at the moment
Matches? More Like Catches
Opposed to any generic content easily available online, it seemed fitting to speak of my own experience on the dating app, Tinder. Anyone can Google the statistics and the changing trends of online dating in India, but to hear from an insider might be a different ballgame all together. In my opinion, dating apps like Tinder and Bumble are a non-judgemental space, so it’s okay to put yourself out there.
Due to the ratio of girls and guys on dating apps, girls tend to have the upper hand in this situation, this leads to an undue advantage of choice that girls get. Girls get more matches when compared to their male counterparts. In all honesty, this can be a huge ego boost for the ladies.
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My relationship with Tinder has been an on and off one. I’ve deleted and reinstalled the app after a while, thrice already. Personally, I feel like it does get a bit boring and mundane after a while, but it is also addicting and keeps you coming back for more. During the course of my time on Tinder, I matched with many people. Some were fun to talk to, with some the conversation died after a point and with some of them the conversation did not begin itself. I made a few really good friends, who I’m in constant touch with. It is a good place to make friends, and you may find love too if you’re lucky. But there are three people that I’m regularly in contact with and I’m much closer to them compared to the others, or as I like to call them ‘my best boys’. In my opinion, matching with my three best boys was the highlight of my entire Tinder experience.
But there are times where the app does let you down. For instance, a mutual friend always used to tell my friend and I cute stories about a chivalrous guy, and when my friend matched with him on Tinder, let’s just say- it’s best that you never meet your heroes because they’re sure to disappoint.
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​Now coming back to my ‘best boys’, I was a little skeptical of meeting Kabir because it was my first time meeting someone from Tinder in person. I did back out too on the pretext of extra classes, but turns out he was coming near my college anyway. We met, and I have to say, it was quite fun to just walk around the lanes around my college and get to know one another. Kabir is fun and easy to talk to. He listens to me vent out the most random things, even at 3am. Since he is new to town, I get a chance to explore new places in my own city. And another added advantage, my Hindi has improved quite a bit in his company.
Mihir is a laid back person. We always follow a fixed plan, go to Taco Bell and talk and laugh for hours until our cheeks hurt and then laugh a little more. The most weird and funniest things keep happening to him, and for me, they’re quite entertaining. We keep making fun of each other. We’ve bonded over many of his stories, and definitely food plays an important role too. Anytime I meet him, it’s guaranteed to be a good time.
Vaishak is someone I met pretty recently, but we’ve still managed to get quite close in the short duration that I’ve known him. I love that I can talk to him about everything and anything. We go for walks together which I must say is very therapeutic in a way and relaxing. During our walks, he actively tries to avoid dogs, while I try to play with every single dog I can see, just to spite him, but the dogs always ignore me. Also, my directionally challenged self knows the locality a little better because of the walks.
You can find all kinds of people on dating apps, the extroverts, the shy ones, the ambiverts, you get the idea. It’s a space that usually requires you to get out of your comfort zone. I recommend you to try it out once, just for the fun of it. Who knows what it might lead to?
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Shout-out to my other matches from Tinder who keep checking up on me and taking time to hit me up frequently.
Of course, Tinder has been the reason for a little drama in my life, but that’s a story for another time. And, what is life even without some drama?
-written and compiled by Sakshi Shishir