For Ankita of “Indian Matchmaking,” Honesty is the Best Policy

The Delhi-based entrepreneur says if you’re not going to be honest to yourself, you’ll end up in a soup.

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Delhi entrepreneur Ankita Bansal talks with matchmaker Sima Taparia. (Netflix)

The Juggernaut

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August 21, 2020

Ankita Bansal won hearts on Netflix’s reality series Indian Matchmaking for her perspective on relationships: honesty is the best policy.

In the show, Bansal, who runs a clothing business, employs the services of Sima Taparia, “Mumbai’s top matchmaker,” to find a partner. The Juggernaut spoke with Bansal about the matchmaking experience, companionship, and her entrepreneurial journey.

The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Watch the full Q&A on IGTV.

You were portrayed as the young, modern millennial in Delhi. Did you expect that you would come off that way, especially as a foil to some of the other participants from India? 

It was actually a reality documentary, a docu-reality. So whatever was on-screen, I would not use the word portrayal because that would mean that I was trying to bring out a different side to me, which might not exist in real life. I'm very content and I wasn’t surprised because that's who I am. I was apprehensive of how I might be accepted or how my views might be taken in — because coming from a society like India, sometimes you feel a little intimidated because you have such strong opinions, so you don’t know how other people might react. That's been me since I was 16 years old. So the first thing my family members who called [after the show] said was: “We’re not surprised.”

In the show, you talked about how the interpretation of an independent woman is someone who cannot get married and cannot adjust — that she is cunning or chalu. Is this true? Or is this changing in India?

I’d say that we’re getting there. We’re not yet there. I faced these issues because I have a very independent thought process and the way I view companionship. I'm not going to use the word “marriage” because I don't know whether I want to end up being married or whether I want to end up with a companion. Of course I love the idea of waking up next to the person I’m in love with. [My family is] beginning to accept me for who I am now. My mami [aunt] actually just said the other day, “No matter what, I can't take away what you've gotten yourself to be. I can't. This is your time, go out and shine.”

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