THE INTERNATIONAL - International Indian
THE INTERNATIONAL - International Indian
THE INTERNATIONAL - International Indian
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[ DATING IN URBAN INDIA ]<br />
The<br />
Dating<br />
Dilemma<br />
Those who do date are not hiding it anymore<br />
“A significant number of youngsters keep out of the dating game<br />
because they don’t see the need to go on dates. This is where India differs<br />
radically from the west. Maybe <strong>Indian</strong> society is still conservative at heart,<br />
because casual dating hasn’t caught on in a big way. After all dating usually<br />
means deceiving your parents.”<br />
[ By NITA JATAR KUlKARNI ]<br />
Funny, how dating mores seem to<br />
change every decade or so. Over ten<br />
years ago dating was just coming out<br />
of the closet, and was either considered<br />
“cool” in some circles or “shameful” in<br />
others. In today’s metropolitan India, dating<br />
has taken on a new avatar. It’s not a big deal<br />
to date anymore, and why should it be when<br />
more than half of the collegians date? Not<br />
just that, dating isn’t even as clandestine as<br />
it was before.<br />
Priyanka Patel from Bangalore, studying<br />
her final year Textile Design in Ahmedabad,<br />
feels that dating has become more open<br />
and that “people are not hiding it anymore”<br />
and also that “eight out of ten” college<br />
students date today. With dating becoming<br />
widespread, the “cool” tag for those who<br />
date has also disappeared, if indeed it ever<br />
existed! 19-year old Varun Raitani from<br />
Mumbai says, “Dating would be considered<br />
cool or grown-up if one dated in school but<br />
in college everyone’s dating.”<br />
If it’s peer pressure that’s pushing youngsters<br />
into dating, that’s not what they are saying.<br />
And the truth is that there are many who<br />
don’t date and they don’t see it as a problem<br />
either. Rahul Sengupta, a final year MBA<br />
student is content with his single state.” It’s<br />
never been an issue for me or my friends.” He<br />
feels that it’s all about “one’s own perspective<br />
towards life and inner conviction.” Vishesh<br />
Unni Raghunathan, a 12th grade student<br />
from Chennai believes that dating “is entirely<br />
a matter of personal choice.”<br />
A significant number of youngsters keep<br />
out of the dating game because they don’t<br />
see the need to go on dates. This is where<br />
India differs radically from the west. Maybe<br />
<strong>Indian</strong> society is still conservative at heart,<br />
because casual dating hasn’t caught on in<br />
a big way. After all dating usually means<br />
deceiving your parents. “Most parents are<br />
still orthodox, they will never agree to<br />
relationships,” says Arvind from Chennai,<br />
who has just completed his engineering. If<br />
this is the case in metros, it’s more difficult<br />
in smaller places. Kakoli Shaw, a first year<br />
M.E. student from Bhilai says, “In a typical<br />
conservative middle class society like my<br />
city, I don’t think any student is that close to<br />
his/her parents that he can tell his parents<br />
36<br />
<strong>THE</strong> <strong>INTERNATIONAL</strong> INDIAN