Therefore these jewelry pieces below are beautifully handcrafted, fair-trade items shipped straight from India, made with Indian hands! Even better, once you find something you like, you can scroll down to the bottom and have the option to browse by that specific artist and also read a small biography about them. It's really a wonderful idea and a great way for these artists to make a living do what they enjoy.

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BLUE DANCER Magnesite 925 Sterling Silver Art Dangle Earrings Novica India $38.95

SUNSHINE Citrine Sterling Silver Y CHOKER NECKLACE Novica India Handmade ART $87.95

AURA of LIFE Onyx and Silver Bracelet India Art NOVICA $104.95

Update: Plugin was affecting other areas of website so had to deactivate it for now.

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Below is a reader’s recent letter to me sharing her emotions and experiences in her very new relationship with an Indian man. She kindly wanted to share her story with all of you, too. Reading her letter brought back many of my own early feelings of excitement with MIM. She’s definitely on a journey that no matter the ending will change her life forever.

Before sharing her story, I also recently received an email that I hope the writer does not mind me posting in its entirety:

Why did you and MIM break up? This is really making me curious. I have a boyfriend from Kolkatta, India and I can totally relate to everything you said. It's weird. He says he loves me and we are on the best time of our lives. But, you and MIM were too, but what happened? Why did you guys break up? I want to know so that I can prevent it from happening.

The reason I wanted to comment on these two letters in the same blog post is because it’s something we can never foresee, isn’t it? - How something can begin so good only to end well, not so good – depending how you look at it. Of course, there’s nothing I can do or say to stop a relationship from ending for anyone else. We are all on our own journeys and there’s no telling what the future may bring. The only thing we can do is enjoy while the moments last. For some the moments continue forever and for others it is only a “moment in time”. Life is messy but that’s what also makes it interesting. I always wish the best for all relationships but if it doesn’t end in marriage, babies, or happily ever afters, it doesn’t mean that the whole relationship was a sham. There’s always something new and exciting up ahead if you’re simply willing to turn the corner.

I wished MIM and I had gone the way I had planned. But now that I’ve had time to live and can look back on it with a sense of nonchalance, (It’s been exactly a year since we went kaput), I am able to feel grateful for the experience but also grateful for what I have now. In other words, and please understand I do not mean to take away from what MIM and I had at all, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. It almost seems like it was all meant to be - as if my life really is following some unseen script. So I can’t really say why it ended exactly, as, it wasn’t only one great event, but rather little things that seemed to pile up until it became more of a relief and desire to say goodbye and walk away than to continue on. I still think very fondly of MIM, btw, no matter the harsh things that were said or done during or after our break up.

Keep in mind that none of us can foresee how, if, or why our intercultural relationships may end and there’s nothing we can do to prevent it from happening. Just go with it, enjoy every moment, be thankful, and learn as much as you can.

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I met my Indian love three months ago while staying at a hotel.  He owns the hotel, and I was a guest.  He was visiting from Arizona, where he lives.  We started talking in the lobby, and it was hours later before we said goodnight.

My stay at the hotel was supposed to be for only one night, but I ended up extending my stay, as did he.  We did not get romantically involved during that week, but we did go out for dinners, lunches, shopping, walks in the park, etc.  I was not ready to enter into a relationship with him, mainly because I was only a few months out of a previous relationship.

He continued to pursue me after he went back to his life in Arizona, where he is an engineer.  After numerous phone calls and talks about his deep feelings for me, I agreed to enter into an exclusive dating relationship with him.  He immediately told friends and family that he had met the woman of his dreams.

Telling his closest friends and immediately family about me from the start makes my story somewhat different.  His parents are deceased, and he has a sister, so there lies the difference.  We have each been married before, but I have no children.  This also makes my Indian Love relationship somewhat different.  He does not practice Hinduism and was raised Sikh.  He currently has independent religious and cultural beliefs after living in America so long.  He is a philosopher by nature.

My love and I have a tremendous amount in common, many things in the areas of philosophies and hobbies.  We also feel an electric energy together and can stay up for hours without feeling tired.  We can talk business for hours too, and we have decided to purchase a hotel and run it together.  He has asked me to become his life partner, and we are to begin our journey this year after I move.  For now, we are in a long-distance relationship, both in the United States.

We have had a few excursions, to include a very romantic and exciting trip to Las Vegas.  We have sipped champagne at the bottom of the Grand Canyon together.  We have shared the highest and deepest feelings of love possible - We are in love so much is makes us ill to be apart from each other.

