Dating – A Taboo Topic
I’m not your typical Indian. I say that because I find myself constantly at odds with the rich cultural heritage of my parents. Nonetheless I was born in an Indian household with Indian traditions, and they’ve stuck. Dating is one of those things that we, as Indian children born in America, have always considered a taboo topic. The times are changing, though, and there are many of us out here looking for something different.
I’ve gone on a few dates the last couple of years, but I’m finding there’s a pattern forming. Men and women seem to be completely clueless as to how to approach another human being without causing alarm. I know that at one point it was completely romantic if a boy waited to walk you home, and perhaps even tried to find out your schedule to randomly bump into you — but now he’s labeled a stalker and we’re taking out a restraining order! We spend so much time afraid of what we’re missing that we don’t even realize that we’re missing it. The whole point of dating is to get to know a person, and see if there’s compatibility of personality, lifestyle, and dare I say spirit!
I think it might be all of those Bollywood love stories that I grew up watching with my parents. I knew I always wanted a knight in shining armor, but there’s no such luck in a country where dating has taken a new turn. Online. I don’t mean your typical MeetMyEngineerSon.com, or MyLovelyDaughter.net — I mean that we live in a world where at the click of a button you can know anything you want to know about the person you like. Their facebook pages are filled with photos and commentary on social concepts and you can get to know someone without having any direct contact. You might find scary details, yes, but more likely you’ll find out that just as all human beings are flawed, there are also some great and maybe even interesting things to learn. I think that I miss the mystery of getting to know a person in person, but at 25 how can I even say I’ve really lived!
Well, with that said, I hope to take you on a wonderful journey, or as Aladdin once put it “on a magic carpet ride”, through the dating lives of myself and a few friends. A champagne toast to The Dating Diary.
The Dating Diary segment focuses on the ups and downs of dating from the unique perspective of a single Indo-American. Sona Sanghvi, a young woman whose travels and experiences have molded her into a bold adventure-seeker, will provide us with a front row seat on her journey through the trials and tribulations of dating and maybe eventually marriage.
