Made in India grooms are a big hit with NRIs

MUMBAI: When Neha Shah’s parents zeroed in on a bridegroom based in India, disregarding at least three suitors based in the West, the choice took her by surprise.

For the US-born Ms Shah, and thousands like her born to Indian parents based in the country or living overseas, the ‘arranged marriage’ drill is a familiar one. Typically, Indian parents prefer US and UK-based grooms for their daughters, convinced they are securing the future of their offspring.

But the credit crunch and the resultant economic gloom sweeping across much of the western world is not just causing a meltdown in financial markets; India’s marriage market too is seeing a meltdown in long-held beliefs — a ripple effect of the recession in western economies.

Single men based in India are in demand in the marriage market as the global financial crisis forces a fundamental reappraisal of one long-held notion: West is best.

“My parents now believe that job security is much higher in India compared to that in the US, UK and Europe. The recession in the West is not only leaving people jobless, but there is also no certainty in terms of future growth,” says the 27-year-old Shah, who grew up in the US.

A management graduate, Ms Shah agrees with her parents’ checklist for a potential groom. He should have a good, secure job and must belong to a decent family. He should be open-minded and modern in his outlook, which she thinks many
well-educated Indian men are. But her motivations are also partly economic: she too has a better chance of getting a job in India than in the US.

India’s economy is expected to keep growing, albeit at a slower pace of about 7%, at a time when much of the developed world, led by the US, Japan and many countries in western Europe, will suffer from rising unemployment and stagnant wage growth in a deep recession. India’s economy has expanded by 9% in the past three years.

With salaries in India having risen many times in the past few years, young men in India can make more-or-less the same amount of money as their peers overseas.

Moreover, a lot of the comforts previously only available abroad are now easily available in India.
With the concept of the nuclear family having taken root in India, a young bride too needn’t be forced to stay and cope with demands of joint families anymore, says Anil Patel, a New Delhi-based businessman, who is looking for a groom for his daughter.

Meanwhile, the Manhattan-based Shah family which has camped in India for the past two months, has finalised their daughter’s marriage to Swapan Parekh, a 34-year-old Mumbai-based executive with the Indian unit of an UK-headquartered pharmaceuticals company. The marriage is expected to take place early next year.

The Shah family is not alone. “In the past one month, inquiries on prospective Indian grooms from Indian families based abroad have increased by at least 200%,” says Dilip Saxena, founder of Infinity Matchmaking, a ‘marriage consultant’.
Niche firms such as Infinity had expected a slowdown in business as people put aside marriage plans during the economic downturn, but the shifting trend in matrimonial preferences has come to their rescue.

“The craze for NRI (non-resident Indian) grooms... particularly Indians hunting for NRI grooms has significantly reduced,” Vivek Khare, senior vice-president of Jeevansathi.com, a marriage portal.

In the past decade, India’s ‘arranged marriage’ culture has spawned several so-called matrimonial websites which make money by listing matrimonial and other advertising. These internet sites allow people to post their details online, allowing prospective partners to link up.

Mr Saxena says, with the changing trend in the marriage market, the profiles of potential grooms posted on marriage portals have changed. Job roles are dressed up to look meaty and the companies that the eligible bachelors work for are portrayed as bastions of stability.

In the country’s marriage bazaar, the fortunes of a potential husband are intimately linked to the state of the economy.

The wealthy landowner in pre-industrial days, the civil services officer in the command economy and the software engineer during the technology boom have at various times been top dogs in the marriage market. The professional employed abroad has also had his day in the sun. Now, the sun may be setting in the West.