CONSIDERING THAT VARANASI (OR BENARES, OR KASHI) IS ONE OF THE HOLIEST CITIES IN THE WORLD, IT IS A SURPRISE TO LEARN THERE IS SO MUCH EARTHLY DESIRE HERE. At the red light district of Shivdaspur flesh peddlars conduct their sordid business not too far from the famous temples and karma-cancelling ghats. The women working at Shivdaspur, and other red light districts like Manduadih, Chunar and Dalmandi, will head up to those ghats once a year to pray for a better life next time around. It is a 450-year-old tradition. As much as it might distress the purists, this is a city in which the sacred, the secular the sordid exist side by side. It may be the holiest of holies for Hindus, but is also a place where people live, study, love, and look for the opportunity to love. That is where this website comes in. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Let me put it this way... The Times of India reported in 2010: "Bright sunlight on Sunday not only marked a change in weather conditions in the city, it also provided opportunity for denizens, especially youngsters, to freak out and express their love on the Valentine's Day. "While a number of youngsters ventured along the ghats, others preferred parks for an outing. The pleasant weather conditions also forced people to move out to other places like Sarnath and outskirts... "Meanwhile, activists belonging to local district unit of Shiv Sena carried out procession in different parts of the city in protest against celebrating of V-Day." . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . You heard it there... couples out enjoying the February weather, love on the ghats. And Shiv Sena activists out in force to disrupt all the fun and frivolity! Extremists never seem to realise that cities are places for diversity. For all its Hindu history, for example, Varanasi is holy to Buddhists too. It is one of the four pilgrimage sites said to have been designated by Gautama Buddha himself, as Wikipedia reports. As a matter of fact, Varanasi is also home to a Tibetan community centered around the Central University of Tibetan Studies at Sarnath. In 2010 Tenzin Norzom, 23, a Varanasi resident and a student of the Tibetan university, was crowned the new Kingfisher Miss Tibet in Dharamshala. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "Most of the people think that tawayaf (tawaif) is one other name for prostitutes but it is not true," writes nandan of Groovy Ganges. "They were highly educated women and and trained in their skills such and dancing, singing, literature and were very well respected in society. My friend Ravi told me that kids of royal families were sent to tawayafs to get training which included behavioural training, gazal writing and few other skills. The place were tawayafs used to live was called kotha and now kotha is also referred as a brothel which is also not true. Kothas were a place for tawayafs to live and perform." Like the geisha of Japan tawayafs would have their danna, a male patron who would act as a kind of husband. They wouldn't just sleep with any man who had the cash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "Casteism has always been a big issue in India," writes nandan of Groovy Ganges. "It was started with the idea of organizing the society and was very successful and nice but people changed this system as per their need and benefit." According to The Hindu news service: "About a decade ago, at the age of 33, when Darren Richards thought that the Internet could be the perfect way of meeting other singletons in his area, in the UK, he was in for a disappointment. His search for an online agency to join led him only to companies in the US. 'Even worse, none of the sites seemed to take the idea of meeting a new partner online seriously, encouraging members to use silly nicknames such as Sexy Babe and Hot Pants,' recounts Rachel Bridge in one of the chapters included in How I Made It: 40 successful entrepreneurs reveal all (www.vivagroupindia.com). "The first few website developers he approached told him it could not be done, but he eventually found someone able and willing to do the job. Richards gave the designer a 20 per cent stake in the company in return for creating a new interactive website, and it was launched in 1999 at a cost of 2,500 pounds. Within three months it had 40,000 members..." Now there are more than five million. