For today's lovers, sending romantic text messages may be chic, but for married couples they may bring in unwanted problems as the Mizo society is witnessing. Replacing the not-so-much secret love letters, the text messages are a new tool in the hands of young lovers to express their feelings these days. But social workers point out that when the messages are exchanged in an extra-marital affair, problems sometimes arise.

Rev Zothansanga of the Mizoram Presbyterian Church's Family Guidance and Counselling Centre said more and more married couples in Mizoram were visiting councelling centres like his faced with emotional problems. In a typical case, he says, a woman plainly denied having ever professed love to her extra-marital partner saying there was no proof.

She acknowledged that she had deleted all SMSes of her lover from the inbox of her cell phone. This is one of the problems that the SMS culture among young lovers has given rise to. Other problems of a more serious nature have come to him at his councelling centre, Rev Zothansanga said. Though no official data have been collected as yet, there has indeed been a rise in spousal disputes and tension leading to even divorce in some cases what with secret text messages seen by either of the spouses, the pastor says.