Matrimonial Blues-Part 2

The Matrimonial hunt is also hit hard by the recession.I hear less of engagements,but more of marriages as I believe people dont want to lose their fiancees too, along with losing their jobs.

Its been almost a year my relatives have been after me to look for guys in the matrimonial sites.Though I am a beginner compared to my friends who are far ahead in this process, I have had some wonderful experiences and have made some notes which might help all those who would be in this process sooner or later.For the ease of it let me call the Prospective candidate as PC and the Applicant as AC :D

1.Unlike the primitive times where we had to make phone calls to our friends/relatives to know about someone,today the first thing the AC does his 'google' his/her name in orkut search.Well if you find a really impressive profile picture,Whew!Next comes intense postmoretm of the the profile which includes the interests,profession even 5 things you find in his/her bedroom :P.If you have really wacky'dull 'headlines' or 'about me' its gonna be a big turn off.Then comes the testimonials.Make sure you have really impressive testimonials and please do not lock your testimonials if you are a PC!On a lighter note,if you have the testimonials from ur ex-gfs/bfs,its high time you delete those mushy testimonials.

Most of the albums and scrapbook are locked these days.But trust me, people like me even go to the extent of reading the scrap books of PCs from the first page and have been turned off by the insight of their past relationships.I know quite a lot of people who have been disappointed to see the album locked and end up asking the 'mutual friends' to download and send them the pictures :)

Communities are another major criteria in the selection process.Getting to know the guy is through the communities he is a member of.First things first.You check on the 'mutual communities'.Yipee!!  We have 5 communities in common. Make sure you screen your communities well if you are in this process.Recently my friend rejected a guy just because he was part of a liquor community as it was not quite acceptable in their religion.

Well if you are a blogger,Bingo!It helps ur AC to get a good idea about you.Many of those doing ng MS/PhD have their own academic web pages which also helps the AC.

These days 'googling' in orkut has become so common that many of the elders in my family do that to learn more about the fiancees of their dear ones.If you are already engaged or announced your commitment to the family,You can expect to see a lot of of profile visitors.

Unfortunately Facebook doesnt allow unsolicited loitering in their profile,So many are disappointed to find PCs having no accounts in orkut,but only in Facebook.

2.Never start a conversation with a AC with a notion that he or she knows nothing about you.In this era of cyber matrimonial and dating,its very easy for anybody to find details of the past relationships.To be on the safer side,its always best to be truthful about your social life,else  you'll be sued for cheating with ur scrapbook or testimonials as evidence.

Recently my cousin came up with this proposal for me from a IITM  guy.She expected me to get excited as once upon a time I had put 'IIT,NIT'in my specifications and kept rejecting her selections as they are not from IIT,NIT.Though I did it to escape from this process,Now I realise most girls from my college days prefer the same.Well coming back to the story,I googled the guy's name in orkut and was surprised to find no common friends as I always end up finding at least a common friend with a NIT or IIT guy.I wasn't very much impressed by his pic nor his profile which looked dead without even one testimonial.My cousin was kinda proud of giving me a guy of my choice and was talking about the future plans and how his face reminded her of me.But I knew I could find an excuse,I kept fiddling with his profile,and here is the catch.Well its not IITM BUT IIITM :) Bingo!I jumped and told her about my intelligent finding!

But all that she told me  was.'Edi ,Cmon Big deal..He has an extra 'I' not one less;so its a plus right?' :D

Good Luck guys n gals with your 'HUNT'.Time to polish ur profiles :)

Matrimonial Blues!!

I guess this post may turn out to be a bit controversial. :p
But this is something I really wanted to write ,but never had the 'Guts' to.But today after being asked by my relatives to create a profile in Bharat Matrimony,I guess a few words of sarcasm/helplessness should be vent out from a soul that is burning out a remote sense of humility!
Few years back when I joined college and used to watch my friends get into relationships,I used to believe myself that it is a taboo!My previous posts about my perspective of theories of 'Love' has labeled me as a conservative idiot who is not ready to move on life because of her silly principles and ideologies.
Well, as grad student who took courses in Risk management still do believe that its not a worthy 'Risk'.Four years of a wonderful college life taught me a few more theories about 'Falling in Love'.
1.Its all meant for people who can just change plates and simply moves kissing goodbye to all those emotional entanglement whatsoever they had.
2.Never ever assume that couples you see around you are gonna get married.
3.If you are just looking for momentary fun,Romance is a bliss!!

