A marriage between friends

Sonal Khatri Somani

The website also helps you search for a person with similar likes through various fun questionnaires. The objective is to help singles learn more about each other and open up so that when they eventually decide to marry; they are already friends and not awkward strangers.

Registration on the site is free and each user gets their own profile page or blog page. The blogs cannot be commented upon by anyone. Once you register on the website, you have to fill in basic details which are often asked on the first meeting i.e., do you want to stay with your parents or alone, your views on premarital sex, past relationships, do you smoke or drink, etc.

Screen shot of Marryafriend.com

"We believe that marriage has friendship as its core element which is often ignored. Marryafriend blends socialising and matrimony aka social matrimony. We are a social initiative to revolutionise the traditional arrange marriage concept.

Compared to other sites, we offer matchmaking of like-minded profiles irrespective of traditional criteria like caste, class and religion. It also provides a social online platform wherein people can know each other instead of only acting as a mere broker for exchange of contacts," adds Khatri.

They also have a social security team to prevent fraudulent profiles and spamming. There is a verification process carried out on new users through their email id, mobile phone and a government recognised document.

"All we are trying to do is to make arranged marriages simpler for the prospective profiles. The process of getting married is supposed to be fun and not a burden. Such decisions are not to be taken under pressure.

It is a platform where today's generation can come together and look for their kind of people and make some practial decisions which will help them lead a happy life," concludes Khatri.