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Date: Delhi Dating. If you tire of speed dating in the physical realm, you could try virtual speed dating on this website. At the present moment (April 2010) there are 11 pages of Delhi women looking for men. Also available at the moment (April 2009) include Drusilla82, who says: "Nunca Teolvidare." Keythaaa (age 21) says: "I am a woman, 21 years old, seeking a man from 20 till 40." Representing the men, Beatheheat (34) says: "To put it short humour is my middle name and i love interactive women. Meet Japanese girls and solo Japanese female travellers at Kumiko House near the river. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Indian Reunited: Indian Classifieds. Free classified ads covering art and antiques, books and publications, clothing, dating and friendship, health and fitness, pets and so on. By pets I am not sure they mean the recent Indian phenomenon of "pet dating", or "dog dating" -- dating sites for dogs. That is the kind of craziness the Japanese would come up with. Anyway, since live human dating is what we are interested in on this site -- specifically, Hindi dating -- let's head into the "dating and friendship" lounge of Indian Reunited, and see what they have under the hood. Actually there is not much there, at least for now -- it might change in the future. The last time I checked in there (August 2009) I found a couple of ads for an outfit called the Sampark Network (designed to make your social life more active and stimulating), an ad for Indian and Russian escorts in New Delhi (http://www.bluebabes.in; there's not only Indian and Russian girls but Afghani, Turkish and Moroccan women there as well) and some of the usual make money online spam generating out of Durgapur. Dodgy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mate 4 All: Dating in Tamil Nadu. Says the website: "Mate4all.com provides an exclusive list of popular Tamil Nadu dating and nearby Tamil Nadu villages. mate4all.com Internet Dating Site has made it easier to get information for dating in Tamil Nadu. Your only one click away from Tamil Nadu dating Tamil Nadu, singles Tamil Nadu, personals Tamil Nadu, matchmaker Tamil Nadu, dating agencies Tamil Nadu, dating agency Tamil Nadu, dating India speed dating Tamil Nadu, online dating Tamil Nadu, dating sites Tamil Nadu, adult dating Tamil Nadu, internet dating and dating services; with our dating website. Register now for Tamil Nadu dating!" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . My Tamil Girl: Matrimonial and Dating Site for the Tamil Community. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . One Love Net: Free Singles Profiles in Chennai. Spruiks the website: "Find Singles for Free @ OneLoveNet.com, 100% Free Dating Site & Marchmaking Service. Soon, we will list other 100% free dating sites for you. Stay connected! "Being a quickly growing free online dating personals website and service, OneLoveNet.com provides new personal ads every day for men, women, boys & girls..." . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Simply Marry: Hindi Matrimonials. "India's only metro-monial site" is the motto of this marriage site, which aims at equalizing the gender gap. Hindi women are no longer expected to set themselves on fire at the death of their husbands, or follow 10 feet behind them as they walk down the street. Or so one would hope. Out of this comes another prominent slogan at Simply Marry: "When you treat each other as Equals." Here you will find people of the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Parsi and Sikh faiths, all of them coming together on equal terms. Castes represented range from Agarwal to Yadav. With everything in between. Among the Agarwal community, for example, you can find five pages of prospective brides at the time of writing (April 2010), aged between 21 and 25. Neha is a 25-year-old female journalist from Delhi. Among the Yadav community there are a further 5 pages of would be brides. Leena, aged 25, is an advertising visualiser living in Jaipur, Rajasthan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rishtenaateindia: Tamil Dating. Says the website: "The best online dating site for tamil singles to meet their Soulmate! Sign up today for totally free membership We have in our database thousands of dating profiles with photo from Chennai, Coimbatore, Cuddalore,Karur, Dindigul, Nilgiris, Perambalur, Dharmapuri, Erode, Kanchipuram, Kanyakumari, Pudukkottai, Ramanathapuram, Salem, Sivaganga, Teni, Thanjavur, Madurai, Nagapattinam, Namakal, Thiruvarur, Tiruchchirappalli, Tiruvannamalai, Tuticorin, Vellore, Viluppuram, Virudunagar, Ariyalur and other regions of Tamilnadu and NRI Single tamil girls and boys. " . