Day 87 of 100 Indian Tinder Tales
A young teenager shares his tale from Guwahati
“I had heard about this new app making the rounds and honestly, I had absolutely no intention to go in the direction. Broken and distraught from a 3-year-long-on-and-off “relationship” (long distance), I was almost saintly or at least tried to fake it. Walls stood up, guards were on patrol, surrounded by archers, I hid in my own castle, broken and gasping for air. In my 19 years, I had never felt so numb. My self-confidence hit rockbottom. As I glanced through her pics, tears flowed down. It felt satisfying in a way.
I’d been using Tinder for a month or so before the so called ‘break up’. Well, I wasn’t really using the app, just mindlessly swiping, hopeful but still in denial. The castle I had built around me was still strong. But just 20 days after the heartbreak, I struck gold.
Let’s call her ‘S’. She took the first step. Two days later I had to leave for my campus. A new semester was starting, I was feeling mildly optimistic. After three days, I thought to myself, “Something is happening.” Formal greetings, a pinch of humour here and there, some lame attempts at banter, and endless conversations lead to sleepless nights and dizzy days. The attraction was at its peak! But hey what about that castle, you’d ask? She found a backdoor entry. Yeah, she’s a clever one and I can’t complain.
I found out her home is a short-fifteen-minute ride from mine (Though my campus is 2000 kms away from her.) Excitement hit the roof! We talked and talked and talked. Lost in time, lost in each other, staring at our mobile screens. Scrolling through those conversations became a hobby.
One day, I told her, “I want to meet you. Really badly.”
She asked me, “When are you coming back to Delhi?”
“In three months.”
I knew what was gonna happen. No sane person wouldn’t wait for someone they’ve never met. But to my surprise, she replied, “I’ll wait for you”. That was it. Everything inside my brain went haywire. My body went into an ecstatic overdrive. Somehow I had to control it. She mustn’t know, I told myself!
In our next few conversations, feelings were shared, secrets were unwrapped. I still remember the first picture she sent me. I must confess, I fell in love with those eyes. No, not in a dramatic Bollywoodish way but I was really excited! I guess there was no shortage of adrenaline in me during those days. Days were dreamy and nights were like bliss.
I thought to myself, “even if this is short-lived, I wanna enjoy it. I wanna enjoy every second of it.”
Three months passed, we met. The first hug was short and sweet, a bit awkward but something that we both will cherish for rest of our lives. We sat in a diner, had some shakes and just talked. It didn’t feel odd at all. It felt like we’ve been doing this since a long time. She had to meet her friends as their college fest was going on, so she took me with her.
I was shaking! Uh-oh. There would be unknown people everywhere. And I might have to talk to them? Shit! Being an introvert, it was scary at first but I managed. While sitting close to each other on the backside of the stage, hand in hand, I leaned in and placed a small kiss on her lips. In a few seconds, we were not able to get our hands off each other. My first thought, let’s turn this up, who’s looking? But saner thoughts prevailed. That amazing, much awaited day came to an end.
And the next day, we got a hotel room booked. I lost my v-card that day. Meeting for the first time and having sex the next day, feels a bit odd, doesn’t it? That’s what I thought but two months later when I came back to Delhi again, there was sex and there was loads of it!
I never thought love would grip me so hard that I would give in so easily and become one with it. We both have had our fights but I still don’t have an answer to – how we came so close in such a short time! It just felt so right. Soon we are gonna complete ten months together! Thank you, Tinder. It wouldn’t have been possible without you. Long distance is a bitch but hey, good things in life are worth the wait! Peace.”
Induviduality 