I had to do something about it. I just overheard the conversation between my Wife India and her best friend Natasha. The simple conclusion of the call was that my wife was going to ask me for a trial separation to jolt me out of my taken-for-granted attitude towards her. The plan was for me to stay alone at the house so as to understand how much work it entrails and for her to move into a motel nearby. The plan was despicable and I was enraged.

The taken-for-granted attitude of mine was nothing but extreme fatigue from working two jobs. I was working at the local factory as a heavy machine operator and then after hours I was working as a bartender in a local club. Why would I do that, you ask? Because, my wife wanted to live like white collared folks and we had to have the house with the white picket fence and we needed the club and gym membership to meet people.

Why did we need to meet new people? All my friends from high school were living around us and we had a healthy social life with them before we got married. Once we got married, though, the things changed. Now, I am deadbeat by the time I reach home and at the tender age of 28 I felt 40 and perhaps looked 50.

I have to stop here and tell you that that India is not a evil person, she is just vain and self-centered. She can be very loving at times but most of the time she is an evil monster who makes my life miserable.

India confronted me on the breakfast table the next day. "Den, I want us to have a trial separation. I think we need to reassess our priorities. You have become less than appreciative of me and I am not even sure if you are in love with me anymore. I will be moving out for about a month and at the end of the month we will have a heart to heart talk about things."

"Where are you going to stay?" I asked without even breaking a sweat. She was a little surprised at my reaction.

"I will be staying at the motel. I have asked Bob and Sheila and they are ready to let me use a room for a month." My wife used to work at a motel as the check in lady and the owners were a very nice elderly couple who I respected immensely.

"I am not very sure this is a good idea. We haven't even talked about this ever. This is the very first time I am hearing anything about me not loving you or not appreciating you. Are you sure you would not rather talk about this?" I wanted to give it an honest attempt if I was actually lacking as a husband.

"I think it will be best if we talk after a month." She insisted and I eventually gave in.

I called my best friend Suresh and asked him if he could make sure that his wife Aarti could take care of small things like grocery shopping for me and he readily agreed. Actually for the month that went by Aarti took over the household and mothered me to no end. She would take care of my food, the house cleaning and what not. One look at them and I could see where my marriage was lacking. Aarti respected her husband so much that it extended to his friends and her love for her husband showed in the care that she took of his relationships. India was nothing like it. She was domineering and had virtually cut me off from all my friends.

At the end of the month when India walked up the path to the front gate she was greeted by a very nice man who simply handed her a brown envelop and softly said "You've been served." and with a smile he was gone.

The color from her face drowned. She was White as a sheet and that is a very tough accomplishment for a brown lady. I opened the door and invited her in as she stepped on to the front porch.

"What is this?" She asked

"Well, these are the divorce papers. I cannot live with a cheating bitch." I replied quite calmly.

"What gave you the idea that I was cheating on you?" She asked.

"These" I said and showed her around 20 different pictures of her with a man at various places. It showed her walking with a man in the parking lot of the motel and then another picture of her talking to the same man on another occasion outside her motel room door. She was also shown sitting at a bar with him on the adjacent seat. She was also shown dancing with the same man.

"These are pictures of you with another man on at least 20 different occasions. Are you going to tell me all these images are false? There is no need denying it." I was painting her in a corner.

"I swear on the grave of my dead father I have never seen this man in my life. I do remember him talking to me outside my room. He had wrongly knocked on my door and was apologizing." She was confused. Could it be that she was telling the truth? Yes, she was telling the truth.

When I discovered of her deceit, I had a plan to set the balance of power in this marriage straight. It was time for operation taming-of-the-shrew. the man in each of those photos was Jim Bob, my high school buddy who had just returned to town a few months back. All the images were taken at an opportune moment when he just popped into the frame posed a little without her noticing him. He was waiting for her in the parking lot and as she walked by he caught up with her staying just a step behind her giving me the opportunity to click the photo and then walked off in a different direction. Since India was not aware of him and he is a pain looking bloke who no one would register, this trick worked well for me.

The divorce papers in her hand were a dummy. Was I going to let her know what the whole truth was? Never! This "affair" was a sword that would be hanging on her head forever. I was going to let her back into the house with a stern warning and refuse to talk ever about the matter. However, before that I was going to reveal my source of information of her affair and the source of the pictures - Natasha. Let Natasha explain that she was not the one who almost caused this divorce!