Matrimonial ad seeking ‘non-farting, non-burping' husband goes viral, here’s why

New Delhi: The Internet is a bizarre world and nothing weird can go unchecked from here. Another weird incident has taken social media by storm. A matrimonial ad for a 'non-farting' and 'non-burping'  husband, desired for a 30-year-old woman, is going viral on social media platforms. 

The matrimonial ad said that the woman, over 30 years of age and educated, working in "social sector, against capitalism" sought a "handsome, well-built" groom strictly between 25 to 28 years of age. Other requirements included that the groom needs to be the only son with an established business, a bungalow or at least a 20-acre farmhouse.

Comedienne Aditi Mittal shared the matrimonial ad on Twitter, and in a couple of hours it went viral and Twitterarties gave amusing responses to the tweet.

Did someone put out a matrimonial ad for me pic.twitter.com/DKsbk0iijT — Toolkit for Hot Takes (@awryaditi) June 15, 2021

While many expressed their amusement at the unusual wedding ad, others raised doubts about its authenticity. Now, a BBC report has confirmed what was long suspected - the ad is nothing more than a prank. 

BBC reached out to the email address mentioned in the ad (curbyourpatriarchy@gmail.com) and managed to track down the "opinionated feminist" - a woman who does not want to reveal her real name, instead adopted the pseudonym "Sakshi".

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The report revealed that the wedding ad evolved from a prank between Sakshi, her brother Srijan and her best friend Damyanti (also not their real names).

"It was a small prank we played for Sakshi's 30th birthday," said Srijan. "Turning 30 is a milestone, especially because of all the conversation in our society around marriage. As you turn 30, your family and society start putting pressure on you to get married and settle down," he said.

The night before Sakshi's birthday, her brother gifted her a scroll with only the email address that would later appear in the matrimonial.

"When I unrolled it, it had the email address - curbyourpatriarchy@gmail.com - and the password. I had no idea what I was supposed to do with that," Sakshi told BBC. "In the morning, Srijan brought me a copy of the newspaper with the page opened to the matrimonial columns and we had a good laugh. It was a fun prank."

But the prank also had its downside - Sakshi says she received a number of abusive emails.

She was called a "gold-digger", a "cougar" and "toxic", among other things. One woman threatened that her brother would "throw her off the 78th floor", while another person wrote, "all feminists are idiots".

For Sakshi, the ad was a "satirical statement" on society's patriarchal notions. 

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