Re: I tell people at work I have a girlfriend. But I don’t!
I find most gorai Brits to be clueless about other people’s cultures. While dating is a way of life in their’s they just cannot understand why its frowned upon in ours. When you try explaining from the religious angle it gets all philosophical and complicated for them. Some of them might even feel intimitaded or feel we’re playing the holier than thou card by saying its wrong to mess about and we like to keep ourselves ‘clean’.
There are one or two desi girls at work that have had arranged marriages and thus far gorai have shown a somewhat puzzled face and its so hard to explain 
One of my gora co-workers once had the hots for a muslim girl and could NOT understand why he had no chance in hell in dating her (real reason being him being an ugly fart). I had a tough time trying to explain a muslim girl can only be with a muslim guy and visa versa. They do respect our opinion and way of life but find it very hard to come to terms with.