HUFFINGTON POST - Apr 23 - Kamna Mittal and her husband moved to the Bay Area soon after they were married in India in 2000. In addition to being in a new country, the couple were new to each other. Their marriage had been arranged. Now a mother of two, Mittal counts herself lucky that it worked out, but 12 years later, she wants to help Indian-American singles in the Bay Area meet directly. Within Indian culture (which is predominantly Hindu), marriage is as much about families coming together as it is about couples coming together. A family also might hire a marriage broker to help the process along. These days, matrimony websites can serve the same broker role as the "aunties." Bharatmatrimony.com has more than 20M profiles worldwide. The website's CEO, Murugavel Janakiraman, said 10% of clients are immigrants to the U.S. or American-born Indians. Indian immigrants tend to look for the same religion, caste and region, Mittal said. American-born Indians might want somebody who is Indian, preferably raised in America, too. 90% of Hindus in America marry within the faith, according to the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
BharatMatrimony competes with Shaadi and Jeevansathi in India. Matchmaking is also very culturally palatable and prominent in China with the #2 and #3 dating sites being Zhenai and Baihe which are hybride matchmaking/idating services.
Posted by: Mark Brooks | Apr 24, 2012 at 02:28 PM