Mumbai Singles Ditch Dating Apps for Two-Minute Speed Dates

Dating apps have their fans, but a recent speed dating event in Mumbai suggests plenty of singles still want the real thing. Organised by the Bombay Times Life.Styled Club, the evening brought together strangers for ice-breakers, dare challenges, compliment rounds and two-minute dates — no swiping required.

Twenty-six-year-old Mahima Kori, who found out about the event through a Times of India ad, said she was tired of the usual routine. ‘The whole process of texting someone and then meeting is exhausting. Meeting people physically saves so much time,’ she said. She received compliments from three people during a compliment round and connected with one, while planning to keep talking to another participant who caught her eye.

Kishan Kavadia, who has done speed dating before, said the format simply reveals more about a person than an app profile can. ‘You get to see a person’s body language and personality immediately,’ he said. Priyanka Mahajan, 26, agreed, saying she clicked with someone during a two-minute date and is excited about where it might go. ‘This event totally worked for me. Meeting someone in person is so much better than judging them through profile pictures,’ she said.

Social host Vatsal Sagar said the whole point of the event was to get people off their screens. ‘Real connections begin when you interact in person, and that’s exactly what we wanted participants to experience and embrace,’ he said.

Even 39-year-old single mother Priyanka Amar, who described herself as ‘old school,’ said she’d choose an in-person meeting over an app-based one any day.