Recent surveys reveal one in five relationships in the UK starts online and almost half of all British singles have searched for love on the internet.

A Bedfordshire Marketing lecturer, Dr Amandeep Takhar explores how young Sikhs are moving away from the traditional arranged marriage route commonly used in Sikh religion and are embracing the online trend.

In her book ‘Computer Culture and The Evolution of Sikh Courtship Rituals,’ Dr Takhar says, “Marriage is probably one of the most important milestones within the Asian/Sikh community, but it’s no longer the case of rigidly pleasing one’s parents and family.

“This generation want the romance, the courtship/dating, the Bollywood scenes and the intenet seems to be a catalyst for change that is allowing them to gain a happy medium!

“By interviewing people, who use shaadi.com, online and in person, we have discovered that the website combines the Western principles of individualism whilst retaining the collective family values seen in Sikhism.

“In addition, Sikh’s are still deciding to marry people of the same religion.”

Dr Takhar added, “The Sikh parents we interviewed appeared to be quite accepting of online dating as their children were happy for them to monitor their activity, and the parents could see their children were a lot happier making their own minds up.

“Online dating in western Sikh communities is here to stay as millions of young people from countries including Canada, England and America are using shaadi.com and finding their future wives or husbands.”

Today alone some nine million Britons will log on looking for love. Yet despite the prolific nature of online dating, this forum will always polarise views.

We asked some readers about their experiences with Muslim marriage websites.

Samina said, “I think these websites are a great idea in theory. They often promise great things like up to four success stories a day. But after I created a profile, within an hour I had received about 40 messages. I should be happy that my profile was being viewed and there was a definite interest.

“But one of my first messages was from a 71-year-old-man in America who said he was willing to move to the UK in his initial message. I’m only 32, and have never been married before. That was a strange request.

“Soon after there was a message from a guy saying that he wanted a kind and honest wife. But he said that waiting so long for a woman was good for his self-control.

“He just sounded desperate. After that I deleted my profile.”

Tahira added, “I didn’t like the overly invasive questions asked by these websites. Like how many times a day I pray, how frequently I like my food to be halal. That’s personal.

“And then they even ask you your hair colour even if you state that you wear hijab!

“But the strangest profile I viewed was a guy who said ‘Only reply to my profile if you are over 5'3. Those shorter need not bother.’ “I know the traditional introductions via the parents were based on superficial things like looks and appearance, but these websites allow people to go that bit too far.”

Dr Takhar’s book, published by Scholars’ Press can be purchased by visiting www.amazon.co.uk.