By Suhas Yellapantula - HYDERABAD | Published: 15th May 2014 09:56 AM
Last Updated: 15th May 2014 09:57 AM
‘I’m an artist and I’m not unemployed’, ‘I’m a man and I love to cook’, ‘We are from South India and we are not Madrasis’ – these are only a few examples from #Breaking Stereotypes, a social campaign by a matrimonial website that has taken the web world viral.
Catchy in their concept and to the point, the campaign had many youngsters share a knowing smile before they went ahead and shared the post. As urban India looks to break away from the shackles of traditional notions of society, what has made the campaign pick up so fast is the freedom of expression it affords youngsters.
“When we started this website, we wanted to be different from the traditional matrimonial websites and we wanted to target people from the age-group of 22 to 27. As we started to speak to more people, we realised that youngsters today are not looking for caste or sub-caste or religion for marrying a person, they just want to connect with the other person. That’s when we decided to start #Breaking Stereotypes,” shares Hitesh Dhingra, co-founder of Trulymadly.com that launched the campaign.
Explaining the process, Hitesh, one of three co-founders at the company, says “We reached out to around 50 people through our friends and family. These are real people with real stories. So we decided to click their pictures and post them on Facebook.”
The campaign, which started on April 9, has received over 90,000 shares in a little over a month. Hitesh admits that they had never imagined it to be such an overwhelming success. “We never expected it to go this viral! It clearly suggests that there is a complete shift in the mindset of youngsters. Not just children, but even parents are slowly opening up to the idea and prefer their child to choose their own partners,” added the 34-year-old.
When 42-year-old Rajesh Dudeja from New Delhi was one of the first people to share the the campaign on Facebook, little did he know that it would become a trending topic on social media.
Within four days, the album had received 3,750 shares and Dudeja himself received 128 friend requests from people who thought he was the fountainhead behind the idea and wanted to be a part of the album.
“I happened to come across this offbeat matrimony site which had posted these in their blog. I really liked their concept, and thought it would be a great share on Facebook as there are many liberal youth out there who are trying to break free from the chains of tradition, dogma and stereotyping,” said Dudeja.
One of the reasons for the campaign going viral was the fact that it was easy to relate to as many youngsters could see the story of their lives through these pictures. “One picture shows a man holding a placard which reads ‘I studied electrical engineering and I design clothes’. It’s the story of my life really – when I decided to design clothes after completing my engineering, people laughed at me. Even my parents were not very supportive but I went ahead and followed my passion. I’m sure there are a lot of people out there with similar stories and I’m glad this campaign is creating awareness,” expresses city-lad Uday Bhaskar.
Messages from the campaign
I have a degree in science and I’m a make-up artist
I am a doctor and I have good handwriting
I run an NGO but I still love my H&M blazer My best friend is a guy and I’m not sleeping with him
I am a Punjabi and I don’t like Yo Yo Honey Singh
Last Updated: 15th May 2014 09:57 AM
‘I’m an artist and I’m not unemployed’, ‘I’m a man and I love to cook’, ‘We are from South India and we are not Madrasis’ – these are only a few examples from #Breaking Stereotypes, a social campaign by a matrimonial website that has taken the web world viral.
Catchy in their concept and to the point, the campaign had many youngsters share a knowing smile before they went ahead and shared the post. As urban India looks to break away from the shackles of traditional notions of society, what has made the campaign pick up so fast is the freedom of expression it affords youngsters.
“When we started this website, we wanted to be different from the traditional matrimonial websites and we wanted to target people from the age-group of 22 to 27. As we started to speak to more people, we realised that youngsters today are not looking for caste or sub-caste or religion for marrying a person, they just want to connect with the other person. That’s when we decided to start #Breaking Stereotypes,” shares Hitesh Dhingra, co-founder of Trulymadly.com that launched the campaign.
Explaining the process, Hitesh, one of three co-founders at the company, says “We reached out to around 50 people through our friends and family. These are real people with real stories. So we decided to click their pictures and post them on Facebook.”
The campaign, which started on April 9, has received over 90,000 shares in a little over a month. Hitesh admits that they had never imagined it to be such an overwhelming success. “We never expected it to go this viral! It clearly suggests that there is a complete shift in the mindset of youngsters. Not just children, but even parents are slowly opening up to the idea and prefer their child to choose their own partners,” added the 34-year-old.
When 42-year-old Rajesh Dudeja from New Delhi was one of the first people to share the the campaign on Facebook, little did he know that it would become a trending topic on social media.
Within four days, the album had received 3,750 shares and Dudeja himself received 128 friend requests from people who thought he was the fountainhead behind the idea and wanted to be a part of the album.
“I happened to come across this offbeat matrimony site which had posted these in their blog. I really liked their concept, and thought it would be a great share on Facebook as there are many liberal youth out there who are trying to break free from the chains of tradition, dogma and stereotyping,” said Dudeja.
One of the reasons for the campaign going viral was the fact that it was easy to relate to as many youngsters could see the story of their lives through these pictures. “One picture shows a man holding a placard which reads ‘I studied electrical engineering and I design clothes’. It’s the story of my life really – when I decided to design clothes after completing my engineering, people laughed at me. Even my parents were not very supportive but I went ahead and followed my passion. I’m sure there are a lot of people out there with similar stories and I’m glad this campaign is creating awareness,” expresses city-lad Uday Bhaskar.
Messages from the campaign
I have a degree in science and I’m a make-up artist
I am a doctor and I have good handwriting
I run an NGO but I still love my H&M blazer My best friend is a guy and I’m not sleeping with him
I am a Punjabi and I don’t like Yo Yo Honey Singh
Source: The New Indian Express
