Weddings in India are big occasions - more so than in other cultures. Families save for their whole lives to pay for this one special event, which very often runs into days of celebrations with thousands of guests, reports BBC.
With so much invested in the extravaganza, it is common for a family to hire a private detective to check up on a prospective bride or groom before the ceremony.
And India has a wealth of pre-matrimonial detective agencies set up to check out people's past relationships, earnings and family history.
Fifty-three-year-old Taralika Lahiri joined the profession in 1987. Without any formal training, she learnt most of her skills on the job.
She then set up her own agency, National Detective & Corporate Consultants (NDCC) in 1994, with an initial investment of $5,000 (£3,000) provided by her family. In 1987 she was one of only a handful of women in the field. Now, she says, it is a popular job for a woman.
Demand for female detectives is growing mainly because women are the top clients for matrimonial investigations and they feel comfortable hiring other women to do the snooping.
Taralika started out as a one-woman operation but now employs 15 people and says business is thriving.
"One reason pre-matrimonial investigations have grown in India is because increasingly marriages are being fixed on the internet.
"Before, we all had a network of aunts who knew eligible girls and boys and would fix up their matches. Now, you could be dealing with anybody with a false profile - he or she could be in India or abroad."
Families want to be sure that the man or woman chosen for their daughter or son is genuine and not a fraudster.
She recalls a case where a wealthy industrialist based in Delhi hired her to find out more about his daughter's boyfriend.
The prospective son-in-law always wore designer clothing, drove luxury cars, and arranged to meet in expensive cafes. The family grew suspicious and wanted his financial background checked out.
After weeks of following him around, Taralika's team discovered that he was a scam artist who had faked his address and hired cars to fool the girl. Taralika says it can be tough to tell a young person that the bride or groom they are set on marrying is not who or what they appear to be.
It is important to collect hard evidence such as photographs and phone records to convince clients, she says. While pre-matrimonial enquiries dominate her portfolio, post-wedding disputes are also providing more and more business.