My Indian Love and I plan to be together this summer permanently.  We are taking a trip to India to kick things off.  He was born in Northern India and speaks Punjabi.  His family has a palace there.

That's it for now.

Currently, I'm sitting at a seafood place in Montego Bay, Jamaica and wanted to share with readers that last night I attended an engagement party between our hotel director and one of our dancers. The hotel director is Indian, the dancer British! I haven't had the opportunity to ask them the questions I'd like to - I especially wonder if the girl has yet to visit India or meet his family, and what changes she foresees in her future if any. From what I've been told, the engagement came after only three months of dating, which I find interesting...but I will have to confirm this.

This isn't such a rare thing on cruise ships since Indians make up much of the staff and crew and we all live in such close quarters. On my last ship there were multiple Indian/"Westerner" relationships as well. Not me though, as much as I enjoy impressing them with my impeccable Hindi, -not! - although, the other day when I asked a guy from Delhi "App ka naam kya hai?" he smiled from ear to ear and I think even blushed before telling me "you did that so well!" But as I was saying, although there are multiple opportunities on ships, I still am in no mood to begin another intercultural relationship.

Signing off now, hope you're all doing great!

MDG

If you've read my latest post you'd know that MIM and I's relationship has really taken a turn for the worse. But by doing so, I've realized it's allowed me to move ahead in the process of letting go. The moment I received his nasty name calling message, I suddenly had the power and determination to delete our entire Facebook and email conversations - which I will admit I had been hanging on to. Not because I planned to one day be back together, but I simply didn't have the heart to watch three years of communication vanish before my eyes. The day I saw his words, I had absolutely no desire to hold onto it any longer.

Delete all please!!

Are you sure you want to delete the entire conversation? This cannot be undone. YES!!

Deleted. Done.

And I felt...

Lighter.

Next up is our bag of memories. I have a large red and white bag covered with hearts that I had stored all our memories in - movie stubs, love letters, cards from all occasions, and the like. Guys may be scratching their heads at this but as girls I think we all tend to hold on to "cherished moments" like these. It's been sitting on my bedroom floor tucked under my desk and I have been considering just tossing the entire thing without even peering inside. Because I can't decide whether to go through it piece by piece for one more trip down memory lane or just to chuck it, it continues to sit there, undecided.

Since I'm getting ready to once again leave my home for awhile I've been doing some cleaning and rearranging and I've noticed a lot of memorabilia from my past relationships here and there. Photos from my first boyfriend and I's trip to the beach were discovered in the deep recesses of my nightstand for example. That's 11 years ago!

Part of moving on and continuing to blossom as a person means letting go of the past. Especially if the past did damage to us emotionally or hindered us in any way. And often letting go means really letting go - like getting rid of all the left over artifacts from a life and love that doesn't exist anymore. Sure, it's nice to hold on to things for the memories but these memories can often blur reality at the same time. In a "love bag" such as mine, we only hold on to the good memories and looking through such artifacts may make us question why things were ended in the first place. This can lead to us second guessing and doubting our decisions. Then perhaps, going backwards and back to him.

Believe me, when things come to an end, it's usually best to keep them that way and keep looking ahead.

So now it's your turn. When did you finally let go or have you let go yet? If you haven't, how do you think it would make you feel to erase or get rid of all memorabilia from your past relationships? Hopefully like me, it will make you feel empowered and resilient.

Now for that bag...

Yikes!

By middle school and high school there's school dances, football games, and many other activities for young couples which seem to endorse dating. Still, even though the options to meet someone and date were always there, my first boyfriend wasn't until I was 18, the age of a legal adult and out of high school.

My first relationship lasted about a year and a half. Since then, I've never felt badly about having boyfriends, or going on dates, or ending something after a few weeks or months after deciding it wasn't right for me. It's simply called dating and it's what we do here in the western world. It allows us to learn more about who we are and what we want in a partner. It's completely normal.

Does it always lead to better decision making? No.

Could there be emotional issues such as broken hearts and scarring along the way? Sure.

Do I think it'd be nice to skip all the hardships and simply be provided a partner and to make it work no matter what? Read: Arranged Marriage. Perhaps only when I'm really fed up.

