When 24-year-old Manisha Iyer met the boy she was texting since 2019 for the first time last weekend, she was shocked. “He came across as calm and understanding [on chat] and I had a different image of him. But when I met him, he was not the person I had in mind,” says the aspiring lawyer. Iyer is not the only one who has been in what Gen-Z calls “textationship”, which  Urban Dictionary defines as, “a friendly, romantic, sexual or intimate relationship, either brief or long-term, between two people whereby text messaging is utilised as the primary form of communication throughout.” 

Iyer came across his profile on the dating app, Hinge, where after small talk, she was about to unmatch because his views came across a tad too strong. It was only when he shared a song by rock band Oasis, that she reconsidered her decision. After a year of chatting, sharing information about each other’s families and other problems as they spoke till the crack of dawn, Iyer recalls that the boy suggested they “give it a try”. “I said that I couldn’t be with someone I only know through text,” says Iyer. However, soon things fizzled out. Why did she meet him then? “Out of curiosity,” says Iyer. “There was comfort.”