Weddings 'made' on the net

In the olden days, marriages were by default, arranged only. The family priest was the one who acted as a matchmaker, linking brides and grooms through his wide network of contacts. It was sacrilege to go for an arranged marriage if it had not come from a person known to the family. But as this joint family system breaks up, priests go out of business and nuclei families no longer believe in maintaining a wide network, getting the right groom for the bride and vice versa has become almost an impossible task. And that is where wedding match making web sites like Shaadi.com, BharatMatrimony,com websites came into the picture and do robust business.

And now there are so many such websites, all “me-too” kind of sites that there also now niches are being created. Like this latest one for only IIT and IIM graduates. You cannot get more specific than this! Here, though the main criterion is an IIM or an IIT degree, membership is not restricted to only these two; if not an IIT or an IIM, the ‘groom’ needs to be an alumni of Indian and international premier institutions” in fields like engineering, medicine and law. ‘Brides’ should have a degree from school with a an all-India reputation. For women, the entry bar is kept typically low as “men like women who also consider taking care of the home a task as good as a job.”

This site aims to find a match which is intellectually compatible and since its launch since five months ago, some 500 people have registered but only 70 were ‘eligible’ for the site membership. Now these sites surely beat the family priests and networks of garndmoms and dads.