This is how India actually wants to date based on real user searches! Last week, I created a calculator that uses demographic data to show how many people actually fit your dating standards. I'm overwhelmed by the response. Over 4,000 of you have used it already.
What's happening on the 'other side' of the dashboard is even more interesting. The collective usage data has revealed a snapshot of what Indians are actually looking for in their partners across age groups. Bear with me, this is a long one, but the data is too good not to share.
What this tells me is that while India is modernizing in its lifestyle (alcohol, diet), it is still deeply anchored in traditional economic structures (income, provider roles).
Highlights:
Women looking for men start their income floor at ₹20L and scale up to ₹40L as the partner's age increases. Men meanwhile have a median floor between ₹9-₹18L, peaking for the early 30s age bracket.
The lower income requirements for women could be a reflection of the gender pay gap and low women’s labour participation. Are men asking for less because they know not enough women can hit those high-earning brackets yet? This can also be read as the man’s desire to remain the primary earner.
The median height standard for men under 35 is in a tight range of 5'7" to 6'0". Remarkably consistent. For women it’s 5'1" to 5'9". Both accept wider height ranges as they age.
In the 36+ bracket for men, the median minimum height actually drops to 5'5", while the median income requirement hits its peak at ₹40L. In the later stages of the ‘rishta market’, financial security effectively "buys" height flexibility.
Smoking is the single most powerful ‘veto’ in Indian dating. Across all ages and genders, ~70% of users select 'No' for smoking.
No one actively prefers a drinker, but both men and women are becoming increasingly indifferent to whether their partner drinks. Drinking is no longer the taboo it once was for women.
A surprisingly large cohort of women demands a PG degree from their man, a requirement that increases with age. For older partners, men seem to deprioritize academic pedigree in favor of other factors like companionship or personality.
Women are looking for men who are already established in growth hubs (70% searches include metro preference). Men are more flexible about where their partner comes from (50% open to non-metro) perhaps assuming the woman will move to wherever they are.
The 'progressive' generation appears to be more conservative than we like to admit. 30% of young users demand a vegetarian partner, mirroring the population of India's so-called ‘upper caste’. Young Indians still want to marry within community.
In case you have not tried the calculator yet - https://indianrishtacalculator.whyvanamali.com/
(PS: 140,000 data points were crunched for this with Gemini 3 via Gemini CLI)