Insanity of matrimon(e)y

Now, here is the situation. The girl enters the house, sees both her parents looking into the computer screen in deep discussion. (Even the CBI wudnt have had such intense "discussions" with A.Raja on the spectrum interrogation.)

Father: han come here.. we were just waiting for you...

Girl (to herself): OH god.. not AGAIN....

Father (in an all excited tone): This guy looks just gr8.. i mean look at his salary.. and his qualification..

Mother:payyanum evalo chamatha irukkan paaru.. veebuthi lan vechundurkan...

Daughter (frustrated): ayyyyyyoooooooooo........ im not interested right now.. why cant you wait for a few more months???? im not ready yet.. pls leave me alone ma...

Mother (in a soft tone that she usually takes up while giving advice): this is the right age and the guy is from a good family.. bblah blah blah blah..

Most of you must have either passed this stage, or in this phase or yet to enter it (waiting to enter it probably). I find this whole process very exhilarating and mostly embarassing. I mean, its really awkward to go tell your parents that you like so and so and to proceed with this guy or girl by just looking at their photo and their interests. For gods sake, they could be faking it all in the website. Or am I being overly dramatic??? well... watever....

Now here are the few things i observed in some of the "best" matrimony sites. These things were put up in the expectations column...

Criteria for marriage:

1. "The guy should be earning atleast 20 laks pa".... wow, what a gr8 requirement.. if i was earning so much, then i would blow it all myself.. why do i need a "life-partner" to do that...

2. "The guy/girl should be well settled in US/UK" - hmph.. well settled!!! now wat does THAT mean??

3. "The guy/girl should be well educated" - now im totally lost.. is this a job interview??

4. "Should have a good character with clean habits" - yeah yeah..for all you know, the guy/girl can have the worst possible character and still put up a very good face in the website..

So long, i believed that the only criteria required for marriage was love and a great character. But what has come over all of us now?? why this greed for money?? These matrimony websites are eating us up, making money out of us.I just cant put up with it. Of course, these web sites do save a lot of time and energy in the search for a suitable bride/groom. But I cant just put up my photo and wait for a Mr.X to comment on how I look. I wouldnt venture into it at the cost of my privacy, at the cost of my pride.