Conservative families might still be banking on matrimonial websites to find the right life partner for their children, but with 'love-marriages' on the rise, dating sites are becoming a popular alternative for the younger generation, even among Indian families in the United States.

The word comes from the horse's mouth itself. Raj Giri, of lndianMatrimonials.com and lndianDating.com, admits that nowadays most young people are going for "love marriages" instead of being dependant on matrimonial website hookups. "Yes, that is why we created IndianDating.com, which is for today's youth and more popular than our IndianMatrimonials.com."

"For the dating site, the bulk of our customers, over 70 percent, are from the United States, about 15 percent from India, and the rest from U.K. and Canada. In the United States, most customers are from California, New York, Chicago and Texas, which is also where we hold the majority of our singles events. Ninety-five percent of our customers are of Indian origin, and we also hold monthly singles events around the United States," informs Giri. He claims that lndiandating.com has over 50,000 members in New York, 40,000 in the Bay Area, 38,000 in Chicago and 38,000 in Los Angeles. The numbers definitely illustrate how the scenario is changing from conservatism to liberalism, especially when it comes to choosing one's life partner.

The dating sites are prompt in responding to their customer requests. The turnaround time for Indiandating.com to get back to their members is usually 24 hours, but no longer than three business days, says Giri. "We offer many free features, such as being able to create a photo profile for free and free searching. There is also free basic contact, where you can express interest to other members without cost. Deluxe members can also send custom messages and receive discounted rates for our events."

Another interesting difference with matrimonial sites is that since dating sites cater to a more modern group, the most popular requirements are simply geography and age instead of caste, creed, educational qualifications and financial backgrounds.

Even Prashant Jain of LifepartnerIndia.com, a matrimonial website, agrees before getting slightly defensive. "Yes, many people do have 'love marriages' but not all. We cater to users seeking a partner who have not found a match yet, or are looking for a re-marriage." Lifepartnerlndia has around two million active members in India but has only 80,000 active members in the United States.

Irrespective of the rising popularity of the dating sites, their matrimonial counterparts seem to ignore statistics and pretend that even Indians in the United States prefer to go for arranged marriages than love marriages.

One such example would definitely be BharatMatrimony.com. A spokesperson from this organization was literally agitated to hear this correspondent's question that people are showing reduced interest in matrimonial websites due to increasing number of love marriages. "This is an assumption and not true. What is the basis of your conclusion? Please do your homework before asking such questions," she snubs.

According to a report prepared by a research firm called Juxt Consult on matrimonial services, the percentage of youth surfing the dating and friendship sites has surged considerably. It is 51 percent for dating sites as against 48 percent for matrimonial ones. No matter how much these so-called popular matrimonial websites try to disregard the truth, riding on their success so far, but they should be forewarned by the increasing popularity of the dating websites, which might soon turn the tables for them even in India.