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tamil Brides: Tamil Matrimonials. Here you can search potential brides based on age, height, caste (Brahmin - Iyer, Brahmin - Iyenger, Pillai, etc), sub-caste (Brihatcharan, Brahacharana, Thenkalai, Vadakalai, etc), star (Poosam, Thiruvathirai, Sadhayam, Thiruvonam, etc), home city (Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Singapore, etc), and so on (educational level, career, etc.) Registration is free and takes just a few minutes of your time. Tamil Brides is a part of Tamil Matrimony which is part of Bharat Matriomony Dot Com. At the mother site, you can find partners from all over the Indian world: in particular Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalee, Marathi, Marwadi, Oriya, Parsi, Punjabi, Sindhi, Telugu and Urdu brides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tamil Brides and Grooms: Tamil Brides and Grooms. Browse for your life partner... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tamil Chat Online: Tamil Chat Online. This is site is dedicated thus: "Nice tamil stories, tamil jokes, tamil song lyrics Latest news. Please share your stories, jokes with others." . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tamil Matrimony says: Sinhala Matrimony. The website asks: "Are you single? Would you like to mingle with your perfect partner of your life time?? "Sinhala Matrimony brings the perfect match of yours closer to you by searching all the profiles. It is absolutely FREE to join, so why wait? "Sri Lanka Matrimony Features:- "1) Matrimonial services offered through this web will be totally free forever "2) Add Your Profile Or Personal Details for FREE "3) Add Your Photos for FREE "4) Managing multiple profiles using one user account. "5) Search Profiles for FREE "6) Sensitive information like Contact details, Horoscope and photos can be shown/protected in three levels. " http://en.gimeney.net/personals/India/Tamil%20Nadu/Chennai/213682.cdiml: Click here. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tired to be Single: Varanasi Dating. The website says: "Browse Varanasi singles online dating profiles and photo personals. Join our free online dating service and meet sexy singles from Varanasi now. Send private messages and chat to meet your perfect match..." . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Woo Me: Hindu Girls. Find Hindu girls and Hindu women online in free live video & webcam chat. On WooMe, it is easy to meet a Hindu woman -- simply find Hindu girls online, chat live and decide WOOs you! You will find the likes of Sohali here (pictured), and girls like Suki, Preeti, Mala and Dola. And plenty more on top of that! .

m e e t i n g - h i n d i - g i r l s - o f f l i n e MANY WESTERN MEN FIND THEMSELVES ATTRACTED TO THE INDIAN GIRLS IN SINGAPORE AND MALAYSIA, MANY OF WHOM ARE OF TAMIL EXTRACTION. Stickman, that famous expat blogger of the South-East Asian scene, quotes a reader named Harry who says: "For the travellers that prefer the company of dusky maidens, the Indian community of Malaysia is around 10% of the population. Indian girls have a 'Western' facial appearance but I think the allure of darker skin coupled with nice big eyes, long black hair and a wide grin serves to speed up the heartbeat. I can understand why Western men become attracted to Indian girls as they tend to have an innocent and sweet playful approach to conversation. The key to forming a lasting relationship with an Indian girl lies in the level of her usually strict family upbringing and religious background. As in Thailand, an Indian family is very close knit, and a western boyfriend will eventually be accepted into that family providing his intentions appear to be honourable. It's not an easy task to break down this cultural barrier. Particularly so if the girl's family are Hindu in the strictest sense as it's the parents responsibility to arrange marriages without courtship! However, it's my experience that the Indian people of Malaysia are the friendliest of all ethnic groups and they are certainly easy to talk to and reason with. For those wanting to make a good impression to the girl's father, simply take along a bottle of 'black label' and the cultural differences will melt away, or at least for that night..." It is worth noting that Harry has a wife of Malaysian Indian extraction, so he knows what he is talking about.

