Hitting greedy grooms, virtually!

A new online game which is an anti-dowry campaign has got eight lakh likes from both men and women

If the increasing dowry cases fill you with rage you and all this while you could do nothing but to curse the greedy men and their families, log in to Facebook to channelise your anger.

A free online game ‘angrybrides.in’ on the social networking site gives you an option to take out your frustration, virtually, against the prospective grooms who demand dowry.

Conceptualised, designed and launched in January last, by Indian matrimonial portal Shaadi.com, this game has been designed on the line of popular game, Angry Birds. The player becomes an angry bride in red attire who attacks the prospective grooms with household objects if they demand dowry.

The home page of the game shows the woman like goddess Durga with eight hands holding different household weapons like pan, pressure cooker, belan, broom stick etc.
The player has to throw these weapons at three dodging grooms – an engineer, a pilot and a doctor who demand dowry for marriage and dodge the attacks.

The more the player hits the groom, his price as dowry demand goes down and he or she wins money which goes to a virtual anti-dowry fund.

The weapon to thrash the greedy grooms keeps changing at different levels of the game. The game can also be played in ibibo.com.

Gourav Rakshit, Chief Operating Office, Shaadi.com says, “We wanted to raise awareness about the ills of dowry, a tradition that is still very closely related with marriage.”

The home page of the game has a message: ‘A woman will give you strength, care and all the love you need … not dowry’. This game with a message has so far garnered around eight lakh ‘likes’ from both men and women.

The matrimonial portal began the application as a way to throw a spotlight on the nuisance of dowry in a fun-filled manner on a platform which is literally second home to youngsters.

“We have chosen this platform for the launch of this game as it affects social life and day-to-day activity of people in various ways, across various countries with its availab­i­lity on many mobile devices,” says Gourav.

Even though the menace of dowry exists largely in India, the game’s popularity has crossed all boundaries. “The game has been played  by over six lakh people in over 35 countries,” he informs.

More than a game, many pe­ople, especially girls like to play it, to show their stance ag­ainst dowry. Bhavya Kat­a­r­ia, a professional, says, “I am not into gaming but I have liked this game on FB. I play sometimes to support the cause.”