All my life, I’ve had to fight off stereotypes because I’m a Delhi girl – that too from South Delhi. I did not know it could get worse until I started dating a guy who wasn’t from Delhi.
My now boyfriend had come to Delhi to do his Post Graduation from Delhi University three years ago. We met at a common friend’s party and started dating soon afterward. After a few months, I got to meet his friends. They were really nice people but they had the weirdest notions of what a Delhi girl is like as a girlfriend. Mentioned below are some of the things I got to hear as a ‘Dilliwali Girlfriend’ and now here I am, trying to bust these myths, once and for all, about how we Delhi girls are as somebody’s girlfriend!
Let’s go over this point by point, my friends!
Myth 1: Delhi Girlfriends Are Always Spending Their Boyfriend’s Money.
One day, my boyfriend and I were watching ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama’ together at his place and he turned around and remarked that I was nothing like any of those three girls. Obviously, I know I’m not! In fact, none of us are like that. We don’t like to do ‘papa ke cash pe aish’ or spend all our boyfriend’s money on our needs (or wants, rather). We earn our own money and with that, we also earn the right to spend it as we want. So if you see any of us with an expensive handbag, don’t assume that someone must have bought it for us.
Myth 2: We Are Clingy, Controlling And Possessive.
Let’s all be a little honest here. Every girlfriend in the world likes to have her boyfriend pay attention to her. We all like to know what he’s doing or where he is. So do boyfriends. It’s just a relationship thing and has nothing at all to do with Delhi girlfriends or just girlfriends for that matter! My boyfriend’s friends are still surprised whenever they hang out with me and usually end up saying ‘Tu to badi cool hai, dilli se hi hai na.’ Like Delhi girls are meant to be high maintenance.
Myth 3: Our Boyfriends Are More Our Bodyguards Than Anything Else.
It’s amazing how everyone assumes that even after being born and brought up in Delhi, we wouldn’t be street smart and know how to defend ourselves. We have a bunch of expletives that we don’t mind using whenever some roadside Romeo decides to cross the line. Trust me, most of us can give our boyfriends a run for their money when it comes to these swear words. More often than not, my boyfriend tries to deny the fact that he is with me whenever and I start hurling abuses at somebody who tries something shady with me.
Myth 4: It’s Always About Your Boyfriend Vs. Mine.
This one I’ve heard the maximum number of times. No guys, we don’t compare our boyfriends based on their cars, their incomes or the amount of money they spend on us. In our heads, our boyfriends are the best but that is predominantly because of ‘love is blind’ and all! While there is an ongoing argument between me and my best friend about whose boyfriend is more romantic it’s never about how much money our respective boyfriends spend on dates or gifts.
Myth 5: We Love To Party And Drink And Our Poor Boyfriends Just End Up Cleaning The Mess.
There’s no denying the first part of that statement. Most of us DO love to party and drink but we also know how to hold our alcohol. While we may get drunk once in a while…it happens rarely and on those particular days only, our boyfriends do take care of us. But isn’t that what happens with EVERY relationship ever? And funnily enough, every time we’ve gone partying, I’ve had to handle him instead of the other way round.
While these are only a few of the statements I’ve heard, they’re the ones I’ve heard most often. It’s been two years now since I started dating him and almost every time I meet someone from his family or friend circle for the first time, their immediate reaction is to think of me as some snooty, high-handed girl. All it takes is one meeting to change their perception but it does bother me at times that I have to kind of work a little harder to make a good first impression and this is all because of where I was born and raised.
I have never understood the need to stereotype a person based on where they are from. We’re all different, we’re all unique and we all have character traits that make us special. I genuinely hope this won’t be an issue in the future. We, Delhi people, are actually pretty cool. Just get to know us before you judge us. Also, Bunny (from Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani), if you’re going to be dumping your ‘Dilliwali Girlfriend’ for some random girl you just met at a shaadi and will be jumping a few traffic signals at the same time, maybe you don’t really deserve us!
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