Twice as nice

It's a strange feeling. It makes you uncomfortable in your office seat when that long lost ex-boyfriend of yours suddenly pops up on your chat screen to say hi. You steal a furtive glance over your shoulder to see if that always-interested-in-gossip colleague is around.

And then…you reply to that message.

"Come on! It's just a simple hi," you tell yourself as your fingers instinctively start tapping on the keyboard.

"Hi"

"So what are u up 2 these days?"

"Nothin. You tell me"

The conversation goes on. Every time your finger tries hitting the log-off button, somebody pulls you back. You don't talk after a while. But you do after a while.

Secretly keeping in touch with your ex is something that some people just can't resist. No matter, whether or not they have parted ways on good terms.

"Me and my ex had parted ways on good terms. Things worsened when I started seeing another guy. He just couldn't take that. We had a very bitter fight before finally we called it off. That was about a year back. Two months back, I got engaged to a guy," says 24-year old ‘N’, who's into media sales.

But ‘N’ wasn't prepared for what happened next. Two months ago, she found herself talking to her ex once again.

"Yes we are in touch. He calls once in a while to ask me how I am. I know if I need him he will always be there for me. Of course, I have not told this to my would-be husband," ‘N’ adds.

Twenty six-year-old ‘I’ doesn't mind chatting with her boyfriend "once in a while".

"He is in the US and he won't be able to disrupt my relationship with my boyfriend. My boyfriend does get upset when I tell him that I had an hour-long chat with my ex. But I don't mind it. I cannot deny the fact that we shared a meaningful relationship and I guess a part of me will always love him," ‘I’ says.

Guys are more secretive about keeping in touch with his ex. Most men, given a chance, will always like keeping in touch with his ex. A section of women on the other hand, will never give their ex a chance.

More so, if they have parted ways on a bad note.

"Men are multi-directional by nature. They can fall in love with more than one woman at the same time. So keeping in touch with their ex will be an instinctive thing for them. Women will at least think twice before renewing ties with their ex or at least they will come clean in front of their boyfriends or husbands."

Some men who still choose to keep in touch with their ex, can't help but agree.

"I know my wife will never be able to take it if I tell her that I am touch with my ex. So to keep things quiet at home I have never told her that we are in touch. After all, we are not having an affair," says ‘P’, an accountant.

"We are not having an affair," this is how you justify it to yourself. The truth is, keeping in touch with your ex is something that you can do without.

Then why?

Well, it's a question with too many answers.