A match arranged in a board game

Aboard game about arranged marriages is the sort of invention that begs the question, “How come no one thought about it earlier?” Devised by a Pakistani design student, its characters — a matchmaking “aunty” and three teenage girls who think of ways to avoid her indefatigable efforts to get them hitched to four suitable boys — are easily identifiable for all South Asians.

While the game helped her western friends understand the nuances of our subcontinental marriage system beyond its negative aspects such as forced weddings and honour killings, the games girls play to avoid the well-meaning machinations of relatives is also humorously flagged.

That hefty dowries, culinary abilities and curvaceous figures are seen as “ideal characteristics” (printed on wedding-type foil cards) by Auntyji, but career ambitions, male friends and gallivanting are not, would resonate across the Radcliffe Line and among overseas south Asians too. As, indeed, would the prospect of snagging the eligible light-eyed, NRSA (non-resident south Asian) “golden boy” bachelor, which the teenage girls are quite game for.


The student has crowdsourced funds to launch Arranged! commercially from Pakistan, but she should consider an Indian edition as the ‘marriage market’ here is huge. Mastering this game would certainly give desi bachelorettes an edge.