warmth she hoped for.
People may judge her for walking away, but understanding is necessary. Not every feeling can be reciprocated simply because it is offered with sincerity. Life doesn’t work on fairness alone, and honesty, even when painful, is sometimes the kindest choice.
The rest is perspective — and everyone is entitled to their own.
