Early in Indian Matchmaking Season 2, series breakout Aparna Shewakramani has a video chat with her friend, Sophie, who also happens to be her astrologer (naturally). Sophie tells Aparna she’s in her “Jupiter-Venus” period and her would-be romantic partner has been “orbiting” her. “Orbiting really means this person is in your life to some capacity,” she explains. Sophie might not know who the special guy is, but he could have bumped into Aparna at a coffee shop — or already been in a relationship with her. Has Aparna found him yet? The We Have the Receipts crystal ball is on the case. And it seems Aparna is still on the lookout for her destined suitor.
“[Sophie] has always been spot on,” Aparna told podcast hosts Lauren Speed-Hamilton and Chris Burns. “If he’s in my orbit, I trust her. My eyes [and] my ears are open. And I have good hope about this year.”
So Aparna is focusing on finding her life partner through people literally in her orbit — her social orbit, that is. Rather than using a traditional matchmaker like Indian Matchmaking’s Sima Taparia, Aparna is tapping into the connections of everyone around her. “Matchmaking is [also] our aunts and our cousins and our social network. That’s a big part of the South Asian culture,” she said. Aparna hopes viewers learn from her experience to look for romantic help from people already on their “team.”
As proof of her evolution in locking down love, Aparna has even widened her infamous first date rules. She no longer limits her first meetings to just 55 minutes, as she so infamously did during Indian Matchmaking Season 1. Now Aparna has upped the timer to a whopping hour and a half. That’s what we call growth.
Listen to the full We Have the Receipts episode above — or catch it on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts — to learn all the other ways Aparna has adjusted in her search for romance, including a very moving perspective on “grieving” the life she once assumed she’d have. You’ll also find a very heartwarming check-in from Indian Matchmaking newlyweds Pradhyuman Maloo and Ashima Chauhaan. Sima Aunty would be proud.
