I found my golden retriever boyfriend on Tinder nearly 6 years ago. Who could have thought you could meet the love of your life on Tinder? Nobody, really – at least not 6 years ago, when dating apps were new and finding love online was more of an uncertainty and less of a possibility.  

Chapter 1:

Positioned in a perfect corner at the back of an avant-garde classroom, I scrolled through Tinder, seeking validation. The paramount monotony of ordinary life was heavily weighing down on me.  

I could see our youngest professor was trying to make Marxism fun – he was talking about Karl Marx and dating apps simultaneously, in a bizarre turn of events. It was an English Lit classroom – people were strange and the academic discussions were even stranger.  

So, like every other day, I concentrated on the app – there wasn’t a single man I wanted to be involved with, even to make myself feel better, and so I kept swiping left… 

Engineer looking for love? No.  

Musician looking for validation (just like me)? No.  

The rich kid out on an adventure? I knew I wasn’t up for any of them. 

And after swiping left on hundreds of profiles, something happened – I finally came across a profile, I wanted to swipe right. But there was some amount of uncertainty – I paused for a few seconds while my mind raced ahead, overthinking every minute detail. 

What if he was a creep?  

What if he was dumb?  

Or what if he already had a girlfriend and was just looking for a good time? 

But he seemed like a pretty boy – and I was interested.  

So, ignoring my anxiety-ridden brain, I began analyzing the object of my interest. Five whole minutes passed, and I did nothing.  

In the end, I passed my phone to the girl next to me and asked for her opinion – she glanced at the side-faced guy in the picture against a breathtaking view of the Himalayas and, without a word, swiped him right. 

Chapter 2:

January rolled in with its usual lack of warmth, bringing a new boy into my inbox and dreams. The yet-to-be-recognized feeling in the pit of my stomach persisted (yes, I didn’t want to call them butterflies at the time). 

In retrospect, I was in denial – not just about the new boy in my inbox, but the unfamiliar feelings he was making me feel.  

I was looking for some glorified validation on the dating app. True.  

But I wasn’t expecting anything major from Tinder – a few casual hookups? A heartbreaking situationship? I wasn’t expecting to stumble across something real – something too good to be true.  

My first conversation with this random guy was just that, random – there was nothing extraordinary or remotely romantic about the five texts we sent each other in a week. Whether it was fate or mutual desperation, for that matter, it took us precisely those five texts to exchange our contact numbers and delete the app forever for some unknown reason.  

For some reason, our little conversations consisting of a few messages sent back and forth at the most boring hours of the day became my secret – and the next 30 days threw us into a pattern.  

In those 30 days, I couldn’t figure out much about this boy, and yet I was deeply curious. We would exchange a few messages throughout the day – he would never text me at inappropriate times. The flirting was barely there, and he wouldn’t even ask me out – was he even interested? 

And where was this going? 

Don’t relationships progress fast on dating apps? Then what the hell was happening to my love life? 

Chapter 3: 

I have always been a sucker for slow romance.  

For once, I was frustrated. If he could have the patience to keep texting me for 45 days, he definitely did like me. But we never talked about anything remotely romantic or steamy.  

Obviously, I was worried – was he friend-zoning me? Was he even interested? 

There’s this thing about how hope works – just when you are about to give up, your phone rings, and hope resurfaces.  

Naturally, just when I was about to write this boy off as a friendly connection that was never meant to be, a text dropped on my phone – ‘what are your thoughts on momos and noodles?’  

What followed was a conversation around our shared love for Chinese cuisine and a date the weekend after.  

The whole week passed in a blur – my feelings moved around like a pendulum in motion. I was swinging from excitement to anxiety every hour of the day. No matter how many times I told myself – this was just another date – something told me it was going to be more. 

But I practically knew nothing about this boy – except that he was quiet, humble, and heartbreakingly handsome.  

My weakness for cute boys made the week bearable – except everything didn’t plan out as per my well-laid-out plans for a Sunday lunch date.  

Chapter 4:

I woke up on Saturday morning – all set to make it to a university event I had no intention of attending.  

Nobody wants to travel 13 kms away from the city center to reach a university in the middle of nowhere. But it wasn’t a matter of choice – so I picked up my already exhausted self and left for university.  

Typically, I am not good with my phone – if you call me every day, chances are I’ll miss your call every day. On top of that, I always keep my phone silent.  

My silent phone was resting inside my bag, and I was resting against the wooden desk, not even trying to pay attention to the PhD students discussing first-world problems. My only purpose was to get through Saturday and make it to my lunch date the following day.  

Sunday was far, and I was impatient. Plus, my new love interest had not texted me since morning – God, what was wrong with this boy? 

What did I tell you about hope? That sly bitch never leaves you alone – and when I finally took out my phone during lunch, I was completely caught off guard. I had a missed call alert from my Sunday date.  

After freaking out for 10 minutes, I called back.  

We had never spoken over the phone, and I was completely unprepared for this… 

“Hello?” 

“Hi, you called?” 

“Yeah, so I had to meet a friend near your area, and I was, um, wondering, if we could meet for a couple of hours today.” 

“Today?” 

“Yes, today? Around 5?” 

“Okay, I don’t mind. 5 sounds good.” 

“See you.” 

Chapter 5:

I.Was.Freaking.Out. 

It was 3 pm. I had 2 hours to look cute and meet my new Prince Charming. 

2 hours. I was 13 kms away from home.  

I packed my bag, told the Department head I was too sick to stay, and booked an overpriced cab home.  

In the cab, my hands were sweaty – and so were my feet. I think the cab driver could hear my heart go ‘thump thump’ – it was scary, and I was anxious AF. The moment I got out of the cab, my phone rang again.  

“Hello?”  

“Hi, I’m here.” 

“Okay, I’ll be there in 5 minutes.” 

I didn’t even meet him – and I was already making him wait. 

After 15 minutes, I stumbled out of my house – dressed in a causal pair of denim and a top. I didn’t want to show I had put in much effort.  

I was walking towards the spot where he was waiting for me. It felt like my heart would jump out of my chest and start beating on the road. It felt like everyone knew I was anxious. 

Where was he? Did he leave? Did he get angry waiting for me and leave?  

Ghosted, even before we met? Now, that’s an all-new low.  

And just when I was going to turn around and walk back home – sad and disappointed – I saw him.  

Standing tall and extremely cute, this guy was waiting for me – and he was looking at me. He seemed to have spotted me before I could see him. And a small smile was playing on his lips.  

The moment our eyes met, everything slowed around me – I wasn’t anxious anymore. As we walked towards each other – a little slow, a little shy, and somewhat happy – I knew.  

This. Was. It.  

Current Status:

It’s been 6 years since then, and we are still very much in love – planning to move in and settle down in the New Year. 

Thanks to Tinder, I found love at first swipe. What did I say about hope? It never disappoints (just be a little patient, maybe?).