They said you have crossed the marriageable age and you need to settle down. They said you are a woman, your biological clock is ticking off you need to find your partner. They said love is awesome you need to fall in love. But I was tired! Tired of looking for it. Tired of browsing through matrimonial profiles. Tired of breaking my heart. Tired of the time wasted in relationships that went sour. They said you need to be openminded. They said you are looking at the wrong places. They said to go on dates and check out how it works. For, love happens when you least expect it and it could be just around the corner. This is probably the last attempt of me finding any love. So one fine day I decided to go in search of it. Go in search of it exploring the world. I registered myself in many groups online and was looking at a few success stories as well. It did look promising!

While I was swiping left and right of various profiles I was still confused if I should meet any of these dates. Some of the conversations were great. Some were handsome. Some seemed meh to me with no character. Some were acting too much like they are the most popular ones and everybody throngs to them. I wanted to keep away from the popular ones. I wanted the one who is waiting for the special one and not reachable by many. The itch to go on a date was increasing day by day. But I had my apprehensions too. What if we had our differences of opinion. What if it turned out to be a creep or stalker. What if we do not like the same kind of food. What if I lose my way in the process. What if we do not find the connection. So many thoughts were running in my mind. But life is all about taking chances right! And so I did say yes! Yes to the world. And the world took me on many many blind dates. Took me by surprise many many times. 

Getting into a blind date is not easy. It gives me butterflies every single time I pack the bag. Cause even though you have had the wonderful conversation online and have a fair idea of each other likes and dislikes, you never know how it would turn out in person. Even though every item in your bucket list seemed to have been checked, the blind date throws an element of surprise that you will not be prepared for. The night before my date usually goes sleepless. Tossing in my bed and wondering if we would get along. So much anticipation! Even though I have had really really good experiences… Like that early morning when he woke me up to take me on a safari into the Bandhavgarh jungle. It was one of the best moments of my life when the tiger came face to face. The happiness in my face just could not be wiped off. I can still feel that moment when we were both equally surprised and just wanted to hug each other and were jumping with joy. The jungle is easily the best date I have had and I still continue to go on dates set by the jungle. 

And how can I forget the evening where we watched the sunset and had our candlelit sundowner at Pench. What an amazing way to spend the evening. Driving down to Kokha lake which was teeming with birds. And the world took me in his arms as we sat by the lake to watch a beautiful sunset. A perfect one in spite of the clouds, birds returning to their nests, super breezy wind and as the darkness fell the clouds parted ways to the stars, a table was set with candlelight, chai and pakoda. With night the scene changed to toads croaking, insects making noise and distant deer barking. It was the most romantic thing to do for your date and the world did it for me. 

Sometimes the date can awe you so much that you run out of breath and just get stunned. We were to spend the night gazing at full moon and stars at the salt plains of Rann of Kutch. But just before I was to go on that, the world took me to a different exploration too. That I had not heard of nor had planned. He blindfolded me and we walked up a few stairs to a vantage point. And when the blindfold was removed, my jaw dropped. I was lost in the vastness of the world. I was standing at Kalo Dungar, the highest point in Kutch, Gujarat. This place made me feel like a tiny speck. To my left-hand side, the land meets the White Rann. To my right-hand side, the land goes endlessly until the coast. You cannot distinguish between land and sky. The picture does no justice and even a panorama pic will not be able to capture that.. The feeling like you are standing at the edge of the world is just amazing. What an enriching experience it was. It was our titanic moment.

My dates are usually short though. The only one that went on for more than a month is my trip to Thailand. Yeah yeah, wipe off that smile from your face. That date was not about making out and happy endings. This date was like being high all the time. I was surprised by the food. We spent many days lazing by the beach, climbing the hills, bathing in waterfalls and streams, stuffing ourselves with food, drinking pina coladas, watching a thousand bats fly out of a cave, exploring monuments. It was the best date I could have asked for. 

If there is one thing I have learnt about going on blind dates with the world, it is to be openminded. So I don’t restrict myself to Desi dates. I travel miles to go on blind dates too. A date to Europe taught me how to just chill. I mean every street is filled with romance. Just turn around the corner and there is table laid out for you serving delicious coffee and cinnamon buns, with colorful flowers looking down at you from window sills, a live concert ready to burst out any moment for you. We walked around many cobbled streets hand in hand. Took a cruise down the river, while the lights of the city glittered and we sipped on champagne. The kiss of strawberries and juicy raspberries. The warmth of the beer and dancing to traditional folk music by the countryside. Oh my! This was a date I did not want to come to an end. But we had to part. Am greedy that way 🙂

They said now you have crossed 30 at least now you need to settle down. What do they know about the thrill of going on a blind date? What do they know about driving into the unknown? What do they know about tasting the finest wine at another part of the world? What do they know about travel to explore? At the end of the day if am going to have such a big smile, shouldn’t I have to go on more such blind dates? 😉 Where are you taking me next, my dear world 🙂

This blog post is written as an entry to the contest run by IndiBlogger in association with Lufthansa to get some travel inspiration up your souls. #SayYesToTheWorld and head on to travel the world. Time to ditch the bucket list and just go with #TheBlindList.