Single-itis

Mayank Shekhar bemoans the plight of the single urban male in Mumbai today in an article that’s interestingly titled ‘Suffering single-it is!’

Everybody loves a single woman: The world donates her affection, attention, drinks, dinner, coffee, Orkut scraps….she gifts them hope. Nobody loves a single man, not even the single man himself, and least of all the bouncer outside the bar!

While his dig at the ‘donations’ my ilk get makes me fume, I guess by my own logic, I can afford to be generous. His species really does appear to be getting a rough deal. Tch, tch, poor things. And I don’t imagine views like the ones on this blog make it any easier for the critters. No, it is true, I ain’t being sarcastic for a change.

When I break up with one of my late20s/30ish boyfriends, amidst the agony and anger is the realization that heck, I have a lot more options than the guy does! We’re both young (well young enough), smart, fun, friendly, attractive and freshly single. But unlike the unlucky protagonists of SATC, I live in Mumbai not New York. And the ratio of single members of the opposite sex is skewed in my favour. 🙂

Besides I can afford to savour the delights of being that much-debated personality – a single Modern Woman. While a man can be a convenience, an amusement and even a sex object, he isn’t anymore a vital necessity to my existence or even my happiness. I can well have a social life, fun with a lot of men (if I so choose!) than misery with one (okay, fun with a single one). Heck, I can have as many girls’ nights outs as I want, even if I claim to be homosexual, I’ll still not lose out on male attention (isn’t it a fact that lesbianism is one of the greatest male fantasies?)

When I decide a boyfriend is starting to cramp my style, I can very well decide to ‘go underground’ for a while, can choose to ‘concentrate on my career’ and if all else fails, can beg off from the social circuit citing ‘family pressures’. Oh and I don’t even need to go out actively searching for the opposite sex. My family will do it for me, well-meaning friends will match-make and the men themselves will present themselves for inspection. Ha! The mountain will come to Mohemad so to speak so IdeaSmith can afford to be lazy.

Hmm, I’m smug, aren’t I? I ‘gift the world hope’ after all, so I can afford to be more than hopeful!!!!! If I had had a choice in the matter I would never have chosen to be born a woman. After all, who would willingly want to live as a second-class citizen all their lives….but you’ve heard that rant already here. If I had to be born a woman, there was never a better time or place to do so. Amen to that.