I selected ads from the past thirty years to see if I could discover any trends. E VERY week The Times of India publishes several hundred carefully categorized matrimonial ads. I have found in speaking with numerous couples whose marriages were arranged that although family compatibility is the starting point for such matches, most of the couples end up falling in love. For a number of reasons arranged marriages have a very high rate of success. One reason, Indians often joke, is that a traditional wedding lasts three to seven days.
Most people can handle only one such ceremony in a lifetime.
Reading between the lines of two ads typical of their eras, one from 1969 and one from last year, reveals a great deal about the nature of desired partners then and now, and the protocol for finding them. Graduate girl preferred. Caste no bar. For a young man or woman to do so would be considered forward. But caste compatibility is usually important as well.