Dating Game Pakistani Style: Spouses, Not Dates

YAHOO NEWS - June 7 -- Shaadi uses a combination of prime-time TV and the Internet to shake up a conservative Muslim culture in which family networks usually decide who weds whom. Regular dating is rare in Pakistan. A prospective bride often endures scrutiny by many suitors before finding a husband.  Each weekly program showcases two men and one woman, introduced in a prerecorded video presentation showing their family, friends and work life. Once on the set, they are gently questioned by the hosts on their preferences for a mate. That information is fed into a computer database of 100,000 singles. They are presented with a list of possible matches to choose from, and, on the show, they phone the ones that most catch their eye, while viewers listen in.

Mark Brooks: A network of sites is offered in 15 Indian languages by Bharat Matrimony, the leader in Southern India.

Comments

[Love Doctor]

You can see a network picking up that format and running with it!

Love Doctor DATEXPECTATIONS.COM

[Mark Brooks]

I'm fascinated by the cultural differences in India and itching for the opportunity to travel there to talk and study one of these dating sites. They are doing a great job with offline services. The USA companies can learn a thing or two from them.

Mark Brooks
editor, onlinepersonalswatch.com

[Julia Dorofeeva]

The online dating culture is starting to come to Asian market. Though it's dificult to make a fusion of internet dating freedom and asian and eastern traditions.

The muslim world has steady rules for dating and marriage and everything matters there.
Not long ago there was a special review on women position in muslim countries on TV. As far as I've understood women there devide into those who follow old traditions and the so called "modern women". The last group is very independent, they run their own business (at least in the most developed regions), study, work with men and use Internet.

Online Dating is very popular within them. They register at the muslim sites willingly and are not against of communication. There's only one point there: they are still muslim women. They date for friendship or marriage.
You can disagree, but it's just a bit of information on this point.