The New Rules Of Dating

Dating goes hybrid, a mix of online and offline, in post-vaxx India

- Sonali Acharjee

AFTER BEING SINGLE THROUGH THE PANDEMIC, Shamita Kulkarni, a French translator in Delhi, decided to give dating a go again about six months ago. Double vaxxed, date night outfits all set and with masks to match, she felt ready to dive back into the dating pool. What she had not anticipated, though, was FODA—the ‘fear of dating again’. Unsure about her online dating skills, it took her another month to set up her Tinder profile and enter the dating circuit.

It’s a feeling familiar to many in the post-pandemic world. With their love lives Covidated—cancelled or altered by the pandemic—many ended up as Covidivorcees. According to a survey popular dating app Bumble conducted among 2,000 users in India in June, 28 per cent of the respondents said they had broken up during the pandemic. The prolonged hiatus from dating and socialising left many doubting their ability to emotionally connect again. “Before the pandemic, I was a very social person,” says 25-year-old media professional Mrini Devnani. “Now, I don’t feel like engaging in emotional relationships with people.”