Anj - great topic. Interesting observations by Nirman. My own take on this subject is driven largely by my own experience with relationships and from what I have seen of close friends and relatives. I was the type of person who really did not have much of a problem commiting to someone. That was till my last relationship of several years broke down. Reasons are aplenty and I don't want to bore you with them. Now as I look forward to the rest of my life, I feel I will only make a commitment to someone if I am strongly convinced that I want to and can spend the rest of my life with that person. I also have to believe, without doubt, that she is willing and capable of spending her life with me. Short of that, I honestly don't see the need to commit to someone. My freedom is too precious to be given to someone who may make me regret it later. Long story short, commitment, for me at least, comes with a belief that the person that you are committing to will make your time together worth it. Short of that, I say stick to wham, bam, thank you maam. (I would like to de-stress the bam part - I am not too concerned about it these days :) ... LOL )