The unbroken stereotype of a standard “geek” was always bad. From the sweaty appearance, bad hair to intellectual banter and sulky omnipresence, everything made geeks or their close cousins “nerds” lose out on most things.
But now, things that used to be totally geeky are becoming mainstream. Whether it is about clinching a date or wearing a nerdy look, geek is hip. Well, Uday Chopra’s geeky avatar in his recent flop Pyaar Impossible was not really appreciated by many, Sarthak Marwaha, a Bhagat Singh College student, doesn’t see any reason why a geek can’t be considered cool.
“Not all of them dress in geeky clothes and wear glasses. It all depends on how you choose to act and appear. I consider myself a geek and I don’t act or dress any different than anyone else, with the exception of talking about technology,” he says.
Movies, comic books, fashion, video games affirm the increased popularity of geek culture. While some girls believe if a guy can have an intelligent conversation, and knows what he’s talking about, that’s such a turn-on, others feel secure with geeks.
Author Marchelang Pasi says, “They don’t lose calm easily and won’t react on impulse. I think an average woman won’t find a geek to be interesting enough for a date, but for the challenging and adventurous types, it is a big yes.”
Agrees Medha Katiyaar when she says that geeks are very imaginative and they will never disappoint you with their creativity. “I also thought that geeks are big turn-offs. But when I found an interesting geek for myself, I realised that if you are in a relationship, you don’t want things to be boring. And that is where geeks win you over with their creativity and imagination. They usually think of something weird just to make things happy,” she adds. On the other hand, marketing executive Pawan Sharma says, “I can’t date a girl just for one aspect of her personality. She has to be complete as a person and humour is very important which almost all geeks lack.”