'And They Lived Happily Ever After'

Indispensable match-maker of the yore.

- Vijai Pant

Those were pre-internet days. There were neither matrimonial sites nor matchmaking agencies and people, by and large, had yet to put their trust on the matrimonial section of dailies.

Arranged and in-caste marriages were the norm and it was a huge task for parents to find a suitable match for their grown up children, despite abundant suggestions from relatives both solicited as well as unsolicited.

In such a scenario, walked in the matchmaker- usually an elderly lady, a 'good' acquaintance of yours, and of the same socio-economic background. She had a formidable reputation in the field of community-specific matches, thanks to her being so long in the game of matchmaking.