Our founder
Hi, I’m Aman.
I live in Auckland, and my brother lives in Melbourne, so Rishta was always going to be for both sides of the Tasman. I built it for Indian families across Australia and New Zealand: people looking for themselves, and parents looking for someone they love. I wanted it to feel the way a good rishta always has. Private, personal, and between real people.
Why I started
Before I built anything, I spent six months on a paid plan with the biggest matrimonial site in the world, to see it the way our families do. I kept notes, and the notes became Rishta.
About ten men for every woman
The census says our community is close to evenly split, so the women exist. Most had simply decided these sites were not for them.
A fake profile in minutes
A test account with a fresh number was live almost straight away, with no real check behind it. Anyone could be anyone.
A paid plan that did very little
Six months of paying, and the hard parts were still left to us: nobody checking who was real, and nobody helping with the approach.
So we asked
Through sisters, cousins and friends, we asked women in Melbourne and Auckland what happened when they tried. The answers were remarkably alike.
“Everyone can see me.”
A public photo, in a community where your cousin, your colleague and half your suburb are on the same site, is not private. It is an announcement.
“Three hundred messages.”
A first-week inbox of hundreds of interests, most from men who had clearly not read the profile.
“Nobody’s actually helping.”
The person who used to make introductions had become a premium extra, sold separately.
“Free means crippled.”
A free profile that could not search or read a message was a shop window, not a membership.
So Rishta works the other way round
- Free until 31 December 2026 for everyone who joins now, with nothing held back.
- Photos stay hidden until you say yes to a specific person.
- Every profile is ID-checked before anyone can see it, and someone from our team reads each new profile on the day it goes live.
- Every interest carries a personal message. Nobody can bulk-send.
- No phone number or email on any profile. You can call from inside Rishta without giving out your number.
- Delete your profile and it is gone, with your photos and messages.
If the first step is the hard part
Starting the conversation is hard for a lot of us, men and women alike. I would still encourage everyone to make the first move themselves. It usually goes better than you expect.
But if you would rather not do it alone, you don’t have to. The Icebreakerputs a matchmaker on your first call, once the other person has agreed. And a Personal Matchmaker can search for you and bring you introductions, for you or for your family.
What I promise you
- We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for advertising.
- Your phone number and email are never shown to other members.
- If your ID check doesn’t pass and we can’t put your profile live, we refund you in full.
- If something here does not work the way this page says, tell us and we will fix it.
Aman
Founder, Rishta · Auckland · [email protected]
Come and have a look.
Join now and it’s free until 31 December 2026. Every profile is ID-checked before anyone can see it.