Downloading a wife

or a husband; whatever the case may be. More and more people and turning to the web to find their soul mates. Why is that? Let's try to delve a little more into the matter...

Let's be honest. There are more people online now than ever before. Not only are they online, but they are more active; adding to the whole Web 2.0 experience (Facebook comes to mind). People are sharing their thoughts, their hopes, their dreams, their dismay, and their interests. Many shop on the internet (I have), play online games, create family trees...the list is practically endless. For many, their whole lives are available on the internet, on public display.

Some years ago, a few sharp entrepreneurs, thought of another thing for people to do on the internet. Get married. Or rather, pave the road to marriage. They started a new online business. A business of helping people fall in love. Although, people have fell in love over the internet before this all began, but now it was on a much larger scale with added features and more choices. I know, it all sounds a little clinical, but that's how it is.

Why did this all happen? What gave these people the opportunity to think "Why not start a matrimonial website where others can search for their future husbands/wives"? What was the reason? Are conventional methods going out of style? Or is it just that people want to be more in control of every aspect of their lives? Including finding a spouse.

I remember when a boy or a girl was at a 'marriageable' age, the parents would start looking out for a suitable spouse for their offspring. After checking out numerous prospects, which involved scrutinizing the boy/girl and their family on various levels, a proposal would be finalized and the boy & girl would be joined in holy matrimony. This method is still practiced today, although it is rapidly losing its popularity. But, why?

To better understand the reasoning behind this, lets digress a bit and take a look at how people's lifestyle has evolved over the years. Young men and women nowadays are a lot more independent then ever before. They know exactly what they want/don't want, what they like/dislike, and how they want to live their lives. They will listen to your suggestions and opinions, but will not tolerate interference of any kind. This format applies to all aspects of their lives, including find a spouse.

Falling in love and then getting married is great, but as the song goes, "Har kisi ko nahin milta yahaan pyar zindagi mein" (translates to: 'Not everyone is fortunate enough to find love in their live'). So, what about those who don't find love in their everyday life?

So, people have become more independent, they are finding less and less time to devote to their personal lives, the internet has become more interactive, and finding love the old fashioned way is not happening that often any more, although it is wonderful when it does :-). So where did all this lead to.......the matrimonial websites.

You've got admit, it is convenient, and in many cases, very successful. Bharatmatrimony.com holds the Limca World Records with the highest number of marriages. For people who haven't been successful in finding a spouse for themselves the conventional way, this is an expedient option. And it does have a lot of pros; you get a vast database to chose from; with all details, photographs, etc. You have to choice to contact the prospect you like and take it from there. But as I said earlier, it all sounds a bit too clinical. In my opinion, no matter how much time one spends on these websites chatting with or talking with one prospect, you still might get to know one another as well as, lets say, if you met in real life. Although that doesn't mean that you cannot meet in real life even if you bumped into each other on a matrimonial site.

For me, meeting someone the old fashioned way, liking each other, falling in love, and then, if all goes well, spending the rest of your life together. That's magic. Somehow, falling in love over the internet seems all too impersonal to me. Don't get me wrong though. It's not that I'm against it. it's just that the face to face, personal interaction is important to me. It's the small things in the person, the quirks that attract. Things that you might do together that will give you a better understanding of each other. Just talking to each and gazing into each others eyes while doing can be so revealing. And for me, I cannot imagine spending the rest of my life with someone I don't know. I would rather fall in love and then get married as opposed to getting married first and then TRYing to fall in love; which might or might not happen.

Well, that's my opinion. A lot of people will not agree with me. Just ask the hundreds and thousands of people who have been successful in finding their love, online. GOD Bless them all. And for the countless others who are trying to find that special someone on the world wide web, all I want to say is, Good luck & GOD speed.