g a y - & - l e s b i a n - s u p p o r t INDIA'S GAY AND LESBIAN PEOPLE ARE COMING OUT OF THE SHADOWS IN INCREASING NUMBERS. Last year (2008) Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore held their first ever gay pride parades, with about 900 people marching in each city while a largely supportive crowd looked on. I got this from the Globe and Mail newspaper from Toronto, Canada. The Globe and Mail went on to report: "A new lesbian support hot-line opened by a Chennai gay group received 45 calls the first day they turned on their phone, a few months back -- although they were not meant to open for another 10 days. Many were from young women who had recently found a name for their gay identity, but were being forced into marriages by their parents..."

h i n d i - w e d d i n g - r e s o u r c e s SHAADI IS THE HINDI WORD FOR "WEDDING". There are ten types of matchings astrologers check to see the marriage compatibility. They are: Dhinam: This indicate the luck, health and longevity of partners. Ganam: This indicates the peace of mind in their life. Mahendran: This indicate level of wealth especially money to be generated by them in future. Sthree Dhirgam: This indicates all kinds of wealth to be acquired in their life. Yoni: This indicates the intimacy between the partners in their private life. Raasi: This indicates the birth (progeny) and luck to have children. Raasi Adhipathi: This indicates more generations in their life. Vashiyam: This indicate the intimacy level between the partners in general life and misunderstanding between them. Rajju: This indicates the longevity of partners and losing partner within short time. Vedhai: This indicates elimination of sorrow/bad patch in life. Here are some Tamil wedding resources: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brides of Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka's first and only bridal and wedding resource. Here is everything you could need here in planning and executing your Sri Lankan wedding. You can find: love poems to include in your wedding stationery; "all you need to know" about the bridal shower; recipes from the kitchen to help you look good at the ceremony. These recipes include a lemon facial toner, a foaming hot chocolate milk bath, a strawberry foot exfoliant and a handcream treatment employing grated beeswax, jojoba oil and aloe vera. If you need drummers and dancers for your wedding in Sri Lanka, you can find some here. You can also find help in booking hotels, finding wedding photographers, arranging entertainment and of course ordering wedding cakes! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wed In Sri Lanka: The Online Wedding Planner. This site is intended for Sri Lankans abroad and at home, and for non-Sri Lankans who wish to get married in Sri Lanka. If you are looking for a wedding partner in Sri Lanka, you can even search for one here. The site can provide services such as hotel receptions, entertainment (music, band, DJ), dressing and dress making, help with the Poruwa ceremony, and caters for Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim weddings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FAST LOVE, SPEED DATING UPDATE: VALENTINES DAY 2009 afags! wrote recently: "This year, the buzz around Valentine's Day has gone up several notches, what with chaddis and sarees being exchanged by those on the two sides of a high-pitched morality battle. However, it's not just the pro- and anti-Valentine's Day groups that are raising the decibel level: radio stations too are lining up with a host of activities for the special day. "So, for instance, if the boys tune into Red FM's Mumbai station, they get an opportunity to woo RJ Malishka and earn the glorious title of Malishka ka sabse bada deewana. "Maintaining its programming initiative of addressing the issue of the economic slowdown, Big FM has rolled out Chota Budget, Bada Pyar offering listeners romantic and exotic, yet cost-effective, options to make the most of the day. RJs will share interesting tips on cost-effective gifts, shopping destinations, restaurants and other love destinations. They will also invite listeners to share their love stories and dedicate songs on air..." "At the end of the event, participants submit a list of who they would like to provide their contact information to. If there is a match, contact information is forwarded to both parties. Radio One is powering this initiative and will accept entries through the on-air shows. It will select 40 contestants, 20 boys and 20 girls, who will then participate in the speed dating contest. "To win, listeners in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad need to tune into Radio City's Fast Love contest..." chikka --- Send SMS messages to your pals from the web. Dosti Forever: Fropper Relationships. Claims to have four million members from all over India. Want to recommend a good place to meet Tamil girls in Tamil Nadu or Sri Lanka or India or America or wherever you live now? Go here for the comments: View Comments Post Comments Contact the author Rob Sullivan at coderot@gmail.com. Anticopyright April 2010.