Well I am deviating from what I intend to write,so let me just come back to the point.There comes a point early/late in most of our lives we have to think seriously about finding a partner for ourselves(This is a very generic statement,I agree there might be exceptions).So for all those unfortunate souls who tried to stick with the Risk management theories will have to go through a humiliating torture which might ultimately lead them to a turning point in life.
But the method has undergone a major evolution in past few years.Newspaper adds and brokers are not attractive anymore.Its all about how well you can describe in a few words about yourself and your family.
I found it funny and a bit frustrated when I logged into one of the matrimonial sites to register myself.May be its not a big deal.But for a few seconds I felt as if I was gonna be put on sale in E Bay!To describe yourself in 50 words,your expectations about your partner in another 50 words!Should I just cut copy paste my Resume or put a link to my orkut profile?? (Which I think is a better idea)
Is this how everything works out in our society??My friends had some terrible experiences with the so called' checking out' a guy as a part of the arranged marriage business.You go meet a guy who your parents found you from a newspaper/site talk to him for an hour and give them a 'Yes' or 'No' in 24 hours!
Well,like the dating sites ,it a gamble which few people have to go through I guess.A punishment for keeping up your priciples and theories and mitigating a risk!
On a lighter note,like in Bollywood movies 'Mr Khan' would be there next to you in the flight.I should make sure I talk to the guy next to me when I fly next time!
The time is not so far when we see matrimony classifieds in personal Blogs!!

A Suitable Boy

I would like to start this post with a a disclaimer.Whatever I write are some issues faced by a few people in my species and I am NOT a Feminist!!All the characters in this post are purely fictitious,any resemblence to any person dead or alive is an unavoidable fact!!
Thanks to Vikram Seth for this title and inspiring me to write this post..
I have noticed a strange kind of mania amongst the parents of 22 year old girls and certain frustrating phobia with the 22 turned unfortunate souls.Here is a case study that describes the sequence of events in the life two 22 year old females (Species:Homo Sapiens)
lets call them Miss Hasbeen and Miss Wannabe.For my convenience I would like to call them Ms H and Ms W.
Part 1
March 2007
A month before the final exams,Ms H was busy on phone with her latest boyfriend...Somebody on a call waiting,it was from her home.she wondered why would her Mom call her so late in the night.Yes that was about the mania which has kick started at her home this semester.Her Parents want her to give them a final decision on the the list of guys they emailed to her the other night and her boyfriend wants HER to finish off HIS assignment which is due the next day.She stood there confused.Her cell was showing low battery and her charger was not working,giving few excuses she cut the line and rushed to Ms W's room to get the charger.
Staring at the fully charged cell and refreshing her Yahoo mailbox every 10 seconds desperately waiting for her MS admits there was our Ms W hoping a new place would bring her new oppurtunities[Romantic.Sheesh..A full stop to her singlehood]
Part -2
March 2008
Gtalk Conversation
Ms W:Hey howz it going?Are you over him?
Ms H:Yes dear.Very Much.Biggest mistake of my life
Ms W:Oh cmon,u guys were perfect
Ms H:No way.He was too immature for me
Ms W:Heard you were in Bombay last week to meet someone ;)
Ms H:Oh yea forgot to tell you.Parents are hell-bent on marrying me off before next june
Ms W:So howz the guy?You liked him??
Ms H:No he looks yucky.Kinda bald..But then I met another guy in Chennai last week.I liked him.He is tall,fair,handsome and his Dad owns a software company.He just finished his MBA
Ms W:Wow,But u always used to say u never liked tall and fair poeple
Ms H:Cmon,thats because my ex boyfriend was short and dark.Anyways whassup with you.Howz it there.You found someone??
Ms W:No Yaar,Not yet.Trying hard on Bharat Matrimony.com.I am getting scared.All of you will marry soon ..:(
Ms H:Idiot.You are in land of oppurtunities,try Americans na
Ms W:I cant understand their accent and My English is not good
Ms H:oh yea thats true..But what about your family??
Ms W:Seems My horoscope has some major issues.I'll have to wait for Mars to come near venus.Only then I'll find my guy it seems.Thats what my aunty scraped me in orkut yesterday.
Ms H:Oh thats sad..Did u see Ms P's marriage snaps??She is in US doing her MS..
Ms W:Really?I thought she wanted to do MBA,What happened to her CAT plans?
Ms H:She dropped it coz her husband is an IIM Graduate
Ms W:Thats kool..Did I tell you that I met Ms R's fiancee's parents in NY??
Ms H: Wtf?No way ..she cant have a fiancee,she said she will not marry
Ms W:Seems her grandmom was sick and she wanted to see her grandchildren.So it was a quick decision
Ms H:Nice,Anyways make sure u hook up with some greencard holder,so u wont have problems with your visa later
Ms W:Yea I know.I have highlighted that in Shaadi.com and Bharat Matrimony.ONLY Green card Holders.
Ms H:Hey gtg..Chennai Guy on phone..Have to discuss about finacial matters u know..
Ms W:Oh sure carry on..Let me know what happens..takecare
Ms H:You too..

Well 'THE END' is yet to come...

Special Thanks to Riddhi Doshi