Knight in shining armour? Or loser in aluminum foil?

“Men are a luxury. Not a necessity” - Cher

A mantra most women seem to religiously live by. But before you jump to any conclusions, hear us out. We are either in high school, college or employed and time is a luxury we can’t afford.  Add to the equation a boyfriend, and life becomes one helluva roller coaster ride – from keeping up to date with assignments and/or work to being a ‘good’ girlfriend. The latter being way more demanding than everything else. And so, if you’re going to be added to the equation, you better be worth it. Dating ain't no rocket science, so get it right. Let me give you a leg up.

First things first: The initial 5 seconds are the most crucial and can make or break your chances. Let’s look at appearance first. It’s not all about the looks for us girls. True, it won’t hurt if you look like Brad Pitt, but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t. To put it simply – be aptly groomed, with a generous splatter of confidence. Speaking of, you may be "hot", but that doesn’t mean you have to act like you know how hot you are by constantly walking around shirtless, flexing your muscles or worse, being arrogant! Confidence is hot – cockiness is not.

You’ve heard this a million times before and you’re hearing it again – nail the basics! Keep things simple. This does NOT in any way mean that you are allowed to slack in personal hygiene and your clothes. We know you think BO is a MAJOR turn off, and so do we! And for the love of God, be original instead of trying to ape someone else's style. We are not interested in dating superficial clones without a speck of originality in their bones.

We understand that the presence of all that testosterone may result in you acting all Alpha male in our presence, but the last thing we want is you approaching us in “Alpha Male Mode”. We are not your “buddy” so don’t approach us like you would your friend. So if you have previously been turned down, it was probably because of how you approached her. She was rejecting the approach... not you.

Any “pick-up-artist” knows and will tell you that in order to impress a girl, you need to up your game. Think you’re the first person to hit on her today? If you did, you got another think coming. By the time you hit her with your run-of-the-mill, boring or obvious pick-up-line, your object of affection has probably already been subjected to a plethora of pick-up attempts, come ons, sexual innuendo or outright ogling. So unless you bring something new to the table, you’re going to be considered just another brick in the wall.

Get to know us! It might seem like the most obvious thing in the world, but you’d be surprised to know how many guys skip this step and cut straight to the chase! Getting to know us shows that you are actually interested and are making an effort, and that’s always a plus in our eyes. Don’t overdo it or try too hard – you’ll only come across as desperate and overly anxious, and trust me, girls latch onto that very quickly and the only reaction you'll get is a rolling of the eyes.

In a nutshell, dating does require a certain level of mastery of a few simple, but obvious and straightforward rules. Once you’ve perfected that, you’re good to go! Are you going to be her knight in shining armor? Or are you the loser in aluminum foil?

By Rihaab Mowlana