Musical chairs: Participants get just five minutes to assess each other?s dateability

When 26-year-old Londoner Bharat Vasandani walked into Zenzi at Bandra, one of Mumbai?s hippest nightspots, it wasn?t to find his soulmate. But, six months after moving into Mumbai, the young businessman was certainly looking forward to meeting and making new friends. In the next two hours, he not only chatted up 10 young women, but also ended up finding at least three interesting ones he would like to meet again. Going by the success of the first event of its kind in Mumbai, speed dating is certain to be popular.

Vasandani, who is into the construction business, was among the 10 young, single men invited to participate in a speed dating event organised by 5minutesdates.com, and Time Out Mumbai on Valentine?s Day.

?I had heard about speed dating in London, where it is very popular, but never participated. When I learnt that it is being organised here, I decided to go. It turned out to be great fun. I met a lot of interesting like-minded people,? says Vasandani.

The organisers advertised it as a Valentine?s event and selected 10 men and 10 women from a list of those who evinced interest in participating. Zenzi, the most talked-about Bandra nightclub, was chosen as a venue. Ten women were asked to sit at small round tables, and the 10 men were made to rotate, with the couples getting just five minutes to chat with each other.

?Each of the participants then had to rank each person on the scorecard and choose someone they would like to see again. The results were e-mailed and if there was a perceived match, the couple was provided with each other?s names and contest info,? says Megha Sekhsaria, who works with Time Out?s marketing section.

According to Sekhsaria, the results showed that 80 per cent of the participants found matching mates they would like to date. ?I think this works well for young professionals who would like to meet people in a comfortable and safe environment. We also found that women are more open and interested in speed dating than men are,? she says.

The origins of speed dating as a social phenomenon can be traced to Los Angeles where the Jewish community started it seven years ago to build a platform for Jews to meet other Jews in the city. It became popular, and spread to the rest of the world.

It was in Spain that Amit Keswani attended such a meeting and thought this could be a stunning business proposition in India. The boutique hotel-owner from Bangalore then set up 5minutesdates.com with other investors, and launched it on a small, controlled scale on Valentine?s Day in Mumbai.

?It is an idea whose time has come. Young professionals are moving to new cities for work reasons. There are more foreigners and MNCs in these cities than ever before. They are too busy to meet new people or make interesting friends,? says Keswani, who admits being worried about taking speed dating to a country where anti-Valentine?s Day protests are common.

?I wasn?t sure how people would react to this novel concept. Contrary to my apprehension, we found that women were more game for such an event,? says Keswani, who now plans to take speed dating to Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Calcutta this year.

Women like 25-year-old garment designer Haani Khorakhiwala, don?t believe that speed dating is purely about finding a romantic partner. ?I didn?t go with any expectations of finding a mate. It was really casual and friendly. What really worked was meeting like-minded people you could make friends with,? says Khorakhiwala, who designs Western wear.

Thirty-two-year-old ima- ge consultant Radha Sachdev was familiar with the concept of speed dating during her stay abroad, and found two men interesting enough to think about a second date. ?On the flip side, I felt that I was not completely natural and a bit guarded. I wasn?t as spontaneous as the way I would be had I had met someone interesting on my own. This was a bit like a fun job interview,? says Sachdev, who agrees that speed dating as a trend is here to stay.

?When I was younger, I was more open to dating. But, at 32, I was closed and would meet only those people I felt comfortable with. The outing has made me more open to meeting new people,? she says.

But, Vasandani has no qualms about speed dating. He received an e-mail from the organisers informing him that out of the 10 women, six were interested in dating him.

?I found two or three of them interesting. Two of them were good-looking and that always helps. Basically, you are meeting people who also want to meet new people,? he says. He is sure to head to a watering hole this weekend to meet his speed dates over chilled beer and warm conversations.

(Readers can log on to: www.5minutesdates.com for more information)