Personality not caste, ethnicity tops matchmaking: Survey

Smart love is the new mantra for young Indian singles who no longer want to play by the rules of religion, caste and ethnicity, according to a recent survey by a modern matchmaking service.
The survey 'How Indian singles are chasing smart love and reason to find a partner' conducted on 520 singles across the country by online matchmaking website TrulyMadly.Com throws light on the expectations of young singles.
More Indian singles are leaving behind their parents' pigeonhole of religion, caste and ethnicity and progressing to find 'smart love', the survey found.
"I want someone with whom I can be myself. I want my partner to be an honest, passionate and realistic person," says Sonal, 28 years old, lecturer.

The survey kept parents and other society out of the picture to put forth "what independent singles feel is important for a stable relationship and marriage."
Saurabh Mittal, 33, who works as a delivery manager at a computer technology company says, "I am looking for someone with whom I can connect with on common grounds and not what our parents think will matter.

"If that person is not able to understand my preferences but is ideal from my parents' point of view just because she matches my height and caste, then I don't think it will work out between us," Mittal says.

The survey bases criteria on education, income, health and fitness, personality, occupation, religion, caste, ethnicity and even Manglik.
Individuals within the age group of 22 to 35 years in tier-1 cities namely Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai answered a set of questions online.
"Our team of psychologists devised a set of questions which were distributed to both singles and couple and we even got relationship counsellor and focus group data to build a compatibility tool to capture the attributes young singles are looking for in their partners," says Rahul Kumar, Co-founder of TrulyMadly.Com.
Personality (96 per cent) tops the chart when it comes to choosing a partner with big bucks, good looks and education - all taking a backseat.

For 25 year old Art Director, Abhishek Sharma "a person with a positive attitude in life and a pleasing personality" is the right match for him.
"Someone who cares for me and understands me and my feelings are the key criteria for me to look for a partner. A pleasing personality is an added criterion for me," says Sharma.