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Once upon a time,online dating occupied the lowest rung of the dating hierarchy. It was what The Guardian called “the bastard lovechild of Miss Lonely hearts and the World Wide Web.” Today,things have changed. Nearly 15 million people are shopping for love online. Chandigarh is bursting at the seams with dating sites like handigarhcity.com,datingindiaonline.com and mingle2.com that allows you to fish for love depending on your preferences. So you can choose between Horny fishing,Christian fishing (if you’re looking for a devout fisher?),college fishing and girl-girl fishing. To reduce the risk factor,a start-up company called Bassisnote is now working on the technology that will allow you to smell your date online. After all,if your to-be date passes the smell test,then half the battle is won.

But there are good chances that online dating can fall flat on its face. According to Marcus Frind,the CEO of Plentyoffish,a free dating website,only one-third of its users get hooked up,one-third don’t and one-third give up.

“I tried online dating once,” says software engineer Smita Kapoor,28. “I met him on pricelesspartner.com. We agreed to meet at a Barista. He sauntered in an hour late in a faded corduroy jacket and a toupee that was sitting skewed on his bald head. Worse,every word I spoke,he would break out in high-pitched laughter. It was,honestly,the longest evening of my life.”

You also need to be wary of cyber psychos like Clive Worth who’s published two books called A Serial Shagger’s Guide To Internet Dating and Internet Dating King’s Diaries. With explicit descriptions and lascivious commentary,reading the books are like watching a porn film. And his killer moves? After he hooks up with women online,he takes them out for coffee,a walk and then to his apartment where he shows them his bedspread with a fabric tiger. Yep,you guessed it. Meet Clive,the sexual predator.

But the scene might not be so bleak if you’re willing to sift the chaff from the grain. “I met Nihal online. We started chatting because we were both hard-core Aerosmith fans. We’ve been seeing each other for the past three years,” says Anjali Mohan,23,a student.

The chances may be slim,but online dating can work as long as you don’t take it too seriously. With virtual dating,the possibilities are endless. The world can be your playing field. You just need to be prepared to walk in blind-folded.