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NET YOUR MATCH
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With the withering away of the family grapevine and the near extinction of the village network, the matrimonial website is an idea the time of which has come.
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Browsing for a life-partner. --Photo: K.R. Deepak
Ravi, a bank executive, and Radhika, a lawyer, fell in love with each other, and within the next six months of their being "caught in the net", tied the nuptial knot.
Theirs was not a love-at-first-sight nor was it a relationship that started with initial conflicts and later blossomed into love. They met in the virtual world, with the aim at looking for their soul mates.
With the withering away of the family grapevine and the near extinction of the village network, the matrimonial website is an idea the time of which has come.
Marriages in India remain an elaborate affair with the matching of horoscopes, auspicious dates being set for the big day and many such rituals. At a time when changing lifestyles have left us with very little time, the portals are coming to the rescue with a variety of features that are available just at the click of the mouse. They have come to fill the gap due to the not-easily-accessible conventional matchmakers. One such on-line portal that hopes to eliminate such problems is BharatMatrimony.com
It's no longer the parents who take the trouble of looking for an alliance for their sons and daughters. "The youngsters themselves register in the website and look for their suitable matches on-line," says K. Raagini, territory manager, BharatMatrimony.com
With a consortium of 14 regional portals, it boasts of a number of successful marriage stories since its inception in 1997. The portal uses a language-based matrimonial search system for its regional websites in Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Parsi, Punjabi, Sindhi, Marwari, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Oriya.
The easy payment facility is claimed to be the highlight of its operations. Customers can call an executive at the office to avail themselves of its services at doorstep or approach the office with regard to any queries and payment.
Time was when the young watched with peripheral interest the matching of horoscopes, the meeting of families and then of the two important players. But now the old order is yielding place to the new.
Looks, colour, dowry, caste and the stars - the known obstacles that parents face while looking out for an alliance - have almost become extinct.
Call it the advent of high-tech marriages or simply a swifter way to get into wedlock. On-line marriages have become increasingly popular with Generation X.
Registration on the portal entitles the user to a range of services offered - paid and unpaid. The free services include photos and video clippings, adding horoscopes with profiles. Some of the paid services facilitate horoscope matching that costs about Rs.200 per pair, instant messenger facility where you can chat with the prospective partners and contact them as well.
Verification process
But the danger of fraud or the question of invasion of privacy needs to be considered.
"We have a unique verification process that gives a detailed report of the prospective bride/bridegroom within seven days after the verification request has been made," says Raagini. The report will contain details of blood group, occupation, income, education and family background. And the charges are Rs.250 per profile.
Wedding directories
A diverse array of on-line services in the marriage space to complement its core function include on-line webcasting of weddings, booking of marriage halls, counselling and a wedding mall for all wedding-related purposes. This special feature called wedding directories is quite useful for the NRIs.
"We receive registrations of about 90 members a month," says Raagini. In this metro, there are about 3,000 paid members in Vizag city alone and above 10,000 profiles of non-paid members.
What draws the youth to these services?
"Time constraint is a botheration. As of now, I don't have a social life because of my hectic schedule and a girl my parents choose might find it difficult to adjust to my lifestyle," says Vikram, who found his match on the website a few months ago.
So, if you are looking for a life partner and still haven't been successful, simply log-in at the nearest Internet centre to find your would-be. With both boys and girls willing to explore various options to tie the knot, this might be the right place!
NIVEDITA GANGULY
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
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