It's a tradition that goes back centuries, but arranged marriages are undergoing something of a change in India. In the past, finding an appropriate life partner was down to the family. But now, companies are cashing in.

While in the past it was the honourable way to get married, and the young couple had nearly no role to play in the decision, today things are different.

Jagdish Khetarpal, father of a fiancé, says “Earlier, boy and girl were absolutely unknown to each other and would usually have not even met, but today things are different. They meet before the wedding and discuss things among themselves.”

But when Jagdish got his son married, the couple were allowed a brief courtship, with a few chaperoned meetings, to decide upon the lifetime partnership.

“In one meeting one can’t really judge everything but one tries to talk about subjects to assess the other person’s view and thought process. The role of the parents is also important because they check out the family to ensure suitability for the future,” Jagdish’s son Gaurav Khetarpal says.

His wife, who is a working woman, and did not want to be a housewife after getting married, made her decision in the first meeting.

“Yes, when I first talked to him I just realised that he is a person that I can understand. That it is really important in today’s life, that the women should work, and I think that I just realized that he can understand that and it is a thing that I can go ahead and go for that,” says Vandhana Khetarpal.

Arranging marriages used to be considered a social service task of the elders in society. Today, with less time for social networking people are increasingly relying on newspaper advertisements and marriage agents.

The newspaper advertisements run into pages, and have various categories listed to try and cater to every community, while a marriage agent is the preferred route for those who want to have everything verified, without having to directly ask questions that may be considered embarrassing.