1. Go on a picnic:
This one may seem obvious, considering it was THE leisure activity done in public for groups of people for the last couple of centuries, but picnics are somehow not the first thing that people think of when they think of going out these days. They have gone out of fashion and yet they are some of the most romantic things a couple can do together. It’s the idea of recreating a meal, and your downtime that you would usually have at home, in a public space. The entire process of making picnic foods to packing them and travelling with them to the park or the outdoors, wherever you have decided to go, is all an elaborate ritual. This does seem like a lot of work and in the age where you can get food so easily around every corner, it might seem like a waste of time, but it is the ritualistic, time-consuming aspect of a picnic, that requires two people to work and create this small private space for themselves within a public space, that is incredibly romantic. Related reading: Creepy things girls often say to guys
2. Dance:
Go to the salsa social. Take classes in the so-called ‘Bollywood style’ dance classes. Learn Latin or ballroom dance. Do any of these together, or better yet, just go out dancing every week for a month. Sounds too much like a homework assignment? I agree, but it’s a fun homework assignment. Dancing is one of the most ancient activities that we as a species did freely on every occasion. Add a few thousand years of oppressive history to that and we now think breaking out into dance in real life at least is odd, if not weird. Be that weird couple. Hold each other close whenever music plays at a club or restaurant. If you’re at the beach in Goa and are surprisingly not drunk out of your minds, dance to music being played by the overcrowded club on the beach. You can stand near the makeshift walls and dance there, you don’t have to pay the crazy fee. But dance. It’s one of the rituals that people have forgotten about and need to return to as soon as possible. Related reading: 7 movies a couple should watch together!
3. PDA:
While we are trying to figure out things romantic things for a couple to do in public, and keeping in mind that we live in a country where public displays of affection are not only frowned upon but in cases is a crime, what am I doing, suggesting PDA as an option here? Well, I’m not asking you to do anything that would make other people uncomfortable, but the little touches that a couple gives to each other in a relationship are, I believe, important and need to be noted. Taking a walk while being almost burrowed into each other, kissing under a tree somewhere in a park, patting each other’s back when you are in proximity, just having physical contact, is vital in a relationship. This isn’t an activity per se, as most of these things will happen instinctively, but more of a reminder to do these things if you aren’t doing them. Suddenly being held by your partner at the small of your back, as you’re talking in a group may seem effortless, but it will succeed in warming the cockles of your heart, every time. Related reading: 10 ways to shower appreciation on your husband
4. Read to each other
Those of us on Facebook have seen the picture that went viral, on the page of Humans of New York, of the couple reading to each other in the park, lamenting the decline of people reading to each other in modern times. While you don’t necessarily need to lament the loss of a form of social communication, you should take a page out of their book and read to each other. The idea might sound romanticised, but think about it, it makes perfect sense. It’s actually the best kind of jugaad that people can do. You get to listen to your partner’s voice, stay in their presence, and listen to a new story or get new information. Apart from a task that accomplishes a few things together, it also gives you a distinct activity to do together in public, instead of staring into your phones while you wait for the waiter to bring over your food. You could try to read to each other in a restaurant, but the whole, not talking while you chew thing might go out the window. If you’re okay with that, then go right ahead. The active roles of reading and listening make you both involved in something together and not just two people who are hanging out, and that my friends, is romantic, always.
5. Go workout together
While this activity can be done in a gym too, I’m urging you to get out there in nature to do this. Go hike, or swim together, a few days a week, even every weekend would do. There are couples that go hiking every weekend, and as corny as it sounds, and it may have no data to prove it to be a true statement, I want to say, ‘a couple that hikes together stays together’.Corny paraphrased dialogues aside, working out together, and being in nature together has been proven to strengthen the bond between two people and can be a perfect change to the run of the mill restaurant dates.
6. Volunteer together
Giving back to the society is a wonderful feeling, and it can be double the fun if you do it with your partner. I’m not asking you to start an NGO together, but finding a cause that you both support and donating your time and resources to it might induce a sense of well being in your relationship. The sense of purpose that volunteering provides can be helpful to bring two people closer.
