How communication breaks down in a relationship?

Do long-distance relationships work? During the growing up phase in Kerala, there were many families where the earning member was living a life of expatriate and visits only once in a year. In fact, I belonged to such a family where my father was worked in a distant country. Now he is no more. There are moments when I look back and feel sad for my parents. Their youth was spent living apart to provide a better living for their kids. And are we grateful? That is a complicated question to answer. I will avoid taking that route. When people talk about a long-distance relationship with raised eyebrows, I found it amusing. I was living away from my family for nearly three years. Not anymore. 

In any relationships, communication matter. So when you are in a long-distance relationship, there are multiple hurdles. You have to match the times. As technology progressed, the senses of sight and sound were conquered. While most of the barriers to communication can be thwarted by the conquering the senses of sight and sound, the elusive sense touch plays havoc in a long-distance relationship. So I was naturally shocked when my friend pronounced the communication has broken in his marriage.

My friend had lived a life of an expatriate before he got all his family under one roof. But the ensuing conversation about communication proved shocking for me. My friend emphatically declared. "When I was living away, there was better communication. Now we are in the same house, there is no communication." As I have seen this friend for some time, I was bewildered. "How is that possible? I had seen you on the phone many times when you were staying away from the family!" I asked. My friend responded. "You are right. After my wife joined me, there is no communication." I was still confused. Seeing the perplexed expression, my friend explained. "She hasn't stopped talking. When I don't get a chance to say anything, where is the communication?"

Photo Courtesy: Robbie Sproule