R from Mumbai shares about her first Tinder date in Mumbai.

Day 16 of #100IndianTinderTales

“A late night conversation with a friend got me on Tinder. I was always reluctant about installing it, as it is widely used to hook-up but decided to give it a shot. I had no bio, just a couple of pictures but I managed to get about 20 matches within an hour.

I spoke to a few guys, most of them were looking to hook-up but I managed to have a few interesting conversations with a couple of guys and decided to uninstall the app. I kept in touch with one guy. He seemed engaging although we didn’t have anything in common except for our love for pina coladas. We’d speak to each other everyday and after a week, we met.

Five minutes into the meeting, he said, “I have to leave within an hour.” After a while, he disappeared for 10 mins to make a call. He checked his phone from time to time and even worked on his laptop for a while. I avoided using my phone because I think it is impolite.

This guy was very different from his bio and the person I had spoken to. I thought of leaving several times but didn’t. He told me a couple of times that he hates people. By the end of it, I felt like he was trying to run away and get out which left me feeling petty and sad. I couldn’t stop thinking about what I had said or done wrong as this was my first Tinder date. I never went back to Tinder.

I’ve realised that most of us have two sides to us – one for social media and the one we keep to ourselves. And though we are all seeking connections, we are happy to have it from behind our screens and become antisocial when we come in touch with real people. Often we forget that we are dealing with fellow humans, living, breathing, feeling, hurting, real people like ourselves, who are also looking and seeking.”

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