Bhargavi Kerur

Bangalore: Raghu P and Priya, who married eight months ago, fight very often.

“I am tired of this marriage. I wonder why I ever married?” says Raghu.

Late nights have taken a toll on the married life of this information technology (IT) couple, which is now thinking of approach a counsellor.

Pushpesh J and Kanchana have been fighting from Day 1 of their marriage.

“My wife did not agree to stay with me even after two years of marriage and becoming the mother of my child. After counselling that has changed,” says the engineer, who is all smiles these days.

But Amit Budhiraj and Rinku Sachdev, whose tragic deaths made headlines recently, were not so fortunate. Infosys engineer Amit killed Standard Chartered Bank employee Rinku suspecting her of having an affair with a colleague and then hanged himself. Only if they had called the 24x7 helpline Infosys set up two years ago!

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) also set up a network, Maitree, in 2005 to counsel its 30,000 employees. Under the initiative, 90% of TCS offices organise family get-togethers and activities such as ball dancing and yoga classes and theatre workshops, helping employees working long hours keep healthy.

“At Wipro, we heard employees were stressed working long hours. Hence,we initiated Mitr, an in-house counselling service, in 2003. The set-up trains employees in counselling to help out colleagues in distress,” said a senior HR manager with Wipro Technologies.

An increasing number of IT couples aged 25-35 has been approaching marriage counsellors to sort out differences.

Dr Rajan Bhonsle, head of sexual medicine at KEM Hospital, Mumbai, says, “I had three couples approaching me every month three years ago. Now, I have around 15.”

Pressure at workplace and home, lack of a support system such as elders and the mismatch of expectations are the reasons for the disharmony between couples, says Archana

Bisht, director of 1to1help.net Private Limited that offers counselling services to 27 IT companies, including Wipro and IBM.

“IT has brought in long work hours and shifts, making timemanagement difficult for couples, leading to extra-marital affairs,” Bhonsle said.