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Was five minutes' time enough to see if the chemistry worked at a speed-dating event?
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CHECKMATE The girls largely turned up for the fun of it PHOTO:V. SREENIVASA MURTHY
It's funny. It's almost Valentine's. But no sign of mush, red roses, cards and hearts here at Spinn. It's boy-meets-girl, crisp hellos, tell me about yourself, and then move on to the next hopeful. It's almost like Formula One. It's about speed, switching lanes, competing, stopping for a refuel, and winning yourself the best. Welcome to the world of speed dating.
Indigo Nation, that hosted the event, clocked a solid 1,000 registrations! And the ratio isn't surprising 20:80, women:men. The funda of this five-minute speed-dating event was that you profiled yourself online. Ten guys and girls were selected for D-day, when each participant got to spend five minutes with a guy/girl before moving on to the next. And here's the crucial bit. A scorecard allowed participants to tick either interesting against a person or not happening! If scores matched, they got to meet again.
As the participants poured in, some clinging on to friends for moral support, they sat down to some easy banter over a few drinks. Twenty-two-year-old Annie from Lucknow was nervous. "After all this is India, right? We're still not fast and we have inhibitions. At the end of this I'll not tow a boyfriend, but it'll help me socialise."
Rekha, a very dapper PR professional, was probably the oldest but the men were obviously charmed. She was there, like many others, just to have fun. "I had seen it happen in London, but there it's just come and go. Even married men do it there. But the Indian mental set-up is different. I'm surprised no one asked me if I was single. Everyone assumed everyone else was! Of the 10 guys, one made sense," she concluded. She gave seven of the men the "interesting" tag while three were "not happening". "No one asked me my age, which was sweet and polite!"
But is five minutes good enough to know a person? "With some women, five minutes can be too little, with some, too much!" sighed a cute 20-something businessman Vinay, over a bottle of beer during a break, after he'd met barely four girls. Sanjay is 32 and is on a project here from Cambridge. He insisted he would know in that short time if the chemistry worked. He was there in all seriousness looking for a partner, someone who'd be in for a long-term relationship. "It's not easy to meet someone on a day-to-day basis here. In London people are a lot more easy and sociable. If you go up and speak to someone you identify as attractive, they talk back to you. Here, they ask me why I'm talking to them."
As they all sat at their tables chatting, lighting up, unwinding, some laughing casually, some looking on intensely as if time stood still, one was convinced that looking for love or bit of "socialising" on the highway is more about revving up than slowing down. About making the right moves. Checkmate!
BHUMIKA K.
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