Matrimonial websites are hardly the first option as the love hunting zone for the young and restless of urban India. However, the trend seems to be changing, with matrimonial websites jazzing up their act and claiming to find equal partners. Many youngsters are not hesitating to look online for love, soulmates and marriage.
Rohit Mangnani, the brand manager for Jeevansaathi.com claims the same statistics for early marriage seeking, parental pressure bound 24 year olds and the more free-wheeling, same wavelength seeking 28 year olds. “The definition of arranged marriage in India is rapidly changing with even parents not expecting children to give them decisions in the first meeting itself. This leads to a change in expectations from matrimonial websites as well, with them slowly entering the dating area,” he tells us.
With increasing work hours and reducing socialising spans, it becomes difficult for most young professionals to find love, unless initiated at the workplace itself. Mitushi Verma, who found her life partner on shaadi.com, states that she registered on the site due to parental pressure and the frustrating routine of going through columns in newspapers. “After many Sundays of seeing my ad in the paper, I realised that I wasn’t cut out for the regular showing-the-girl charade. So, I simply registered thinking that at least this would regulate the parental influence and allow me greater freedom to choose my mate,” she says, adding that she met her husband a couple of times before finally giving the final yes.
The sites themselves are moving out of the regular arena in a bid to expand their consumer base and donning a more ‘modern’ garb. Eshita Jayaswal, a marketing executive, feels that these sites are no more the place for 40-something divorcees. “There are coffee-shops brimming with such couples who are obviously on a date with the intention to marry. Sometimes, even parents accompany them and ask them to go out separately,” she tells us adding that a friend recently found his match through a website, despite having done his fair share of dating. Renu Saxena, an advertising professional agrees. “There are a lot of people, who see them as a portal for dating and marriage is hardly their priority. It is, after all, a place to find like-minded people,” she says.