ASTROLOGICAL MATCHMAKING HUGE SUCCESS IN KERALA

Online matchmaking a big business in Kerala

By N. Muraleedharan in Tiruvananthapuram
Rediff On The Net
July 22, 2003

Latching on to the information technology boom, online
matchmaking is fast turning into a big business in
Kerala, catering to a vast clientele including the
Malayali diaspora spread around the world.

Some leading players in the field have such wide networks
reaching out to the Gulf, the United States and Europe,
not to speak of the big cities in the country.

There are about 100 matrimonial service agencies in the
state alone, helping parents to find suitable matches for
their children.

According to R Chandrasekharan, the promoter of Garuda
International, his firm recorded a turnover of Rs 6 crore
(Rs 60 million) last year.

Now a market leader with branches in five Gulf states,
apart from Mumbai and Delhi in the country, Garuda has an
impressive data bank of 20,000 entries.

Started in 1993 as a one-room outfit in
Thiruvananthapuram, the firm now employs over 500 people,
many of them computer professionals.

"We have helped about 60,000 people to find life-partners
in 10 years, with well-to-do parents increasingly
preferring the professional agencies to traditional
marriage brokers," he says.

Garuda charges a registration fee of Rs 1,500 and when
matches are formalised, each side has to shell out Rs
13,500.

"We have a system to make sure that the clients pay our
dues promptly, with our staff keeping in regular touch
with the people who register with us," he adds.

The charges vary in smaller agencies, depending on the
income profile and social status of the people visiting
these marriage bureaus.

For instance, a Kochi-based agency does not charge any
registration fee, but levies a service charge of Rs 50
for each proposal sent.

According to industry sources, some agencies in the
Christian-dominated Central Travancore region charge two
to three per cent of the total value of property share
given to their daughters by parents at the time of
marriage.

While the role of most agencies is confined to
registration and forwarding proposals, some high profile
ones facilitate meeting of the would-be couples and even
arrange counseling to help the young ones to lead a happy
family life, sources say.

"In several cases, after the initial formalities like
examining horoscope and exchange of visits by parents
from both sides, the boy and the girl choose to have
their first meeting at our office. This is strictly done
with the knowledge of parents," Chandrasekharan says. 

Industry sources say that a major factor that helped the
matchmaking business catch up well in Kerala is that
Malayalis are tradition-bound.

"However long they stay abroad, the Malayali parents
generally prefer to have their children wedded to grooms
in their own religion or caste," says an operator.

According to P Bhaskaran from Vatakara, it was a local
marriage bureau that helped him to find a Gulf-employed
boy for his daughter two years back. "First I did not
relish the idea of going for a non-traditional route. But
now I don't regret for these people do their work more
sincerely than the traditional marriage broker," he says.

"We get an average 200 to 250 entries every month from
Dubai alone," Chandrasekharan says, adding he plans to
open a bureau in Singapore next month and the United
Kingdom, US and Saudi Arabia in September.

In the case of middle class Hindus, matching of the
horoscope is the first stage in the marriage process. So,
most bureaus have astrology software with them for
preliminary examination of the horoscopes of the eligible
candidates.

Many players in the field say that the success of a
marriage bureau depends very much on its credibility.
"This is a delicate area where each and every case has to
be handled carefully. Mere computers and well-trained
staff alone won't bring you success. Your track record
very much counts," says K M George of the Classic
Advertisers in Muvvattupuzha in Ernakulam district. 

People in the matchmaking trade are sensitive to the
changing values and preferences in the society.

According to Chandrasekharan, no parents these days
prefer to go by financial status alone, as most of them
consider family background and educational qualification
as the important parameters.

Until a few years ago, the middle class parents within
Kerala used to insist on boys employed in the government
or in banks, preferably working in their hometown. Now,
the fortunes of young businessmen and professionals
working abroad have gone up, he says.

With middle class parents preferring grooms within their
religion or caste, only about five per cent of the
marriages are inter-caste, he adds.

http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/jul/22marriage.htm

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