Uncharted Relationships

“Pursuing a PhD was a happy coincidence for me. I didn’t initially plan on doing one. It was the discussion with one of my professors during M.Phil that built my interest in the field of sociology and pushed me to pursue research in it. While I was still trying to qualify the M.Phil examinations, I started working in an organization called the ‘Smile Foundation’. This organization works primarily on education, healthcare, livelihood training and women empowerment amongst the underprivileged and I was dealing with the corporate partnership aspect of it. I so much enjoyed working with them that I decided to continue being a part of the organization even during my PhD.

I wasn’t clear as to what my PhD topic would be when I started. My supervisor told me to find out three avenues of my choice. I came across an article in the newspaper discussing Ashley Madison’s online dating site that catered to people who were married or were in a relationship. This article sparked my interest and I decided to form my PhD framework around this topic.

My research currently deals with understanding infidelity in urban couples in Delhi and the factors that drive extra-marital affairs. Such work has been done extensively in the Westen countries, but it is pretty novel in the context of an Indian society. I still remember during my synopsis presentation, the panel of examiners folded their arms and…