Chennai: Everyone loves a love story. But when it comes to matters of the heart, every generation comes with its own set of rules of engagement. From courtship to choosing to walk up to the altar – there are a lot of said and unsaid ‘to dos and ‘don’ts’ that prevail.
These are interesting not just from a sociological point of view, but even for couples in this very waltz of love. As with every field of life and work, the pandemic and its aftermath didn’t spare the diverse world of romance. Interestingly, while remaining shut indoors, the last year and a half gave us a chance to re-evaluate our take on love and intimacy. Something new was learnt, something old was unlearnt – including the very definition of ‘dates’ and ‘meet-cutes’.
In its first ‘Love Survey 2021’, ITC Engage in collaboration with IPSOS, commissioned a study to explore the changing language of love in this new normal.
The study discovers attitudes and behaviour of young India towards romance in the new normal. According to the survey, 98 per cent of respondents believed that virtual romance is incomparable to real life one. 36 per cent respondents in non-metro cities agreed that physical distancing is not a hindrance to romance these days as there are various means available to continue the relationship and keep the spark alive. In contrast to the opinion in the non-metros, only 24 per cent respondents from metro cities felt the same.
Lockdown had put new relationships under stress – with almost 80 per cent finding it difficult to initiate/ develop a relationship. 75 per cent of respondents feel starting and developing relationships has become more difficult due to lockdowns. On the other hand, it also helped people understand meaningful aspects of their relationships.