You are at a party and suddenly your man slips out of your sight. The next moment you see him, he is merrily flirting away to glory with one of the chicks. So what do you do?

A) Keep a pair of boxing gloves handy for this sort of thing.
B) Smile, preserving your energy for a well planned explosion in private.
C) Give him the icy glare

If you have answered A, you deserve a pat on the back. If you picked B or C, you deserve a punch yourself. This one's a pretty tough spot to be in. Relationships, like chess, involve strategy, and the Queen's move must always be carefully thought through.

Forever hold your peace

No matter what, never lose your cool in public. Make him realize that it's more fun to be with you than anybody else. Never give the woman or the incident unnecessary attention. That could be counterproductive. Trust your instinct. As long as you feel it's harmless flirting, don't cast a doubt.

Boot in the rear

Again, there are women who won't stand flirting at all and once such action will always be followed by a swift kick in the back. After all, how many men do you know who'll exercise calm if they saw their wives all over another man?" Venting is healthy, otherwise "it's like shaking a soda bottle - silence before an explosion."

Trust, not doubt

"I have a lot of single friends, and when we're at a do, it's a given that one of them will chat up Malik," says 39-year-old Mubaraka Chamdawala (below), referring to her husband of 13 years. "It doesn't bother me, not even if I learn that he finds the girl attractive," she says stoically, adding that blowing up in public sends out the message that the marriage rests on flimsy trust. Her poise comes from a sense of security. "We have our children and close ties with members of each other's families. There's respect and love. So, he finds another girl attractive. Big deal!"

Inputs from TOI

(AW: Suchorita Dutta Choudhury)