An alumnus of Delhi University and SP Jain school of Global Management, Taksh, founded his first company at age 19 and introduced the brand IITIIMShaadi.com. He has been managing that for over 8 years now. Taksh is obsessed about cars & driving and prefers to travel only by road wherever possible. Taksh has been brilliant in academics since his childhood and has always had a knack to use his learnings towards building something of his own. In his free time, Taksh likes to write fiction and has three published novels to his name. Taksh is trained and is a graduate in classical music.
Please share more about your educational background
I did my graduation – B.com(H) from SGTB Khalsa College in Delhi University and then pursued my MBA from SP Jain school of Global Management.
How did you end up starting IITIIMSHAADI.com?
Before I started the website, we were looking for a match for my cousin brother who was an alum of BITS Pilani and then, IIM Bangalore. We wanted to look for an equally educated girl for him. That time, I realised that finding a highly educated match on a generic matrimonial platform was akin to finding a needle in a haystack. One had to browse a thousand profiles for shortlisting just one. Another big problem we faced was that there was no check on the details provided by an individual. I got so fed up with people either exaggerating their details or blatantly lying altogether that I decided to open a matrimonial site myself – one which would be only for the highly educated and where 100% profiles would be authenticated on identity and education!
Are there any personal dating experiences that led you to starting the website?
Honestly, nothing like that.
What is your opinion on shows like Indian Matchmaking where matrimony is mostly decided by financial background and caste?
My opinion is – good for them. Look, I am not saying one should marry basis education and not basis finances or caste – I am not saying that at all. Each family figures out what criteria is important to them and they should marry according to that. My website is for people that are looking for a highly educated partner. They may also filter based on age, caste etc but finding someone with mental compatibility is a priority to them.
See, it’s like when you buy a car – you could choose on the basis of the brand or the comfort or the horsepower or all of them – there’s no right or wrong, just a matter of personal choice.
What do you envision the future of IITIIMSHAADI.com being?
I definitely want us to be the most respected matrimonial company. Let me explain that – see, we’ll never be the company with the most number of members or with the most number of anything really because we play in a very niche market but I want us to be so good at what we do that anyone who is eligible to register at IITIIMShaadi doesn’t feel the need to even visit any other matrimonial website.
We want to and are going to offer such a boutique experience to our members that people who are currently not eligible to register, study a course which makes them eligible to register at IITIIMShaadi just so that they can search their partner through us.
What is the dating advice you would like to share with the youth of India?
You know, I could say a lot of cliches here like date to marry, or always be honest, or do what the heart says or anything like that but the truth is I don’t believe in taking or giving dating advice from or to anyone. No one has got this figured out and we are all just trying to guess as we go, trying to minimise mistakes and maximise happiness.
What does an ideal relationship look like for you?
I think a relationship where both sides communicate very openly to each other about the littlest of things, feelings, desires is as ideal as it gets in the real world. In such a relationship, people tend to grow so close that they start enjoying just the other person’s presence in the room even if no one’s talking. That’s it, I think any two people who have this in the true sense are the luckiest or the happiest people in this world.
What is the ethos your matrimonial website is based on?
Two words: mental compatibility. I believe you can be in a marriage, but you cannot be happy in it if you don’t share the same mental wavelength with your partner. And while yes, a person’s degree or his educational institution does not guarantee a certain wavelength but using these two tools, you’ll get as close as one can without meeting the person or at least speaking to them. Offering a platform where only highly educated people can find a match amongst each other – the thought behind this is simple – you don’t have to weed out profiles that you know wouldn’t match your wavelength, we have already done that for you. All that’s left is for you to register and prepare for your wedding, because we have got everything else covered.
