The Digital Journalist
Photo by Miki Alcalde
Along with religion, family is at the core of Indian society. Although most Hindu marriages are arranged - it has been traditionally done this way since ancient times - western modernization has introduced popular ways of finding a partner in India: the Internet (through matchmaking Web sites catering to a combined total of roughly 30 million Indians) and the Sunday newspaper. Of the 1,900 matrimonial advertisements appearing in a leading Indian newspaper on just one day in August 2005, only 225 declared caste no barrier. This woman's father does not allow her to have a boyfriend so she has to see him secretly in the park.