First Comes Marriage, Then Comes Love

Jan. 30, 2009— -- Preeti Gulati sat patiently for hours last October during a traditional ceremony in New Dehli, India, where her body was adorned in intricate patterns with a paste of henna and lemon juice.

In just two days the 29-year-old would leave the familiar comfort of family, friends, even her country for 30-year-old Aashish Paruthi, a man she barely knew and had not yet kissed. She did this not for love, but for marriage.

Paruthi left India for the United States seven years ago to attend graduate school and had decided to stay here to work. Although he had tried his hand at dating, he had not met the right woman.

"There were certain expectations, certain things that I wanted my life partner to have. I just never found anyone who was close enough to those expectations," Paruthi said.

So he gave up on the American dating scene and turned to tradition, asking his parents back home to arrange a match for him. A match not made in heaven, but in the classifieds. Just as in America, Indian matchmaking sites in newspapers and on the Internet are popular hunting grounds for singles.

Gulati's father had placed a typical matrimonial ad in an Indian newspaper on his daughter's behalf.

"He said, 'Groom wanted for beautiful young girl.' It's very normal here," she said. "The concept of an arranged marriage is something which has been prevalent in our society for the longest time."

In fact, today up to 90 percent of marriages in India and 60 percent of all marriages in the world are arranged. Gulati and Paruthi, with the help of their parents, had separately worked out a list of what they were looking for in a partner with categories including education, family background and career.

Gulati was interested in someone who was well qualified and respected her as an individual. Paruthi wanted someone who was comfortable moving to America and would get along with his family.