There are roughly more than 1,500 matrimonial sites in India, so there is a danger of getting swamped by sheer numbers, but it’s always safer to use websites that are accountable and registered. Create your profile on a few websites and get a feel of which ones have better users and are better screened.
Don’t share personal information with a prospective ‘match,’ whether it’s about your social or financial life. Begin with casual conversations, see how things progress. Start off with short, crisp conversations, and then maybe progress into longer talks. And an important point — don’t always be the one to initiate a conversation. There are a lot of creeps (both men and women) around.
Look carefully at the profile of a prospective match. Generally, the profile can give you a lot more information than just a causal perusing. For example, a profile which has generic answers generally indicates that a person is not really interested in a good match. A profile created by somebody else could also mean the person themselves are not too eager to get hitched, or as has happened many times, are unaware that their profile exists!
Don’t ignore the small details from the profile. Are they interested in chatting or meeting? Is the profile old and dated? Does the picture look genuine or fake? Many such details can help you know more about the person.
So, you’ve been talking to this person for a while, and you feel it’s time to take this relationship to the next level – meeting face-to-face. The best thing to do here would be to meet at a public area where you can have a conversation – the best setting is a lunch/brunch date.
Going to the movies for a first date is generally a bad idea as its difficult (and rude) to talk at the cinema hall. Get to know the other person – how somebody is over the internet and/or over the phone is completely different from what they are like in person.
Okay, so you met your match, and you’ve really hit it off. Here comes the important bit – don’t rush it. People are complicated, and you can’t learn about them at just one date. Give it a few tries, meet their family and friends, and then try and form an opinion of that person. If it still holds up, then go forwards at an appropriate pace.
Sometimes a background check can be important. It shakes loose skeletons that the other person has omitted to mention, whether intentionally or by mistake. It can reveal a lot more about their personality than you were able to figure out. While it may feel heartless to check someone behind their back, there are certain details that are definitely preferable to be found out before the marriage rather than afterward.
Your match feels perfect, but suddenly they start asking for money. This is almost always a red flag and no matter how genuine the pleas may sound, they should be treated the same as a hungry crocodile — with safe distance.
So, your match seems perfect and you are going ahead with the wedding. Well, here comes the last important bit – its registration. Have a marriage certificate as it makes it legal and binding – despite what Hindi movies are serials may lead you to believe, sindoor along the maang and walking around a fire at a temple does not translate to a marriage.
*To protect the identity, names have been changed and the person/s in the picture is/are models.
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