I went on a date today ft. First Bumble Date

Getting right-swiped.

Chatting on Bumble.

Asking each other questions and getting to know each other better.

Sharing each other’s Instagram account.

Then, WhatsApp numbers.

And then? Then, back to strangers mostly!

That’s the usual pattern that I and the people who swipe me right on Bumble follows. I never ask them to meet because mostly, the virtual vibe (if that’s a word) doesn’t seem to hit off. And I think, this is the same reason why they don’t ask ME (*facepalm*).

So yes, I have been talking with this one girl on Bumble since these last few days and hey, I’m not gonna tell you the name because… well, do I even have to give you a reason for the same?

C’mon, GET A LIFE! (This is what she would have said at this moment)

We decided to meet at Cafe 6 in Hauz Khas Market at 3 in the noon. But you know what, it took us HOURS to decide where should we go? What should we have? What’s the best place to have a conversation? What’s the best place that serves the best rajma chawal? Or Chole Bhature? Or, Veg Biryani? Wait, is Veg Biryani even a thing???

Getting back on track, we didn’t have each other’s contact numbers. All we had was Instagram to rely on.

I got there at 2:55 and thought of waiting till 3:00 until sending her a message.

Also, I was listening to “Is Jahaan Me” on loop at that moment and to be honest, was feeling really good. I don’t know why but yeah, I just.. was.

When the clock struck 3, I sent her a voice message saying, “Kitthe Kitthe Kitthe???”

I waited for 5 minutes but when she didn’t reply, I video called her. But she didn’t reply to that too.

“She’s not gonna come”, was the first thought I had, to be honest.

But then, I got a message from her and in 5 mins, she was there. Getting out of an auto-rickshaw, coming towards me.

See, this initial part of meeting a stranger na, it’s really awkward for me. Because when I meet somebody in the group, I can just join in but when I meet somebody alone, I don’t know whether to hug them, shake their hands or give them a fist bump.

So, here I moved my fist to her for a fist bump but, “Rings hain haath mein? Karna hain?”, stopped me!

From there, started the awkward silence!

We decided to go to Champagali as that place has a lot of cafes where you can have CONVERSATIONS. Basically, it doesn’t have much crowd. The only con was it doesn’t serve good food.

So, we took an auto-rickshaw, bargained, and sat in.

Awkward silence.

She was doing something on her phone.

I was looking outside, tittering. It felt like some Bollywood movie scene.

“What’s the first thing you notice when you sit in a rickshaw?”, I asked. See, I know it’s a stupid question but we had to break the silence na.

“Auto wale bhaiya ko”, she replied with a little smirk on her face that she holds most of the time.

If I write the whole conversation here, this article would never end. So, let’s just skip and tada, we reached Champagali.

As soon as we entered the street, we saw a guy with a mini-podium showing us his salesmanship.

“Sir, best rooftop hain. Ek baar nazar maar lo. Ek dam badhiya khaana. Sab kuch hain uppar (with a wink ;))” and bla bla bla bla bla.

We decided to ignore him and hover around for a while until we find someplace good to settle.

After hovering around almost all the cafes, we came back to the one that podium guy’s place.

“Bhaiya, hum aaaaaaaaaaaa gaye”, I said.

“Aisa hain na, itni overacting karne ki zarurat hain nahi”, she whispered to me.

We went in and as soon as we opened the door, we heard the speakers blasting on some Punjabi dhickchik-dhakchik song.

The cafe was on the 3rd floor and there was some party going up there. Some birthday party. The music was so terrible. Basically, there was enough crowd that makes a conversation hard to have between any two people. Especially the ones meeting for the first time.

After joking around ‘Veg Biryani’, we ordered ‘Tandoori Momos’.

Now, it’s time to ask each other questions. Continue the conversation. Keeping the flow. And… phew!!! Isn’t it already enough?

I asked some questions. Tried some puns. She did too.

My questions were stupid. Puns didn’t work, well most of them didn’t. And her humor, well, let’s not go there. *facepalm* But she was cute.

Momos were spicy and so were the songs. I mean, the vibe we had at that time with ‘Pata nahi ye kaunsa nasha karta hain’ in the background, tears in my eyes, holding a glass of water in one hand and the momo in other, wasn’t something that happens very often.

She checked on Zomato (Pro member). Got a discount. Then, paid the bill and from there, we went out to go someplace else.

So, there was this cafe on the other side of the road.

“Maine suna hain, this one is good. Though never been there but han, suna hain”, she said.

“Chal fir, let’s try this only na”

We went in. Settle down on a chair that looked like they’ve stolen from some secondary school and tried to paint but the paint ran out halfway in between.

Anyway, it was kind of like an open backyard that… wait! A beautiful open backyard. The silence there was one big pro. The cold coffee and hot chocolate were two big damn cons.

“Tum hamesha aise hi rehte ho?”, she asked.

“Aise kaise?”, I asked.

“Aise hi, ye lovey-dovey types!”

Till now, I have started to learn the things she does when I say something funny, that’s not funny. Things she does when I say something genuine but she finds it funny. When I ask her a question and she, very manipulatively, denies it.

Basically, I had started to learn the way she reacts to things. And I think, she did learn the same about me too.

We decided to have some Pav Bhaji and Chaat, so I suggested Malviya Nagar.

“You’ve to learn the art of bargaining”, I was telling her.

“bla bla bla bla bla” is what she must be hearing, I’m assuming.

Finally, we got in a rickshaw. This time it’s way less awkward than earlier.

“Ho sake toh ye bata
Lag raha hain ab kyun aise
Jo bhi ab tak hain jiya
Bewajah sa tha wo jaise”

The thing is, so many moments happened in that one big particular moment of 3 hours and 45 mins (numerology, huh?) that writing about all of it would need incarnations from my end to be completed.

I mean, it just isn’t about what we talked about. Where we went. What we had. It’s also about what were we thinking when we did something. What jokes we thought of but never cracked. What things we thought of but never said. A lot of things, to be honest.

Also, did I tell you that anything that I was doing at that time, she’s like, “Sab note ho raha hain yahan pe!”

Anyways, we had a terrible pav bhaji, and papdi chaat. Then, we got her an auto-rickshaw and… time for goodbye. This time, we did give each other a fist bump and… I suck at writing the endings.

Chalo koi nahi. It was good overall. Had a good time. Don’t know if she feels the same too though!

This is it then. Let’s see, what happens next! Excited?