T he man was “coincidentally” near her hotel. That’s what he said, anyway. Ripal Dixit, 36, had mentioned a girls’ trip to Jaipur in passing during one of her early conversations with a potential match she’d found on a matrimonial app. What followed was a cascade of calls. Where was she staying? What were her plans? “I am near your hotel; let’s meet.” Her group of friends, wandering through the Pink City, began to feel as if they were being “softly stalked.” “It was absurd in hindsight,” says Ripal, “but also revealing. Matrimonial apps often advertise seriousness and intention, but many interactions feel less like conversations about partnership and more like badly disguised dating-app behaviour with parental approval attached to it.” The arranged marriage system was once a quiet, family-orchestrated affair. Cups of chai, a few pleasantries, a boy and a girl awkwardly seated across each other while their parents negotiated futures, but now, it has transformed into something far more complicated.…