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The chaos outside is stifling. Rickshaws, pushcarts, cars and cows all jostle for space on the choked streets of Allahabad in north-central India. The blaring noises are as cacophonous as the air is filthy. The sidewalks are cluttered with all manner of products haphazardly displayed for passers-by. Hurrying pedestrians fill in the few gaps.
Stepping into Kiran Chawla's shop, though, is like entering a different world. Inside her split-level storefront, the atmosphere is the quiet anxiety of a doctor's waiting room combined with the hushed concentration of an Internet café. Chawla herself sits calmly in a glass enclosure at the center of her office and offers tea and water, welcoming and comforting her new clients.
And there are a lot of them. Chawla is offering what an increasing number of Indians are willing to pay good money for. Her shop is a franchise of the country's top matrimony Web site called Shaadi.com. She's selling love.
Caste, star sign and other details
"Love?" asks Chawla, 54, removing her glasses and raising her eyebrows. "It comes from within. It is a feeling of the heart." She pauses and then concludes: "And it comes with association."
To aid in the spousal search, the mothers and fathers who crowd Chawla's waiting room all come clutching dossiers of their sons and daughters. Studio portraits of their adult children in suits and saris are standard -- as are multi-page profiles listing religion, caste, star sign, skin color, income level, and dozens of other details. They are also carrying money; the popular premium package offered by Shaadi.com costs a hefty $200.
Indeed, as economic fortunes in India rise, the marriage industry is taking off. It's not uncommon for families in India's middle class to spend $15,000 for their daughter's wedding -- a magnificent sum in a country where over a third the population still lives on less than a dollar a day. And the industry as a whole -- though difficult to pin down -- is worth $15-20 billion annually, estimates Shaadi.com co-founder and CEO Anupam Mittal.Matchmaking is an important niche, worth some $250-300 million each year. And even if only about 5 percent of the country's 1.1 billion citizens surf the Web, an ever increasing number of Indian love stories are beginning in cyberspace. Companies like Shaadi.com are taking notice -- but they are also looking to capitalize on Internet efficiency in the low-tech world as well.
Chawla's franchise-- essentially an interface between cyberspace and traditional India -- is one of 130 dotting the country and there are plans to add another 400 in the next two years. Furthermore, while online users can buy access to some 400,000 profiles in the company's secured database, ads are also published in newspapers and magazines. Indeed, most customers, Chawla says, have never used a computer -- at least 90 percent of those who walk through her door are parents, sibling or aunts or uncles, of the young singles.
"When you see the smile on the face of the parents you know you've done your job well," says Chawla, 54, who has 11 grandchildren, speaks four languages and works seven days a week. She credits her success to her own dedication and also to the technology, "which is mind-blowing and mind-boggling."
Her success is also an indication of India's eclectic mix of technology and tradition. Walking into the Shaadi Point late one afternoon Rajni Jaiswal, 26, takes a seat along her father and an aunt in Chawla's enclosure. Doe-eyed with jet black hair, Rajni is the picture of India's next generation. She relaxes in jeans and a black hoodie, while her aunt sits stoically in an orange sari and black sweater, clutching a red purse. Most of Rajni's friends have gotten married in the past year or two -- the pressure is now on for her to follow suit.
"It's good," says Rajni. "She is able to understand what kind of match I'm looking for." That is, a fellow a few years older, employed, and located outside her hometown.
A few keystrokes later Chawla pulls up hundreds of choices. Rajni picks one and after telling Chawla her date and time of birth, everyone watches with bated breath as a horoscope-matching program tells them whether it is a match made in heaven. Much to the family's delight, the computer says yes.
$7,000 in a good month
Mittal launched the company in 1997 after a chance meeting with a traditional matchmaker -- often a go-between among families with eligible offspring -- in Bombay. "I got very intrigued by what he did, and very soon it got me thinking, 'by God, the choice for a life partner is determined by how much weight this guy can carry and how far he can carry it,'" Mittal says.His Web portal took off immediately -- even if the lack of Internet penetration in India meant the site was more popular for Indians living outside the country. Today that has changed. Now about 70 percent of Shaadi.com's customers come from India.
"It will take some time to play out," says Mittal, which is why he is opening more storefronts. "In 2003 we figured it was just a matter of time before we ran out of people in the online world. The online world is geared toward young people. What about the entire market that makes the decision for the kids?"
Chawla, who opened her offline Shaadi Point franchise (Shaadi is Hindi for marriage) after answering a classified ad in late 2004, is making a good living as the human face of a cyber business. She makes about $7,000 in a good month, half of which she must split with the company. "It's in my blood now," says the schoolteacher-turned-businesswoman.
Shaadi.com isn't the only company looking for a piece of the matchmaking pie. A competitor, BharatMatrimony.com, has a stronger base in south India and is following the same model of expanding throughout the country by opening off-line franchises. The company now has 63 centers and is planning to add 300 in the next 18 months. Founder Murugavel Janakiraman, 36, claims that the market is growing quickly. "Sixty-four percent of India is below 30," he points out.
Janakiraman should know. He himself found his wife on the site in 1999 -- one of over 700,000 success stories created by his company and Mittal's Shaadi.com together.
"For a culture that has so much emphasis on matrimony there is very little opportunity to meet people," Mittal says. "For the most part, children live with their parents until they are married and dating is looked down upon."
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