It’s that time of the year again when social media and the air is full of soppy hearticons (heart+emoticon!). Sigh! But fret not! For those who are single, and ready to mingle, or maybe not, ahead of the Valentine’s Day, the hashtag #WhyImSingle is trending, with thousands of people taking to Twitter to post the many reasons for being single — and happily so! The apt hashtag started spreading like wildfire soon after American comedian-actor Jimmy Fallon asked people to send in “funny or embarrassing reasons” stating why they were single and accompanied by the hashtag “#WhyImSingle.”
Obviously, the trend soon made its way to India and has already spread far and wide in the lovey-dovey nation. So we too decided to ask some singles in the city about their choice to not mingle this Valentine’s Day. First up is emcee Zeishah Amlani, who feels that she is single because she is too strong and independent and hasn’t yet found someone who will accept her wholeheartedly. "#WhyI’msingle… Umm… because I can’t date myself! Jokes apart, I’m single because financially stable women who are ambitious are yet to be considered a ‘great catch’. I’ve often been told (rather judged) for being too strong, too independent, too loud, too open and too entertaining. Being overtly judgmental is a sad part of many relationships today. Women tend to get the shorter end of the stick and I’m not willing to settle for mediocre. I honestly haven’t found anyone who is yet to accept me wholeheartedly. And I’m not willing to settle for less,” says Zeishah, who is also a radio presenter.
Even as we say more power to you Zeishah, actress Regina Cassandra offers another interesting reason. “I realised that everything is a phase and I am not going to rush into anything. Maybe, I need to understand myself more before I try to be with someone,” feels Regina. Young actress Raashi Khanna adds, “While it is a fact that I haven’t found anyone that I connect with, I love how being single gives me a lot of time with family. When you are in a relationship, you have to divide that time and allocate it to the partner. I don’t have that worry now!”
On the other hand, for RJ Harshit, “Love and dating nowadays are really fast-paced!” He says, “You get to know each other, start dating and break-up all in the blink of an eye in the age of social media. I guess I’m not up to the pace, and that’s why I’m single. The best part about being single is the fact that you have the freedom to do whatever you want. With commitment comes responsibility, and I guess guys enjoy pulling each others’ legs about that, just as they tag their single friends in memes if they don’t have girlfriends.”
Says Anjana Vijayadas, Internal communications and branding professional, “Happy and single. Simply because never found the right guy, or rather I must’ve found all the horribly wrong ones ?? It’s a tad depressing seeing the genuinely happy ones, but when you see the unhappy ones and when they throw it at you saying how lucky you are.. That's when I feel I'm in a better place. Besides, I have friends worth dying for and a wonderful family at the moment.. And that gives me utmost happiness. I don’t find it mandatory to have a man in my life who people think is the key to every woman's happiness. People try and scare me with age, biological clock and dying alone and all.. But oh what the hell.. Age is just a number, you can always adopt and everyone is anyway going to die alone.”
Twitter speaks on #WhyImSingle:
Andrew Martinez @AJamesMartini: “I dont like to share my food. #WhyImSingle (sic)”
Upulie Divisekera@upulie: “#WhyImSingle Well..have you met men? (sic)”
Morgan Morrison @cookimonstress: “#WhyImSingle Apparently, I have to go outside and let people see me. (sic)”
Cheriza I. @cheriza_: “#WhyImSingle I crush on too many celebrities or fictional characters, meaning I have unreasonably high expectations (sic)”
Jen @simplycandidjen: “Because I complete me. #WhyImSingle (sic)”
