What stops youngsters from proposing to their crush

Valentine’s Day is here and couples have finalised plans to celebrate with their partners. However, there remain those few who are not able to figure out how to propose to their crushes, thanks to being trapped in the friend zone. We spoke to some youngsters who face this situation. Here’s what they said.
Fear of rejection
Pulkit Mangal, a final year engineering student, says, “I had a crush on one of my classmates, and when I disclosed my feelings to her, she explicitly told me that she thought of me only as a friend and stopped talking to me.Now I have feelings for a girl in my coaching class, but because of my previous experience, I am afraid to propose to her.”
Others’ experiences
Kush Gupta, an intern at an Indore-based BPO, says, “Like many other youngsters, I too have a crush on someone I found on social media. But I have seen girls who just want to talk to you, get help and then walk away with someone else making a fool out of you. It is easy to ignore them if you are just friends but very difficult after you have shared your feelings with them. So, I am still in doubt whether to propose to her or not.” The bro zone Being friend zoned is not half as bad as being bro zoned. Yogesh Shah, a management student, says, “I have a crush on someone who refers to me as ‘bhai’. I don’t know whether she uses the word for everyone or does she have some special sisterly feeling towards me. Now, I am afraid to propose to her, as she might say that she has always considered me as a brother. That is the most embarrassing thing that could happen to me. I can come out of the friend zone, but with ‘bhai’ zone, it is impossible.”
Friends will make fun
Then there are the lads who are afraid of their buddies making fun of them. Tanuj Chawla, a chartered accountant, says, “I have a crush on one of my friends and my other friends also like her. But on the day she joined our coaching, I informed everyone that since I like her, everyone else should back off. After much resistance, my friends agreed and I started approaching her. But as Valentine’s Day approaches, I am getting more scared to propose to her. If she says that she considers me only as a friend, my buddies will make fun of me.”
Even girls fight the friend zone
It is a misconception that only boys get trapped in the friend zone. Mrunalini Misra (name changed), a young professional, says, “I have a huge crush on my reporting manager since the day I joined office. We became good friends in some time, but he is so cute that I want to be with him. On many instances, I have given him different signals about my feelings, but I don’t know whether he doesn’t get them or is deliberately ignoring them. I thought of proposing on Valentine’s Day, but now I am giving it a second thought.”
More bonding
Manzoor Akram, a management student, says, “I spend a major chunk of my college hours with one of my classmates and eventually I started liking her. But I got to know that she still considers me only as a friend through one of our mutual friends. I am thinking of taking some more time to bond with her so she might develop feelings for me. Hence, I am postponing my plans of proposing.”
Love triangle
Lokesh Singh, an engineering student, shares, “I am good friends with this girl who lives near my house and we even visit each other often. But one day she shared with me that she has a crush on a guy in her college. Now I am in a dilemma. If I propose now, she might insist that we stay ‘just friends’. So I think I will back off instead.”