The cuffing season is upon us—and no, it doesn’t mean coughing season. Delhi, take a seat. It’s the season of Christmas movie marathons, warm Sundar Nursery dates, and feeling attacked by too many dulhan entry videos on Instagram. Blame the weather, FOMO, or longing, the urge for some premarital handholding is at its peak between the months of October and February. With the blankets out of cupboards, seasonal loneliness also makes a comeback. Naturally, the dating app crowd is frantically swiping right before the year ends—chasing winter romance, working on ‘Project Valentine’s Day’.
Don’t trash your ex for texting you in this weak earth rotational period because he might also be dealing with the cuffing season blues like most singles. Even the ones on self-love journeys lighten up a bit and scroll through Google Drive memories of old lovers. Situationships get a little more intense, tentacles of the no-strings kind of attachment tighten their grip. The air is so charged with romcom energy that it feels downright unfair to stay uncuffed, or unpaired. Considering how this is also the season for break-ups—the heartbroken Gen Z echo chambers are out to cancel the lovey-dovey season in Reddit sob threads in scathing sub-tweets. And men who find no other way to grab attention post about NNN (Nothing Naughty November or something tacky like that).
As romantically deprived as we are as a generation, would it really hurt to toss our overanalysed dating woes into the fire and say yes to whoever’s planning a bonfire date? Boomers never get tired of preaching: Suck it up, and be practical.
That’s what a 23-year-old content creator is doing by holding off the break up with her current situationship till the smog clears next year. So what if she has feelings for him and he wants to date other people too? His I-hate-monogamous-relationships rants have started to sound a little unhealthy these days, but that’s no bother, she can be healthy in 2025. Letting him go in this hot chocolate and deep-fried Ram Laddu season would be straight-up madness. Her utilitarian side is reeling in, who knows how long it will take to find another man for the garden walks next month? Meanwhile, a woman in Jaipur is finally picking up her ex’s calls now that the temperature’s dropped and good matches on Bumble are getting cuffed left and right. She’s thankful she didn’t block him two months ago. Talk about #womeninmale-dominatedfields.
Also read: Gen Z is changing the flirting game. Old-school flattery is now toxic
Cuffing season schedule
The way old flames start reappearing in DMs makes me think of migratory birds returning for the season—except these ones bring awkward DMs. Turns out everyone’s got the memo about locking a temporary partner for the cuffing season. Some content creators have been posting month-by-month schedules of the cuffing season on social media. Apparently, 1 December to 15 January is about picking matches, 16 January to 13 February is playoffs—and Valentine’s Day is the Championship Game. This might seem hilarious to the dull and evolved, but it’s no joking matter to the defeated 20-somethings who are really just scared to spend another winter alone.
In my latest—probably third this year—bout on Hinge, I tried to pay attention to each one of my matches. One thing led to another, and here I was playing a question-answer round of Kaun Banega Cuffed with a dude. For no personal reasons, he was eliminated in the first round itself. Then a soul-patch-sporting guy asked me out on a midnight walk. Between petting furry dogs on the road and slowly sipping a flat white at a Cafe Coffee Day with him, I found my sardi spark. This isn’t me being dramatic—I literally saw static electricity on his sweater.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)
Priya definitely need mental peace