We have been conditioned for millennia to romanticise the idea of having one great love in our lives. While many people believe that there is only one ‘The One’ for us, Bumble, the women-first dating app, reveals that there are at least 41 potential ‘The Ones’ for daters in India on average.

With this new study, created in collaboration with mathematician Neelakantha Bhanu, Bumble discovered that the average Indian dater can expect to meet multiple ‘The Ones’ throughout their lifetime. According to a recent internal study, the pandemic has empowered 66 percent of people in India to determine their own dating timelines, as single people prefer to date at their own pace and time. The App hopes that by launching this campaign, it will be able to debunk outdated dating norms and encourage its community to be open to new opportunities and date as their authentic selves in 2022.

Based on a waterfall model in mathematics, mathematician Neelakantha Bhanu calculated how many ‘The Ones’ the average dater in India is likely to have, taking into account three key parameters such as the population of the city one lives in, preferred age group, and other common preferences, interests, or hobbies that you’re looking for in a partner.

“We have been told our entire lives that there is only that ‘one person’ for us,” renowned mathematician Neelakantha Bhanu said, explaining his equation. I’ve always believed that there are numerous ‘Ones’ out there for all of us. The idea of only one perfect match among billions of people on the planet is mathematically implausible. I hope that this study encourages daters to be more optimistic about their dating experiences. Every person is unique, so there is no hard and fast rule, but being authentic and honest should mathematically increase the daters’ chances of finding a match – though math does not account for chemistry and attraction when meeting in person!”

Samarpita Samaddar, India Communications Director for Bumble, elaborated on this one-of-a-kind collaboration, saying, “The search for just one perfect person can sometimes feel overwhelming.” Believing you only have one shot at finding “The One” can do more harm than good, leaving daters feeling they can’t be their authentic, honest selves. So, we asked well-known mathematician Neelakantha Bhanu to determine how many potential ‘The Ones’ are truly out there in order to give daters hope and get them excited as they embrace dating in 2022 and encourage our community to date safely as their authentic selves.”