Love, set, match in the internet age

Move over, marriage portals; more aspiring brides and grooms are choosing virtual swaymvars instead

Devanshi Joshi. Vadodara/DNA
Thursday, December 18, 2008

In some of the best known swayamvars in Indian legends, Sita had to wait for Ram to come along and break a massive bow, and Karna was disqualified on caste grounds, despite shooting the eye of a revolving bird while looking at its reflection in a pool of water.Juggling fast-paced lifestyles, todays aspirants face equally challenging tasks, if not as dramatic. Some online portals have recognised this market and offer virtual swayamvars, which is gaining popularity among the Gujarati communtity. The traditional marriage portal involves browsing through dozens, if not hundreds of profiles, contacting interesting-looking candidates, and waiting for days in the hope of a favourable response. The virtual swayamvar however, enables candidates (with similar preferences) from across the world to log on at a pre-decided time, and interact with a larger group of probables."More prospective Gujarati brides and grooms searching for marital partners online. So virtual swayamvar was conceptualised to help members of a particular caste or community connect with their prospective life partners beyond geographical boundaries. Members across the globe can log in and meet up with potential partners,” an official at a major matrimony services portal said.“A number of participants prefer this concept, since interaction is real-time, making it replies and decisions faster and more efficient.” Aarti Shah and Rishab Shah, who were recently engaged in Vadodara, met through such a swayamvar. Rishab, a city-based software engineer sais, “My parents constantly tried to get me to attend matrimonial meets, but I was not comfortable in such a setting, and found the concept of virtual swayamvar more interesting,” he says, adding, “I registered myself on a site, and since we were particular about caste and community, I participated in virtual swayamvars meant only for Jains. I interacted with many candidates and things clicked with Aarti.”Parents too, are moving toward this concept. Seema and Piyus Patel, who stay in Ahmedabad, have registered their daughter on such a site, hoping to find her a suitable husband. “Traditionally, even the online route is a long-drawn process of finding a candidate. In a virtual swayamvar, one can directly chat with the candidate. We think the virtual swayamvar would be a good place to find a match for our daughter,” they saidStill, in some cases, the search continues. Surat-based banker, Milind Makhija said: “As a busy professional, I dont have the time to go through profiles, intimate my interest, and wait for replies. That way, virtual swayamvars are much better. I have attended some virtual swayamvars and will attend some more, till I find a suitable partner.”