Youngsters look for love on dating apps

In the current era of online romance, many Indoreans are tapping one dating apps and websites, to change their single status.
In their search for a partner, these youngsters are spending a lot of time online and scrutinizing profiles with utmost care. While some succeed, for most it turns out to be a failed opportunity. We list for you, some of the experiences of the city’s online dating enthusiasts.winner or loser? While till date social networking sites had a plethora of fake profiles, dating apps too, now are full of such dummy accounts. Engineering student Prateek Jha (name changed), says, “I had all the major dating apps installed in my phone and spent hours finding a partner. Initially, I sent requests to every girl I spotted on these apps. Some of them accepted the requests, and one of them even used to chat with me. She forbade me from calling her as her family checked her call records.
When I almost fell for her and insisted on speaking on the phone and meeting in person, she told me it’s a fake profile. For a month, I had been using cheesy pick-up lines and flirting with a guy assuming him to be a girl. He must have had a great time laughing at me. I uninstalled all the apps the very next day.” Why should boys have all the fun? The taboo associated with online dating is slowly losing ground with increased female traffic on these dating apps. Both students as well as financially independent women are having a gala time using these apps. While some are looking for casual dating, others are there just for fun. Young professional Poornima Shah (name changed), says, “The world’s changing and there’s no stigma attached with dating before marriage. Since these apps find matches based on common interest and allow connecting without revealing one’s true identity, they are safe. I usually chat with a person for a few days on these apps and if I feel something can happen between us, I meet him, else move on.”
Arusa Sheikh (name changed), a pharmacy student, says, “For girls seeking attention from the opposite gender, these dating apps are the best option. All desperate singles out there will deluge your profile with requests. I get more than 100 requests a day and it is fun seeing some weird profiles. Most of these boys are afraid asking out a girl face to face. These apps are a good time-pass activity and I even got some requests from girls which were quite shocking.” Still awaiting a response The agony of forever alones, mostly boys lacking charming wooing skills continues online too. Kalpesh Agarwal (name changed), a management student, says, “All my friends are committed. Being afraid of approaching girls, when I saw a friend going on a date using one of these apps, I became hopeful. I registered on all apps and started searching and since there are a limited number of searches and connection requests that one can send daily, I subscribed for monthly membership to unlocking unlimited searches. Even after splurging on these apps, all my connection requests went unaccepted. I feel most of the girls’ profiles on such apps are either fake or inactive and are used to increase traffic and make us shell out money.” Wrong choice Some feel that finding an ideal partner on these apps is similar to finding a needle in a haystack.
Many Indoreans who have dated using these apps realised that they connected with the wrong person. Sahil Udhani, a management student, says, “I am quite active on dating apps and thought that others too are here for temporary hook-ups. I dated many girls casually and they too were also ok with it. Once I accepted a connection request from a 19-year-old girl who got very serious just after two meetings. It created a lot of complications and took me a lot of effort and time to tell her to concentrate on her career instead of getting serious at such a young age. There are many adolescent girls on these who stand a high chance of getting duped.” Found an ideal partner Not all searches on these apps and websites are futile as there also have been success stories where people started dating with using these apps and ended up together for good. Swati Kukreja, who works in a private bank, says, “I was initially sceptical about these apps and registered just for experimentation. It helped me connect with a guy who matched my interests and expectations and we started talking and meeting up. It’s been over a year now that we started speaking and are soon going to get engaged with our families’ blessings. Miracles do happen.” No fun in online romance There are many who feel that online dating lacks the fun and excitement of offline romance. Puneet Kumar, a final year engineering student, says, “I don’t believe in online dating as it lacks the fun of approaching someone personally. The old-school way of falling for a girl, asking others to back off and going through various ups, downs and emotions brings unmatched joy. Online dating is mechanical and lacks real passion and perseverance.”