But it's a freedom I am personally very thankful for. With each new person in my life I've learned not only more about myself, but more about the world around me. I've lived experiences I would have never had, I've traveled to places I would have never seen, I've met people I would have never met and I've learned a great deal what I want and do not want in a partner. I've also learned how to be a better person/partner myself.

So it royally PISSES me off when MIM throws these experiences in my face to make me feel badly about myself just because he was brought up an entirely different way: schools segregated, absolutely no dating before marriage, arranged marriages, and so on.

MIM and I have kept in touch lightly since our breakup. We send messages that usually go along the lines of, "how are you doing", or, "what's new in your life?". We even had a short hang out moment when I returned home from the ship. But ending our relationship made MIM very angry and upset and at times when he's really feeling frustrated he takes his anger out on me. This is when he decides calling me a "whore" will do the trick. Because in his mind, me leaving him and now dating other people places me in this category. "A selfish whore," to be exact.

Yeah, we're getting real in this email, big time.

MIM wasn't always like this. He was very sweet and genuine. But throughout our relationship he did at times make me feel badly about having other men in my life previous to him. And now, he continues to try to make me feel bad even though he and I are over.

In many cases, I have been able to remain friends with past boyfriends because we have a mutual upbringing and understanding when it comes to dating and relationships. But I am beginning to see I am not able to remain being friends with MIM due to our extremely different views on the subject.

We had a good three years together, the longest relationship I've been in so far. And this is surely the part I hate; when things change so much you feel like you don't even know that person anymore.

I don't know MIM anymore.

A warning to girls who may be in relationships with men who feel the same way MIM does about your previous partners: Do NOT let these men belittle your experiences or make you feel badly about yourself. I would suggest you get out of any relationship that ever makes you feel this way. If they are making you feel this way, stand up for yourself the same way I recently have and say, "Don't you EVER think you can speak to me that way again, EVER!"

Being in an intercultural relationship is hard. But you shouldn't have to change anything about yourself to make it work. Find someone who accepts you for exactly who you are.

That's the lesson I take away from this entire experience.

For example:

My brother is quite a private person. So I hope he understands that even though I am sharing this news about him to my readers that he still remains completely anonymous. Do any of you know who my brother is? His name? His whereabouts? Didn't think so. So to MDG's lovely brother, go easy on me! You know I couldn't keep it in any longer. You can beat me up later.

Here it goes...

This summer my brother went on an amazing bike ride around Europe while I was gallivanting around the U.S. by car. One of his stops was London, which he remained in for quite a long time, just around three weeks, which was a much longer visit than any other place he stopped by.

A snapshot of my brother's touring bike crossing into Italy, one the many countries he visited during his four month European exploration by bike.

Once he was back to the states I heard the news via my parents; my brother had a girlfriend. He met her this past year in college. She is a transfer student from London. Hmmm...the plot thickens...

That's it? You ask? So what!

Well besides my brother having a girlfriend, which is pretty big news in itself, it turns out this Londoner's family hails from none other than ... (drum roll please!) ... India! My brother is dating an Indian!

He kept the news from our family for quite some time, apparently a bit embarrassed what we all would think about it after my ordeal. I simply had to laugh at the irony of it all. The situation is a bit different from my own of course, as she was born and raised in London and therefore his experiences with her will be much different than mine with MIM.

But there you have it! The big news that might possible get me killed - or simply bruised up here and there from a sisterly/brotherly spat. It was well worth it. Perhaps he's willing to take over the running of this site now that "My Indian Love" pertains much more to him than me?

Fast forward until now, and I just received an excited message from MIM stating that the big boss had done his research and decided to go ahead with the process. If the government approves it, MIM will finally see his dreams come true after so much struggle!

So proud of him!

What you are about to read is a love story between Lijo John and Noreen. Their initial meeting is described in Noreen's own words. The personal letters that follow are real letters exchanged between the two after Lijo went on to break Noreen's heart by marrying an Indian woman to please his family. Because of full anonymity, (names have been changed), Noreen felt comfortable sharing such intimate details with readers. For her it was a helpful way to heal. Still, it is a tough decision to share your personal love life with the world. Because of this I ask you to please be respectable in your comments. I appreciate Noreen being so open and honest with her experiences. Perhaps it will help others on whatever path they may be on in love.

