Unlock Your Potential….

While these events not exclusively a Desi thing, lock and key parties are proving a fun and fast way for expat Asians to hook up and have really taken off within the Desi singles communities in Britain and America.

The deal goes like this: You sign up, you show up, everyone gets a free drink, then the ladies take a padlock each, while the men grab a key. Everyone circulates trying to find his or her “perfect match” (as with all things in life, there is of course more than one option.) Once a “match” meets, they can flirt with each other for as long as they feel like it, or return to the event HQ, which is situated somewhere in the room and get another key or padlock… Read the full story »

Leading ladies that may be looking for love

Looking to date a female Indian celebrity? Or just seeking some solidarity with the red carpet strollers who’ve yet to find love. Yours truly has dedicated the next hour to becoming your personal paparazzi in order take a peek at who’s young, free and single in Bollywood these days (in no particular pecking order…).

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Iranian Internet Dating: Real Life or Just TV?

A young, single Iranian woman sits at the dinner table while her parents discuss her love life, spurred on by anecdotes from her younger brother. Taking solace in her bedroom, she flips open her laptop and logs on to IranianPersonals.com an ethnic singles website run by Potoma’s World Singles to find a suitable suitor…

The scenario takes place in a TV commercial, which was aired in Farsi, with English subtitles, in Maryland, Northern Virginia and other areas with a high concentration of young Iranian singles, such as Orange County.

This rose-tinted ad was broadcast during entertainment and dating shows like True Hollywood and Blind Date in the week leading up to and including Valentine’s Day 2004.

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The So-Called Spinster Phenomenon

I don’t know a great deal about Saudi Arabia, but luckily I found a really enlightening blog by Laura of Arabia on Saudi dating and singles, which contains some quite surprising stats: According to one Saudi sociologist, there are around 3 million single women in the Kingdom, and about 1.5 million of them are aged 30 or above. This so-called “spinster phenomenon” is raising concern…

It’s tough to be a single woman over 30 in a country where a lady’s life is validated by getting married and having children, and as Laura’s blog points out, this is reflected in the press: Sheik Ibrahim al-Khodeiri, a Supreme Court judge, told the Al Riyadh newspaper, that a woman has a “shelf life” that lasts only as long as she can have children.
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What Exactly is a TV Marriage?

“Shaadi Online” means “Marriage Online” in Urdu, and this popular Karachi-based prime-time TV show has already arranged scores of Pakistani marriages during its 6-year history.

The secret behind its success lies in its knack for respecting Pakistani and Muslim cultural tendencies that leave matchmaking singles to the family and community. Shaadi Online gives modern Pakistani singles them the opportunity to look outside the box, but to do so with their families’ backing, a little televised guidance and of course, a touch of glitz ‘n’ glamour.

What’s more (and here’s the clever bit) by using a computer database that contains thousands of singles, the show does its bit to break down the wealth and status barriers that are often crucial factors when it comes to scrutinizing a potential partner in Pakistani society – the kind of pressures prospective brides especially tend to come up against, when introduced to potential suitors.

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Single Life in Modern, Multicultural Turkey…

Turkey has well and truly earned its title as a Transcontinental Eurasian Nation. Bordered by 8 countries and uniting Asia, The Middle East and Europe, this land, which was once at the helm of the famous and feared Ottoman Empire, has long provided rich soil for many diverse cultures.

Turkey has a Muslim heart and soul.  More than 99% percent of the population is Muslim, with the majority being Sunni, and just less than a quarter being Shia Alevi. Alawite Muslims also live in Adana, Hatay and Mersin.

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