Considering the traditional society we live in, most marriages in India are still arranged and dating seems to be an alien concept for many. And while most people wish to have a love marriage, only some of them can find the right partner by themselves. Sharing her views about the dating culture in India and her own experiences with it, recently an Australian woman‘s candid video has caught people’s attention on social media.
The Australian woman named Bree Steele is a podcast producer, and she has been living and travelling in the country since 2023. Bree Steele has over 18,000 followers on Instagram wherein she often shares her experiences in India. More recently, she spoke about her weird dating experience in India and how dating is a fairly new concept in the country, as compared to Australia- her home country.
In the video, Bree Steele says that “in India, things move fast!” Further sharing her observation about India’s dating culture, she also said, “It feels like everyone here is acting based on what they’ve seen in films.”
Elaborating her views on dating in India and her theory about it, Bree said in her video, “In Australia, men flirt through banter, which is really just being mean. But in India, everyone is so nice to you, and things move fast! I was at a party, and this guy suddenly held my hand while flirting. That would never happen in Australia!”
She also spoke about how she once attended a dating event in Mumbai which turned out to be “like a school disco”. “For the first hour or so, women only spoke to other women, and men did the same. No one was mixing,” she added.
She then said that dating in India seems like people are following some Bollywood script, or what she have seen on the screen as it is a relatively new concept in the country, as compared to Australia. “It feels like everyone here is acting based on what they’ve seen in films… My understanding is that our generation of Indians are the first in history who can date casually. Until now, it seems to have been mostly arranged marriages… In the West, we’ve had dating stories passed down through generations, plus sex education in schools. In India, that doesn’t seem to be the case, so people might be shaping their dating behaviour from what they see on screen.”
However, Bree seemed to be hopeful about India’s dating scene, as her caption read, “India could really be a dating utopia!! There is a chance to create a whole new respectful dating culture that works for everyone (unlike in the west!)”
The video has gained much attention on social media and many people (including Indians) have found Bree’s observation quite honest. One netizen named The Extinct Cat said, “There is no dating culture in India. There is a hookup culture that’s called dating by trying to copy the west. You are right, They see and learn from movies. They have unrealistic expectations”, while another user named Muskaan 11 said, “Never thought it that way, but I guess you’re right”.
Do you agree with what Bree said about dating in India? Tell us your thoughts and experiences about dating culture in India in the comments section below.
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