I am a matchmaker with a difference: Sima Taparia

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Fairmont Jaipur recently hosted an evening with Sima Taparia, the renowned Indian Matchmaker from Mumbai to share insights on the modern art of matchmaking and upcoming trends in Indian weddings. In an exclusive conversation with All About Jaipur, the celebrity matchmaker threw light on matchmaking in the age of online dating apps, experience of shooting with Netflix, Jaipur as a wedding haven and much more.

“Hello, I am Sima Taparia from Mumbai!”, is a dialogue that had taken social media by the storm after the blockbuster TV documentary series, Indian Matchmaking released on Netflix last year. Spanning across India and the United States, the show followed single individuals who sought matchmaker Sima Taparia’s help in finding a perfect match for them.

Fairmont Jaipur recently hosted an evening with the ace matchmaker to discuss the nuances of matchmaking in today’s day and age. Below are some excerpts of our exclusive interview with Sima Taparia as well as snippets from a conversation she had with Kerrie Hannaford, Vice President Commercial, Accor India & South Asia.

Cut out for Matchmaking

“Since my childhood, I had the unique ability to talk to people, socialize with them and understand their personality. These qualities have helped me in becoming a successful matchmaker”, shares Sima while talking about how she landed up in this profession. A matchmaker since 2005, Sima believes that matchmaking is a big help to the community. “It is a matchless emotion to see two souls come together owing to my efforts. The families shower me with their blessings and the feeling is nothing short of divine”, adds Sima.

Matchmaking in the age of Tinder

In today’s time, online dating apps like Tinder and Bumble are hugely popular, especially among the youth. However, the celebrity matchmaker believes that these apps will not subdue the relevance of matchmaking or arranged marriages since her way of working is quite unique. “I am a matchmaker with a difference. I believe in personally meeting and visiting the families of those looking for a match. I closely look at all aspects like the standard of living, business, family values and background and only after intricately scanning and filtering profiles, I suggest a suitable match. These kinds of exhaustive efforts cannot be carried out by online apps.”

Experience with Netflix

Sima Taparia rose to fame across the globe after the documentary TV series ‘Indian Matchmaking’ released in 2020 on Netflix and instantly became a huge hit. Recounting her experience of shooting the series, Sima shares: “Back in 2010, I shot a documentary ‘A Suitable Girl’ which captured the wedding of my daughter. In 2017, that documentary won an award at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was after this documentary became a hit that the idea of having a documentary show on matchmaking with Netflix materialized. We shot for five months with my clients and the fact that there were no dialogues or script and things were shown as they were made the show extremely popular. In fact, it has placed the Indian matchmaking process as well as weddings on the global map.”

The show Indian Matchmaking recently also got nominated for the prestigious Emmy Awards and the second season is in the offing.

Sima Taparia_Fairmont Jaipur — Sima Taparia

Mantra of a successful marriage

If a marriage matched by Sima does not work out well in the future, it does not make her feel weighed down. Talking about how she manages to take this in her stride, she says: “My job is only to suggest suitable matches. Before getting married, the families as well as the groom and bride meet several times and take a decision based on their own judgment. For a marriage to work out, it is necessary to have love and respect for your partner as well as be flexible to a bit of compromise and adjustment.”

Jaipur as a Wedding Haven

On being asked whether the big fat Indian wedding industry is going to see a change after the pandemic, Sima said: “The big fat Indian weddings are going to continue for sure. These days people have just one or two children and parents want to have a lavish wedding.”

Sharing her views on Jaipur as a wedding destination, the matchmaker said that weddings are synonymous with Jaipur. “Jaipur not only has spectacular locations for weddings but is also a great place to shop for jewellery and clothes. Moreover, I also feel that Tier 2 cities like Jaipur are an apt choice for settling down after marriage and have a good quality of life. My clients often want to get their daughters married in cities like Delhi or Mumbai but I feel Jaipur has a relaxed pace of life with all modern conveniences”, opines Sima.