The man who has been a part of her life for close to half a century is husband Chotu.

Rewinding to those good ol' days, she reminisces, "Back then, we had to be at home by 10 pm. Since the girls did not have a car, the guys had to come and fetch us and drop us back. We had a lot of clean fun sans the drinking and the drugs you see today."

Raju Daswani, proprietor Charagh Din and a regular on the Mumbai social circuit with wife Esther reveals, "It was 1972. With the war on and sirens blowing constantly, everything closed at 10.30 pm. In those days, we had no money and no cars. We used to sit on the benches at Cuffe Parade."

Raju Daswani

Together for 33 years, Raju and Esther quite literally broke all social norms with their relationship. "Our parents were tough and from the beginning they did not approve of our relationship. We would meet at a friend's place or the Astoria Hotel where they had jam sessions from 10 am to 12 noon," he adds.

Socialite, entrepreneur and founder of the Women's Cancer Initiative, Devieka Bhojwani, married to Suresh, has a different tale to tell. "My parents had a love marriage themselves; they gave me the freedom to choose my own man."

Destiny played a role too. "Unknown to both of us, I used to borrow Suresh's guitar for my performances. When I was in the cast of 'Jesus Christ Superstar' a common friend pointed me out to Suresh. He came backstage to meet me; we had so much in common. The rest is history," she says.

Old-world romance had its own charm. Clubs and coffee bars as we today know them did not exist. The ones that did were simply to expensive. "I remember going for movies to Eros cinema and having Mangola. The Mocha Bar was probably the only coffee place back then," informs Sabira.

Movies at Sterling and Excelsior cinema, followed by the chicken roll at café Excelsia was Devieka's idea of a great date. She shares, "Suresh used to sing at the Taj's Blow Up (today's Insomnia) but we went there only once."

Gallery owner Pravina Mecklai puts forth her perspective when she says, "We mostly started dating when we were in college and met while studying in college. The idea was to be with each other till the time you had to go home. And you dated only if you felt strongly about the person."

It is her contention that it all starts much sooner now with kids dating when they are in their teens. "Also, the girls today are much more aggressive. They're not shy and they know how to get their guy," she adds.

Pravina laments the fact that dating today is no longer the "beautiful" thing of the past; it is more instant, almost easy.