Simple and humble are the best words to describe Murugavel Janakiraman, the founder of www.bharatmatrimony.com, one of the most popular matrimonial websites in India. The 42-year-old entrepreneur, one of the busiest in Chennai, has interesting tales to share.
His success story began from his school days. “I was the first in my family to go to high school. Even my elder brother could not continue his studies after Class 10,” says Janakiraman, who went to a school in Royapuram (North Chennai). After school, he would play carrom with his friends every evening. “That was my only entertainment.”
It was in Class 11 that Janakiraman understood the importance of learning English. “I studied in Tamil medium till Class 10. When I changed to English medium in Class 11 in 1985, I found it hard to cope. Understanding what was happening around me was difficult. But, I guess that’s how one learns,” he says.
Janakiraman wanted to pursue a bachelor’s degree in chemistry so that he can find a job as a lab assistant. “But due to low marks in Chemistry in Class 12, I could not get admission. I joined BSc Statistics in Presidency College, Chennai,” he adds. Only after his graduation, Janakiraman realised he was quite lucky. “I decided to pursue MCA at University of Madras because it was gaining popularity with plenty of job opportunities. Luckily, studying statistics proved to be a blessing and a turning point in my life,” he says.
Janakiraman spent his college days participating in competitions. “I represented my college in computer-related competitions and won prizes. Winning prizes gave me confidence and it helped me understand its significance,” he says. He’s still in touch with all his college friends and cherishes the time spent together.
“Every evening we used to go to the shops in the Marina beach and have bajjis. The conversation we had over these bajjis are priceless,” he smiles. The same routine continued during his MCA days, as both campuses were on the same road just opposite to the beach.
After working as a project trainee in Polaris for a year-and-a-half, Janakiraman was looking for a challenge when he was hit by the browser wave of the ’90s. “Web browser was gaining popularity and I got a job as a consultant in New Jersey in the US,” he explains.
Despite a comfortable job, he wanted to do something new. So he invested $10 a month to open a website for Tamils called www.sysindia.com. “In 1997, it was a big hit among the netizens. The wedding section in the site drew maximum hits from the Tamil community,” he recalls. This prompted him to create www.tamilmatrimony.com and other such language-based sites.
Like million others, Janakiraman too found his wife, Deepa, through his own site. “Her family liked my profile on bharatmatrimony and got in touch with me. I responded with my horoscope but didn’t tell them I was the owner of the site. I told them only after a few weeks,” he chuckles.
He came back to India after he was laid off in 2000. With the money he earned through the portals, he reorganised and categorised his websites under www.bharatmatrimony.com. “I opened a 300sqft office in TNagar (Chennai) and the rest is history,” he says.
His website has
facilitated more than two million marriages. “We’ve broken the language barrier between different communities. We hope to become the one and only leader in the industry,” he says.
“Every challenge that we faced during all these years have resulted in growth. So I’m still looking for challenges,” says Janakiraman.
In 2006, his company has found a place in the Limca Book of Records for facilitating the maximum number of marriages n
— dennis@expressbuzz.com