Cupid Inc

Most professional matchmakers operate like big businesses today - super-organised, digitally savvy, keen to extend their reach beyond Indian shores

- Vineetha Mokkil

WHEN 28-year-old Poornima* returned to Delhi after a short stint of working as an interior designer in Mauritius, marriage was the last thing on her mind. She wanted to set up her own business. Singledom suited her fine. “My brother went behind my back and placed a matrimonial ad in a newspaper for me,” she laughs. “We got a flood of responses, mostly from men working in the Indian army. They would often send their responses by post.” This was in the 1980s when newspaper ads and relatives were playing matchmakers to a large extent. Of course, professional matchmakers were around at the time too, but they hadn’t upped their game to today’s level.

According to Saurabh Goswami, Managing Director of Ahmedabad-based Ultra Rich Match, there are about 5,000 registered matrimonial agencies in India currently. Online matrimony sites such as Shaadi.com, Bharat Matrimony, Jeevansathi, Vivaah.com, Royal Matrimony, The Second Shaadi, etc., add to the count. Most professional matchmakers and agencies operate like big businesses today—super-organised, digitally savvy, keen to extend their reach beyond Indian shores. “We are a team of 28 people based around the world—working from India, the US, London, and Dubai,” says Anuradha Gupta, Founder and CEO, Vows for Eternity. “Ours is a curated, confidential, global platform which caters to members ranging from 23 to 65 years of age…We are like an executive search firm you retain to outsource the best fit for life.”

Sima Taparia (a.k.a Sima Aunty), star of Netflix’s Indian