I was born and raised in Mumbai and worked in a PR firm for 8 years in my 20's.

But a little less than 3 years ago, I had quit my PR job to travel the world, take learning challenges and do what I called my ‘executive MBA in the real world’.

It was during this time that I got introduced to Tinder, and through it, quite a few Brazilian women. If you haven't guessed it, that’s because Brazil was the country where I first started using the app.

No one there really spoke English and I was unable to go beyond “tudo bem?” and “uma cerveja por favor?” in Portuguese. Despite being surrounded by so many attractive women, there seemed to be no way to make friends (few Brazilians speak English). That's when someone suggested that Tinder might be a good way to meet people. What started off as an experiment in killing time went on to become a source for many friendships, plus the best language lesson!

Don’t trust me? Let me explain...

If you ever want to learn a new language, try speaking to someone you are trying to impress. This is exactly what happened with Tinder. A really pretty Afro-Brazilian girl named Claudiane matched with me. So, with the help of another translator app, I started chatting with her on Tinder, learning new words by the hour. Hilariously, by the end of the trip, I could speak Portuguese and Spanish. And Tinder deserves a lot of credit for that!

Not just that, Claudiane and I went on to become great friends. We actually travelled through Peru, Ecuador and Colombia together for a month. And can you believe that was her first international trip?!

There was another interesting episode with Tinder in Panama where I met this girl called Lina. She was from Guyana, but of Indian origin. Also, she had never met an Indian before (someone who was an actual Indian citizen). She matched with me just out of curiosity and wanted to reconnect with her roots and culture. It was a fascinating encounter where we were exchanging thoughts about Indian culture and traditions. Despite not being born in India, she was more Indian than many Indians I know. Many would laugh if I told them Tinder made me appreciate Indian culture, but that’s not far away from the truth.

Another instance was when a Colombian girl matched with me immediately and we were hanging out at a bar the same evening. For her, it was just a delight to meet an Indian in her part of the world, and for me to bump into a Colombian who had spent time in my country was just crazy. In fact, Tinder can sometimes be like couch-surfing, but really easy. The intuitive design allows people to decide faster, hence more people meet on Tinder than they ever would on another platform or even in the real world for that matter.

For all people who travel solo, just like me, Tinder is a travel hack of sorts. It opens up various possibilities, you may meet a local, learn a new language and maybe make some friends for life. Also, to the locals you are 'exotic', and that gives you a lot of leverage.

But here is the last bit before I sign off. I did not meet my fiance on Tinder, but my Brazilian Tinder match will be attending my wedding in all probability.

Your Tinder match attending your wedding. That should be one of the most interesting #SwipeStories, right?

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