I am appalled by the ghoulish interest being taken in Karisma Kapoor's marriage and its supposed breach. My colleagues from the paparazzi have been going crazy over the question of whether she's split with her husband or not.

When the couple doesn't wish to talk about its problem shouldn't we respect their wishes? Instead we have "close friends" of the two affected parties being thrust with responsibilities to speak on behalf of the affected couple.

But the knot is a knotty tangle. It cannot be resolved in the entertainment sections of papers and magazines because a marriage and an ensuing break-up are not meant for entertainment. To try to pry into lives which are already on the brink is tantamount to probing wounds that are too raw to be touched, let alone healed. Why add to the chaos when we cannot breach the dam?

Karisma's marriage is no one's business. Whether it's in trouble or not shouldn't concern any medium, print or electronic. Sad to say we journalists take a ghoulish delight in invading stars' lives. And Karisma is the latest victim of the alarming paparazzi culture that has hit Indian journalism.

Karisma isn't a friend. But we've spoken cordially and warmly over a period time. Her sister and mother invited me to her grand wedding. I could not attend. But I knew how lavish it was and how excited Karisma, her mom and sister were about the event. Later Kareena had said, "Almost everyone came. I felt so proud to see my sister on the mandap. It was a big moment for all of us."

We were in touch off and on. And during one of our sporadic chats Karisma excitedly told me about the new home that was she doing up for herself and her husband, and how every single item in the house was being selected by her personally.

Have her dreams of a home been shattered by the harsh reality of marital stress? I don't know. And I don't want to ask Karisma about it. I know her to be a very private person. And when I was bombarded with requests to find out about her marital problems I felt a surge of protectiveness towards her.

Surely being an actress doesn't take away your right to privacy?

Stories about Karisma's husband reached my ears long before their marriage. But as a close friend of the couple told me after these unsavoury stories of the break-up broke out, "It takes two to tango. Likewise it takes two to keep a marriage going. What we hear in Mumbai is one-half of the marital story."

A break-up isn't easy for a couple. Let's not make it more difficult by taking sides. Let's not behave as though the media knows the truth about Karisma's marriage. Until she chooses to tell us about it, we are in the dark and that's where we should remain.

As the weeks and months pass the break-up is bound to get uglier. There might even be a custody battle.

Why don't we give Karisma the right to fight her battle in peace? After all she has given us so much.