I've  been spending three weeks in Europe. Mainly, I went for the Berlin Film Festival, for which I am India and South Asia Consultant. But after the festival, I went gallivanting, watching Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Deutsche Staatsoper Unten den Linden in Berlin, All the Rembrandts exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and generally catching up with friends. I am most impressed to see how swiftly the modern Western family is morphing, and with all the living arrangements people have today, with or without marriage.

Otto*, who is German, and I, have been friends for 25 years. He recently became a grandfather. He has been in a relationship with Angela* for perhaps five or six years; they share a house and the rent. Now, Angela fell in love with one of Otto's friends, Stefan*. She told Otto to please make himself scarce every other weekend, so she could enjoy some intimate time with Stefan. Otto rather decently (and in my view, too quickly) agreed. He felt that if she didn't love him anymore, there was no point in the relationship. So, why shouldn't she carry on with someone else?