Indian Matchmaking Season 2: Sima Aunty is Back Again and More Made-Up Than Before

I remember watching and fast-forwarding through Season 1 of Netflix’s “Indian Matchmaking” in 2020. I sat on my sofa with a dumb-founded expression on my face. “Was this for real?!” It seemed  regressive and bemusing to say the least. But more than that, I felt uncomfortable explaining everything to my non-desi friends that this is how Indians approached matrimony. 

I thought this was fiction but later I realized that this soap opera-style reality show was real! The eligible bachelors and ladies on the show are real people, agreeing to let people see their personal lives unfold on Netflix. I was also surprised to think that marriages were still arranged in India because even 40 years back my friends and classmates in Bombay were pairing up on their own. More amazing was the fact that the concept of arranged marriage, (a conventional method 70-80 years back) had even found a place among Indians in America. 

Sima aunty is back again in Season 2 streaming on Netflix. She is more made-up than before with designer outfits, jewelry and hairdos to boot. She pops up at the doorsteps of single millennials around the globe, to help them find their perfect match. I wonder if she really has decades of experience, insight, and time-tested techniques to change their lives to happily ever after?

But the truth about marriage and everything in life is that one size does not fit all. I do understand that there is a need for singles in America, and overseas to find an Indian/ Desiwith a similar cultural background. People do find suitable partners through dating apps but it is not easy because the matches are limited. I have also heard that there are some who treat matching apps like a flippable Rolodex. Always thinking that there is another person who may be a better fit just a click away. 

What is wrong with an accomplished young lady finding a person who is halfway physically fit and appealing? 

Some things discussed on the show are right. Dating in big cities like New York and Los Angeles is like amerry-go-round. Flaky, egoistic  and inconsistent people also inhabit the apps. Sima aunty does provide value to those who are frustrated by social apps. She takes out the guessing game for young people and their families by matching them with those who come from a similar cultural background.  

But not everyone, especially young educated  girls have to settle for someone who is a 60-70 percent match. A golden yardstick for Taparia. What is wrong with an accomplished young lady finding a person who is halfway physically fit and appealing? I wish she would stop telling the girls “Sab kuch nahi milega!” “Don’t be so superficial,” “Thoda compromise karna toh padta hai!” Sima aunty keeps telling her own happy marriage story and shows off  happily married lovey-dovey couples who were married 20-30 years back. She does not show those people who are trapped in unhappy arranged marriages.

Aparna, Nadia, and Pradhyuman return in the second season of the story. The girls are doing wonders in their professional lives but are still not finding their “Prince Charmings.” Pradyuman, on the other hand, after rejecting 150 suitable matches proffered by Sima Taparia has advanced in leaps and bounds in his career. He has opened two new restaurants. Designed high-end jewelry, has an enviable closet with designer clothes and is also making bespoke cocktails. More than that, he has also found an equally attractive girl of his dreams, Aashima (on his own!). 

To wow the American viewers, there is a luxurious wedding at the Lake Palace hotel in Udaipur as eye candy. Aparna is no longer a client of Taparia, but she is on the show. She consults Korean astrologers and hangs out with her girlfriends and is her own brand ambassador. I thought that was a bit too much when convincing the Guyanese American Nadia against getting attracted to a younger man Vishaal versus the quiet unassuming Shekhar from Season 1, Simi aunty says: Nick Jonas and Priyanka are not a suitable match because he looks small and petite compared to Priyanka.

Among the new clients are Akshay, Arshneel and Vinesh. Akshay Dhumal, a 39-year-old businessman from Nashik has to proffer Sima’s services because Bombay girls don’t want to live in Nashik. I don’t  blame them. While Akshay keeps aspiring for a Danish wife who will adjust with his parents’ family values. Unreal. Veeral Joshi is a 30-year-old career woman who seems very set in her ways but she seems to be making progress with an Indian-born Gujarati boy from New York. 

Then there is Shital. She is an independent woman, who knows what she wants and manages to find a partner without Sima’s help. Sima loves Arshneel. A cardiology fellow from Cleveland. He is simple. He loves Mexican food and laughs a lot. He is seen finding common ground with a young dentist from India who Sima aunty finds suitable for Arshneel because she is in the “medical field and very bubbly.” 

Vinesh, on the other hand, wants his wife to be the “spitting image of his mother” with a “sexy” vibe! Sima keeps telling him to cut fewer jokes. Just like season 1, “Indian Matchmaking” Season 2 does not impress me. I wonder how much is the price tag for Sima aunty’s fairy godmother’s services? There is no fool-proof formula up Sima Taparia’s elegant sleeve. My two cents to the eligible hopefuls — keep trying with or without Sima Aunty. You have to be serious about marriage. Make a real effort if you want to tie the knot.

---

With one foot in Huntsville, Alabama, the other in her birth home India and a heart steeped in humanity, writing is a contemplative practice for Monita Soni. She has published hundreds of poems, movie reviews, book critiques, essays and contributed to combined literary works. Her two books are My Light Reflections and Flow through My Heart. You can hear her commentaries on Sundial Writers Corner WLRH 89.3FM and the Princess Theater.