Amit Tandon, an account executive in Tanzania, was looking for a suitable match when he chanced upon the details of prospective brides in Mumbai, Surat and Hyderabad in an email he received from a group of which he was a member. He finally decided on a girl from within the list, and is a happily married man today.
Nandita Tanwar, who was hunting for a paying guest (PG) accommodation in Ahmedabad, too, was surprised when she found that her email-box provided her with an ideal location. She did not have to scan through the myriad of local newspapers or logon to websites.
These are not lone cases. A group called Friends@googlegroups, is giving a tough fight to existing portals which provide services for accommodation, jobs and marriages — all by simply circulating mails, which is akin to viral marketing. Started five months earlier by a Gopal Nair, it grew to 10 members in a week; currently, it has 13,000 members. Nearly 20 marriages have taken place thanks to this mailing group, and more than 40 people have got a job.
“We have members from across the world. All one has to do is send a mail to register with us. Messages meant for posting/circulation are forwarded to us. These are screened and only useful ones are circulated, as we want to restrict the number of mails each member gets. The idea is to exchange mails relating to jobs (both available and required), matrimonials, healthcare, accommodation and others for free. So far, our group has helped solemnise 19 marriages and six more are in the final stages. Besides, 43 people have secured jobs, including a few foreign assignments,” says Nair, who conceived the entire idea.
According to him, once a member’s purpose is solved, he can request the group for cancellation of membership. “We do not send further mails to them after this,” he said.
Success stories abound. Consider this: Kiran Shaji, who hails from Kutch in Gujarat, is now working with a Bahrain-based company after he became a member of the group recently.
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“I have had the opportunity to come to Bahrain and work with Dynamic Freight after I subscribed to the Friends@googlegroups mails,” Shaji says.
Sydney-based James Michael, whose son was looking for a rented accommodation in Bangalore, avers: “My son was looking for a rented accommodation in Bangalore, preferably at the Madivala/Koramangala area. When this requirement was circulated among the group’s members, my son got a tremendous response. I am continuing to be a member of this group, as I find the information shared interesting, besides sharing it with my contacts and friends.”