The room was filled with happy people, positive energy and smiling faces. There were people with a range of issues, but not once did that translate to their behaviour or attitude. Seemingly happy to meet new faces, conversations were easy to make and with the chatter in the room, it was relatively hard for the host to catch their attention. It was evident on their faces that they were all excited to be at Inclov's event.
A matchmaking platform based out of Delhi and launched in 2016 for people with disabilities, Inclov claims to have changed the way people look at matrimony websites. Citing to have close to 10,000 matches and several success stories, they say their matches among the differently abled are only increasing in number by the day.
At the Social Spaces event held recently at Lemon Tree Premier, the gathering saw people make new friends and find love. Providing them with areas that are fun and safe, Inclov organises these gatherings for their users where they can interact with friends or potential partners. There were games that were organised to help the users to get to know one another better. Speed Dating where each person was allowed to talk to their neighbour for two minutes each, was one of the games organised. A group game was also organised which generated team spirit among the participants. The theme for this meet-up was ‘Mindfulness’. Along with these games, they also had Bengaluru-based entertainer Shekar Vijiyan and Gopi Krishnaswami, a mindfulness meditation coach, taking sessions. Krishnaswami gave the audience tips on ways to be stress free and made the session interactive by answering queries.
Shankar Srinivasan, the COO and co-founder of Inclov says, “Kalyani, the company's other co-founder, and I wanted to start something in the matchmaking space but not create a me-too product. We then realised that today people with disabilities aren’t getting an equal chance with something as basic as finding love. We found the matchmaking scene to be unfair, given the fact that there are 100 million people with disabilities in India. We wanted to change that.” Srinivasan adds: “It is designed for people with or without a disability to come together and meet others. The platform wasn’t created only to help people find love which ends in marriage, but also to help them find friends, a date, companions or a support system.”
A parent whose daughter was in a wheelchair and was present for the gathering, explains “This is a very good initiative. My daughter is highly educated but we still couldn’t find a partner for her. After a certain point, they all say no. But through this, we have hope in finding her the perfect partner.”
With a review system that filters accounts to make sure there aren’t any fraudulent profiles, Inclov does everything to create a safe zone for those using this platform. Shankar elaborates: “We also make sure that the phone numbers or email ids of users are not disclosed. Once you match based on the information provided, you can talk to one another via the app or on the website. Once everyone is comfortable we get them to exchange details.
Even though they are restricted only to India now, based on good responses from the masses, the company plans to make it global in the near future.
Inclove is available on www.inclov.com, App Store and Google Play.
