Valentine’s Day is no big deal in India, says dating app OkCupid. Indians are largely indifferent to greeting card-stacked boutiques and decked-up restaurants on Valentine’s Day.
While a sizeable number of men and women in the country would like their partners to do something special on the occasion, they are outnumbered by the non-romantics, according to a survey of about 200,000 people on Valentine’s Day by OkCupid.
OkCupid relies on a matchmaking algorithm to pair users based on their answers to various questions. “The responses received on the app clearly break away from the stereotype and tell us that women today are far more pragmatic and definitely not over-the-top about Valentine’s Day,” OkCupid’s statement said.
Nevertheless, Feb. 14 remains one of the busiest days on dating apps.
In 2018, Valentine’s Day was the second-most popular day on Tinder in India, based on the number of times users “swiped”—expressed interest, or the lack of it, in other users. It was beaten only by Sept. 06, the day India’s supreme court scrapped a colonial-era law criminalising homosexuality.
In any case, the pressure to treat the day as a special occasion to display affection can be high. OkCupid’s data show that, among men, 65% were more likely to plan their first date on Valentine’s Day, compared with 50% of women.
Men are also greater believers in giving love a second chance.
OkCupid also found that both men and women prefer a camping trip over a fancy hotel as an ideal weekend getaway around Feb. 14. In fact, according to its survey results, most users prefer a tent in the woods over even Paris.