Sheetal, who met Mose in London, also spent a long time abroad, in Europe and in Italy. She has learnt to speak Italian and mix cultures. "Culture, in fact is the least of our problems, for I feel that deep down people are basically the same, it’s more that we seem to be traveling all the time!"  Helen Brodie, former Miss Asian European and supermodel for Zee TV. Helen, half Scottish herself, is a graduate from the London School of fashion and has worked extensively abroad. Married to Argentinean Dutch John Michael Lindt who is currently working in Mumbai, the couple divides their time between Mumbai and San Francisco.

This difference in cultures seems in fact to work positively on very basic counts. For the creative professional single girl, marriage and the pressure to conform to a ‘traditional wife stereotype’ can be quite stifling. Men from the subcontinent seem somehow to demand more. Whether its Lucky Ali whose New Zealander wife Masooma is in burqa, as also Inaya, his petite Parsee second wife who wore short skirts and sang pop songs on stage before she retired behind purdah, or other ‘model’ husbands who lay down the law, traditions like these can be suffocating.

Also, as Madhu Sapre explains, "Indian men tend to be less independent and the girlfriend or wife often has to face a lot of unnecessary competition. Many times Indian mothers don’t allow their sons to get on with their lives and this ‘mama’s boy’ conditioning can be a big put-off. Whereas abroad families are as close, it’s just that nobody interferes". Yet most models do agree that men all over the world are basically the same. As Sheetal declares, "It really depends a lot on you. Men anywhere in the world try to mould you, to a certain extent. Whether that happens, is really upto you. As for me, I have been married for only a year, so haven’t ever had the occasion to feel cramped or stifled, but I do believe that can only happen if I let it".

Tara Deshpande, actress, married to Jewish American Dan Tanebaum illustrates, "Our families are very similar fundamentally- very family oriented and closely knit. Jews and Hindus have a great deal in common. They take marriage, rearing of children, education very seriously. As communities, they are non proselytizing, warm and hospitable. So, strangely, Jews also are far more conservative and closer to the Indian ethos than would be obvious to an outsider.  Yet I am free to pursue my work be it the films, writing or further study with complete support from my families. I must differ however when I say that I actually like some of this ‘straitjacket’ stereotyping. Marriages don’t work without sacrifice, compromise and loyalty. Two ‘I, me and myself’ philosophies don’t make a marriage any better than one."

What emerges out of this mix-n-match is an unexpectedly rich relationship of dynamism and discovery. Witness Madhu Sapre, for whom it translates into going to Midnight Mass on Christmas Day with all of Gian Maria’s relatives in the village church in Rimini in South Italy, a ceremony she has been attending with friends very often while living abroad. "I’m really lucky ", she confesses,"For Gian Maria is in many ways more Indian, than some Indians, he eats rice with his hands, he loves Ganesha."