arranged introduction

A more socially acceptable method of arranging marriages between Hindu men and women. It is basically simply the parents of a single and unattached man or woman contacting the parents of another single or unattached woman or man (respectively) and arranging something of a meeting for their children. Kind of like blind dates arranged by parents who think their children are worthy of each other's lifelong love.

In Judaism, a Shadchan (the "ch" is pronounced as in a Scottish Loch) is often thought of as arranging marriages. But in fact, they also just look after arranged introductions.

They will keep a list of young men and women on their lists, and will often meet with them first to get an idea of their likes and dislikes etc. They will then match them up to go on a date together, which would usually be somewhere quiet and where they're not likely to meet any friends.

True, if it works, the (usually ultra-orthodox) couple will probably get engaged after about 8 dates. But there's nothing wrong with that - in theory, a lot of the "what do we like doing together" bit of going out was sorted out in advance.