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Moonit wants to make sure we all learn something new every day. That's why we're teaming up again with our partners at Astrolabe to create a brand new feature on the site: dynamic relationship updates! In addition to the relationship assessments we're already providing, Moonit will be updating your relationships in real-time to let you know what to expect with your crush, significant other, boss, best friend or mother-in-law every day. So pretty soon you'll know… when to call in sick with the swine flu and when to show up for work bright and early with bells on… when to get home a little bit later than usual or go ahead and get it on… when to screen that call and when to pick up… ]]> http://blog.moonit.com/2009/11/learn-something-new-every-day/feed/ 0 http://blog.moonit.com/2009/07/lots-of-lunar-activity/ http://blog.moonit.com/2009/07/lots-of-lunar-activity/#comments Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:19:10 +0000 dana http://blog.moonit.com/?p=949 Moonit wants to take a moment to call out all the lunar activity going on right now because, as you may have guessed, we're all about the moon in all its glory. Forty years ago this week, Neil Armstrong became the first man to step foot on the moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission, a giant step for mankind indeed. And we have to give a shout out to Buzz Aldrin, the most underrated astronaut, commonly referred to as "that second guy who landed on the moon. You know, the one right after Neil Armstrong" (meanwhile, the first object to land on the surface of the moon did so ten years earlier, as part of the Soviet Union's Luna 2 unmanned mission on September 13, 1959, but we won't dwell on that part). 

So not only is this the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, but the solar eclipse is happening this week, too. That means the moon will come between the sun and earth… entirely blocking out the sun. And this isn't just any eclipse. At 6 minutes and 39 seconds, it's the longest eclipse that will occur during the 21st century and won't be surpassed in duration until June 13, 2132! This event has caused quite a stir, with a lot of superstitious people around the world ready to hole themselves up in their houses and pray to every god known to man. Since ancient times, Hindus associated malicious forces with the eclipse, assigning demonic creatures responsible for extinguishing the light and making food and water unfit for consumption. And today, pregnant women in areas like India still stay inside on the day of the eclipse to reduce the risk of birth defects. 

Some astrologers are portending doom while others, like Siva Prasad Tata who runs the site Astro Jyoti, are taking a far less alarmist approach. He says there's no need to worry as eclipses are a natural phenomenon. On the contrary, "during the period of the eclipse, the opposite attracting forces are very, very powerful. From a spiritual point of view, this is a wonderful time to do any type of worship. It will bring about good results, much more than on an ordinary day."

Rated a top 15 site and one of the top 50 companies in India with a record number of documented marriages online, BharatMatrimony has been around since 1997. The site allows users to screen by age, gender, religion (e.g. Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist), caste (e.g. Ahom, Brahmin, Intercaste, Kalita), subcaste, occupation (e.g. Doctor, Accountant, Lawyer, Engineer, Teacher) and location (by city and country). Profiles not only include users' photos and estimated heights but also links to their horoscopes.

My sister's colleague used the site to screen for a potential mate based on the criteria above, but that was only the preliminary measure he took. He then had their natal information run. Only when it was determined that their synastry was good did their families agree to make contact. At that point, they did another reading to double-check before he actually met the girl, spoke to her and agreed to marry her in short order. After all, the signs were all pointing them that way.

It seems that even the most progressive and practical twenty-something year-olds in India–those who have abandoned the practice of formally arranged marriages–are still staying true to their roots by consulting astrological charts and relying upon matchmaking services that use a lot of the same criteria as their age-old predecessors. Only difference is that this time, the services are readily available both on and offline. Although astrological synastry remains the true deciding factor for Indians tying the knot, the process of checking synastries has not been automated and rolled into sites like Bharat. To all you young singles in India and the US, Moonit is just a mouse click away!