In the matter of love, we Indians are taught from childhood that our parents would find a mate for us when the right time and age comes. Most of us have accepted this and don’t usually dare to go outside the accepted norms of society. While the scenario is slowly changing and we can see couples walking hand-in-hand in movie theatres and malls, online dating portals still remain a taboo. We are not afraid to chat on facebook with strangers but are afraid to join a dating website, we are not afraid to go on a date with a guy after meeting him only once but are afraid to go on a virtual date with a like-minded guy with whom we have been chatting for days. We are obsessed with the digital world and consider it as vital as oxygen but we still pull ourselves back when it comes to finding love online. Isn’t it hypocritical of us?

Why do we the “so called” well-educated and open-minded people consider dating online a taboo? In search for the answer, a survey was conducted and the opinion of the college going youngsters was sought. You might be shocked to hear their responses:

A guy has to say this, “Dating online is like paying for sex, you are filled with a sense of shame that you can’t find a person yourself and you need to pay for it.”

Another girl has to say, “I would never go for online dating, it’s cheap and it shows desperation.”

A guy from a premier law college says I would rather like to date a real person whom I can touch and see and smell rather than a faceless girl or who knows even a boy on net.”

This is the public response but the statistics tell a different story. According to the BBC World Service global opinion poll 2010, 59 per cent of Internet users in India consider that internet is a good place to look for a match.

After these types of responses, it seemed that people are totally against online dating. But on probing some more many of them accepted that they were willing to give it a try but the twist in the tale was they were not ready to accept it in public due to the shame they feel.

First of all, just a gentle reminder to all those who think that online dating is cheap; love doesn’t require a place to blossom. It just needs two sincere hearts. The choice is all yours, whether you want to wait for years hoping that your prince charming would someday ring your doorbell and say, “hey princess, I’m the one you’re looking for” or wouldn’t you rather go out and try finding your Mr. /Ms. Perfect.
Secondly, there is a mistaken belief among people that sites that are free are less reliable, well this is totally untrue, for instance dateiitians.com is an online dating portal which is totally secure. It has an elaborate registration process which requires you to give your id-proof and other documents and only then it allows access to the site and what’s more it’s even free. So, you can be sure about its authenticity and reliability.

Next, we Indians need to embrace the change. While many things can go wrong on an online date so can a real date turn out to be a disaster. What are we afraid of, we might not be chatting to a person depicted from the photos, well in reality also people are hardly what they seem, moreover in an online dating you are bound to communicate more and thus understand each other better.

While western countries are whole heartedly embracing the change why are we lying behind in our web of insecurities, doubt and fear. Trust me, whatever has to go wrong can go wrong on a real date as well. If you’re still not sure, just go watch the Hollywood movies, Must love dogs and you’ve got mail which are centered around the concept of online dating and you might be tempted to go in search for your dream girl on the net. But beware make an intelligent choice; go to a site which you trust. You can check out dateiitians.com for sure if you’re willing to give online dating a try.

Earlier people use to travel round the world in search of love, but you are lucky, your love might be just a click away; you don’t need to go to different countries, just go “online”.