Charandas ki Shaadi II - The World of Matrimonial Sites

Well...sequels are the tradition of our times...Phir Hera Pheri, Double Dhamaal, Murder 2..(kya ismain do Murder hote hain??)..KBC Dvitiya..etc etc...and hence the title. Thankfully most sequels last up to part two or may be part three...but the pace at which I am going, you might be reading Part 15-20 in the months/years to come :)

So the next step for Charandas was to register himself on a Matrimonial site.

Yes, gone are the good old days of Jay finding a match for Veeru and 'praising' him in front of Mausi. Agreed that Jay has his own radical methods, but in the end what mattered was that Veeru got Basanti (not to mention Dhanno and the Mausi too to take care of the kids). Thats what you call a perfect match.

Match making today however is done on Shaadi.com. The website claims to be the largest of this kind. Even 10 years ago, no one could have thought of these two words - Shaadi and DOTCOM coming together (this in itself being an interesting match :-p).

So instead of the seeming honest approach of climbing the tallest water tank and broadcasting his credentials to the entire village, today's groom takes a more complicated (what we call sophisticated) approach of the electronic world - Matrimonial Sites

Shaadi.com, BharatMatrimony.com, JeevanSaathi.com, HaathiMereSaathi.com...and many more interesting names.

Ditto for the girls. I bet Basanti would have climbed the same water tank had she taken few pegs of Veeru's brand of desi liquor.

If you look closely, its an interesting concept. Wannabe Brides and Grooms from all walks of life come together in this Mela to find a life partner. Yes, Mela is the term which describes this concept for me. In fact, I sometimes wonder if its like the annual Trade Fair that we have in Delhi. Thousands of sellers assemble here to sell (some times trick) their products to millions buyers. Everyone claiming their product to be the best.

The funny thing in my case is, I dont know whether I'm the buyer or the seller :)

So I talked to a few friends, who had good experience in this field and it looked like that from all the options available Shaadi.com would be the magic wand for me. Next, the profile of the most eligible bachelor in 'Rohini Sector 9 Plot 34 Delhi' was created. The task turned out to be a bit more difficult than I had thought. But some valuable tips, again coming from my wondeful group of friends saved the day.

In the few days after the profile was created, nothing happened. For the unlucky souls out there who havent got the chance to be a part of this wonderful process - "nothing" here stands for no requests came for a match, and no response for the profiles I had 'expressed interest' (yes, thats how these sites call it - Express Interest'). And somehow I was not surprised. I mean what are the odds of someone finding my profile in the zillions out there - someone must be going through really unlucky days to land up here - I chuckled to my self (more in relief though).

Then one day I noticed a little progress bar on my profile which was in red. It said Your profile is only 34% complete. Complete it an enhance your visibility by up to 10 times

Now this was a complete shock. While registering I had filled so much information.- I filled my educational and professional background, family details, contact details, height, weight, complexion (yes the fair and handsome type :-X ), even my blood group and hobbies. And still it all counted for only 34%!! I mean you really got to be kidding me. With all this info up on the net, even the Secret Service Agency of Bangladesh would be able to locate me. But still this was not enough. Grrr..

Painstakingly, I completed the remaining stuff including an improved version of the essay 'About Me'. Well trust me, I have seen profiles where this section is written in the form of an essay. Like we used to write in school - Cow ka essay- This is a cow. A cow has four legs. A cow has two horns. A cow hits you with the same horns if you make fun of her.

Ready to go?? Not yet baby....

No profile is complete without a picture. So I had to dig my archive to find a sober looking pic. It was so hard to find one (hey, its not funny). It made me realize the habit of not standing straight when being in clicked. Sometimes i'm sitting on the road sometimes lying down on the same road, sometimes standing jumping from rocks, sometimes from tree or walls etc etc...well thats the kind of stuff we do when on a trip with our Traveler Mandali.

And the one pic from a friend's marriage which did not have me in my elements, didn have any hair on my head either (will keep that story for a later time) - so it was promptly rejected. Finally I was able to find one to be sober enough (according to mom-dad) to be put on the profile.

Wow, the calculator on Shaadi.com now read my Profile Completeness at a lifetime high of 84%. I must be flashing at the top on every God Damn search for Grooms (Wide Grin!!)

Btw, If i had my way this is the pic I would post on my profile page

Baba Jinxed - I think this picture describes me quite nicely :-p

I mean, the picture should say something about you. Not something that you have got specially clicked in a photo studio. And with all those photo editing tools available, these people at times make you look anything but.. you. May be something similar to serials on Star Plus where the characters are shown in their homes with all the make up and fancy dressing - as if everyday is Diwali. Then I realize that there are somethings, where you should not put your grey cells to work - especially if they are a scarce resource for you.

Frankly speaking, this whole business of Matrimonial sites has given me more questions than answers. Its a sea of profiles out there. How do you judge someone and how does someone judge you? I would rather have someone get to know me by reading this blog than through a silly questioner about my education/profession/salary. Feels like I am applying for a home loan :).

May be I'm thinking too much, may be I need to take it easy not be so serious about this..Life has its own way of doing things..may be i'll end up finding someone in the Jhingala Tribe of Western Orissa. Hope they are using Shaadi DOT COM :-P

Finally, there are few things which are not as complicated as the stuff above - Monsoon. Jee haan doston...Once again Monsoon kept its date with us (Early July). It was raining cats and dogs today. The city looks so much better in the rain. Everything washed up, like a fresh coat of green has covered the roads. And if you get this combo early in the morning or late at night when there is little traffic, dont waste it. Get out in your car/bike/scooter and enjoy. Let me also choose a song for you....

Aao..Mil jaayega...hoga jahan pe raasta

Aao...meelon chalain...jana kahan..na ho pata..

Hum jo chalne lage...chalne lage hain yeh raaste..

Manzil se behtar lagne lage hain yeh raaste...