MDG

Dear My Indian Love,

I met Lijo John (Lj) back in 2008, Christmas Eve. I met him in  an airport in Hong Kong while both us were on delayed flights, Lijo on his way back to India, Noreen (myself) on my way back to Manila, Philippines. I was reading a book by Shashi Tharoor (ex Kerala Minister), Bookless in Baghdad, when Lijo approached me to talk about the book..(and later on to ask me for a cup of hongkong noodles at the cafeteria). He talked about himself, where he is from, (Trivandrum, India), and where he worked: Shell Qatar as one of the pipeline engineers. I was working on my family's farm estate back then and returning to university. We were amazed on how we feel about the same things, laughed at the same horrible jokes and common interests. I think I fell in love with him in an instant, the moment I saw him behind the glass panel looking over at me. I pretended to read the book, yet I kept on glancing over whether he was indeed checking me out. He came near me, glanced over my book on my lap and he said "I have searched for that Bookless in Baghdad all over the bookstores and fancy finding it here in Hongkong, owned by a girl who's not even Indian." I have to laugh over that horrible pick-up line;  hearing that.  We exchanged email addresses, phone numbers, and a piece of our lives during that four hour delay, right there at the airport lounge. Though we were anxious about our flights, when it was time to board our respective planes, we both wished  we could stay a little longer. Our meeting in Hongkong in 2008, albeit brief, changed the course of our lives later.

Hong Kong International Airport

We tried to keep in touch after that. The first thing I did when I reached Manila was to check my email and send an email to Lijo. And there it was, an email from him. We broke time zones, expensive phone credits, jam in traffic on Skype, and Yahoo. We tried everything just to keep in touch while promising to meet each other again, if our time and visas permit.

Fast forward 2010, a month after my father passed away. Sadness brought me back  to Hongkong, Lijo John was en route from his flight from Qatar. We met again in Wan Chai District, Hongkong. Though we were always on cam, it was surreal spotting him from all the crowd that gathered at the arrival wing of the huge airport. But then - I saw him - my Lijo John, white shirt, blue jeans, scanning the very Asian crowd looking for Noreen. I waved, he smiled.  I thought it only happens in the movies, we both ran towards each other amidst the crowded airport and embraced. We both couldn't believe that we met again,  at the same airport, one year later. It was what you call the only memory you can recall.

We toured the city, strolled theme parks to another, we had coffee at Starbucks right at the Victoria Peak. We ate dimsum, noodless, and all sorts of Hongkong food, we tried Hongkong Thai cuisine and burnt our tongue as the Thai chef spiced up the already hot Tom Yum soup,  we had body massage at the street corner spa full of Chinese masseuse, we got lost finding our way back to airport,we ran from port to port trying to catch the next ferry boat, we hung on to the spectacular view of the Symphony of Lights, we also fell in love so much that we forgot important stuff about our lives: who we are, where we are and what we are here for. For me, it was the start of my life. For Lijo, it was the end of a life he never knew will ever happen to him. For the first time, meeting me was his only happiness.

Symphony of Lights

Below are Lijo John and Noreen's personal letters after Lijo married an Indian woman to please his family.

I was excited to catch a new episode of House Hunters International last night - this time taking place in Bangalore, India, the place I called home in the summer of 2010. I now realize the show is very staged (which saddens me greatly!) but I still can't help watching. I like learning about the house hunters, in this case Indians Malika and Vir, a couple who families hail from north India but grew up in the states and were residing in the East Village of NYC before their move to India.

Malika and Vir had a large budget and therefore were looking at grand homes and condos I never got glimpses of during my own house hunting experience there. The very first home they looked at was in the suburbs of Bangalore. It was large and beautiful and came complete with their very own gardener and his family. When they noticed the gardener's home in their back yard and asked, "what's that house, it's pretty close by," the camera scanned to a dilapidated shed and a man roaming around in only a white sheet of cloth.

It was then that the realtor said, "That's the place where the gardener and his family stays. He comes with the house".

I almost died at such a statement! Never in my life, unless perhaps referring to a pet or animal, have I heard the words: he comes with the house.

Milika, the house hunter replies, "I don't know if I want a gardener because the way I understand it here is that you have to be responsible for their well-being. I think it would be too much because we're just moving." Later in the show she remarks to Vir on the gardener again; "I don't know about having a gardener and his family because you and I need a space of our own."

It was a reminder of just how closely the rich and very poor reside in India. I can't fathom working on a grand home each day to return to your shack each evening and how it must make someone feel as a human being. What would it feel like to know you "come with the house" as if you were a piece of furniture or wall hanging??