Men need to be smart and women fair and slim

Looking for a soulmate?

Requirements: A government service, good English and a nuclear family.

If you have these attributes, you are hot in the marriage market. But for women, jobs are not mandatory. Steel city men still shy away from working women. They are still hooked to the “adarsh Bharatiya naari” image, so painstakingly driven home every afternoon and evening by the K-serials.

As for men, tall, dark and handsome are no longer the criteria, smartness clinches the deal.

A random survey by marriage bureaus in the city reveals that the age-old demand for tall and fair girls is here to stay. Those with a few extra pounds will have to spend longer hours at the treadmill.

“Fluency in English stands in good stead and Convent-educated girls are still a hot favourite. More and more families are looking for girls, who are science graduates,” says S.K. Biswas, co-ordinator of Jogajog Kendra, a marriage bureau in Sarkar Building, Sakchi.

K.A. Qadir, who runs Kamyaab Rishtey, another bureau in Bistupur, says, “Girls are expected to teach their kids at least till the primary level. This apart, they are expected to conduct themselves gracefully at interviews at the time of their wards’ admission to schools or at the parent-teacher meetings and English comes in handy here.”

A business management graduate or an engineer scores heavily over doctors. The reason: students of medicine spend too many years studying and by the time they start earning, they become bachelors, argues Biswas, sifting through the pile of the applicants’ bio data. Those with foreign degrees override all considerations of caste and creed.

Despite the spurt in saas-bahu soaps, the idea of joint families does not appeal to people in the steel city.

“Match-makers scout for nuclear families on both sides. The apparent disadvantages of joint families tilt the balance in favour of smaller units,” says Biswas.

Be it lack of responsibility or the unwillingness to shoulder additional burden, the new generation home-makers blame it on the breakneck speed of life and their inability to spare time for elaborate family get-togethers. Purse strings are also another constraint.

While motorbikes make for great courtship, it loses shine after tying the knot. Owning a house and car are no longer status symbols, but pre-requisites for an eligible bachelor.

Single daughters are preferred for their “easy access” to inheritance and other goodies that rain in the form of dowry during marriage, argues Qadir.