Flirting by Text Messages
A short passage from NY Times Article, that explores the prominent flirting style in India : Flirting by Text Messages. Each text message only costs around 4-5 cents and Indian cell phones companies don’t charge you for incoming text messages (why should we pay if someone wants to tell something to ME? That person should pay! Makes sense). So, it is very economical and gives the average, shy Indian guy the perfect weapon to find “girlfriends”:
“Dating of any kind is minimal in the countryside, where two-thirds of Indians live. In big cities like this one, posh bars and clubs attract a relatively small Westernized elite who date as if in Paris or New York. But for middle-class men like Mr. Chettri, much persuasion is required even to induce a woman to have coffee with you, and that may be as far as it goes.
If a text suitor makes it to the next step, say an invitation to the movies, new challenges arise.
“She will come, but she will come with two, three friends,” said Vaibhav Shingre, 25, a co-worker of Mr. Chettri’s and his wingman of sorts. “You have to specify, ‘Please come alone.’
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Young Indians, girls especially, are taught not to show any interest in the opposite sex. The prohibition extends to such behaviors as giggling at a man’s jokes. “Jo hansi, voh phansi,” goes one old Hindi staying. (If a woman laughs, she is already in the net.)
Most young, middle-class Indians live with their parents, leaving few opportunities for trips back to “my place.” They often share rooms with siblings into their late 20s, making it hard even to speak privately by telephone. And should they canoodle in public, they risk being found out by ubiquitous uncles and aunts and family friends, who are likely to snitch on them.
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Farther east, in Jamshedpur, a steel company town, the desire to text became so fervent at one all-women’s college that students began renting burqas from Muslim shopkeepers, according to a local news report. From under the folds, the women typed amorously to boyfriends and arranged secret trysts off campus.
Dr. Prakash Kothari, India’s best-known sexologist, said some clients had begun approaching him with problems about texting. “They say, ‘Hey, Doc, I’m receiving these SMS’s day in and day out. How should I respond?’ ” he said.