Weddings and e-heavens

WE HAVE seen romance on the net. E-cards, e-dates, chats, gifts and even smooches. Then came marriage. Now, dot coms get deeper and more region specific. Like the one that's been recently launched, www.mangalyadharanam.com, a ``complete portal for Tamil/Kerala Iyer community''.

``An example of enriching our rich tradition and modern hi-tech knowhow, thus retaining our values,'' say the promoters. Services provided by the site include horoscopes, starwise predictions, info on marriage halls, checklist for marriage, auspicious days, muhurthams, tips on Amavasai Tharpanam, religious rituals, marriage rituals, introduction to vedas, spiritual practices apart from e-mail and chatting facilities.

While on one hand there are dotcoms such as mangalyadharanam.com and kalyanam.com today that aid preparations for the wedding, on the other there are on-the-ground courses that facilitate ``marriage enrichment''.

Vineyard Centre is organising one such course. ``Marriage has forever been positioned as the culmination of the love-story rather than the beginning of one.

We are well-versed with how to prepare for the wedding celebrations but completely unprepared for the reality of marriage,'' says Vineyard.

And hence the centre will conduct five week long ``marriage enrichment courses'' periodically. The course focusses on the ``very real concerns of developing communication skills, deepening personal relationship and making time for each other within the busy context of every day life''.

``The idea is to get real, talk with freedom and work out practical solutions,'' says a Vineyard representative. The course that costs Rs. 500 will be conducted by three couples who ``have struggled with conflicts of their own married lives, but nevertheless managed to keep the spark alive''.

Mail wedlocked@vineyardcenter.com for application forms or call 3740858.

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