The act of purchasing lottery tickets can be as addictive as drug abuse. Crores of rupees are frittered annually by people who imagine Lady Luck would one day favour them. A lottery salesperson is not only peddling raffle tickets but peddling hope. The fantasy of drawing a lucky number has a charm many find difficult to withstand, eventually culminating in sorrow and ruin.
Lotteries have been a part of human history for centuries, with evidence of their existence going back to the Han dynasty in China around 200 BC when their revenue was used to finance the construction of the Great Wall. The Dutch word ‘lot’, meaning fate, is the lottery’s origin and fittingly describes how it operates.
The Dutch National Lottery is still the oldest, dating back to its initial draw in The Hague in 1726. A granduncle who expired over a decade ago was a massive lottery fan. So when he received his pay check, he hastened to the lottery store to buy tickets of various denominations, colours and sizes.
Despite his lack of fortune – he achieved success in winning Rs 100 prizes here and there- he kept up his hobby, spending sizeable sums of money on raffle tickets every month. Aptly nicknamed “lottery mama,” he would unfurl the newspaper and meticulously review the results. Often unsatisfied, he would double-check his lottery ticket with the vendor. Moreover, he was an ardent follower of numerology. Hence he adopted the technique of consulting his horoscope and selecting chits with his favoured number. But, unfortunately, this approach yielded only a few rewards!
Despite not having faith in the lottery system, I indulged in a small amount of gambling during my formative years. I would invest in scratch cards and take a chance by staking a modest amount. The top prize for the same was an Rs 100 note that glowered at you from a board hung prominently in the neighbourhood store. A hundred rupee prize was a lofty ambition as a teen, though luck eluded me.
I achieved a certain level of success gambling while playing tennis-ball volleyball over a football goalpost. I would set off with a few coins but come home with money jingling in my pockets. Of course, the winnings had to be shared among the siblings to deter them from revealing the gambling data to my father.
The only other time I gambled away was at a carnival in Goa, where I tried my luck at the ‘Spin the Wheel’ game. Taking part in these games can be pleasurable. As you rotate the disc, a feeling of expectation rises within you, accompanied by a slight quiver in your abdomen as you contemplate the ultimate result. My initial success multiplied my winnings, but it dug a financial pit in my pocket as I played and failed. My longing for the ‘jackpot’ has been nonexistent since.
Lotteries were a popular source of income for states, but the cost to society was too high to justify their existence, so several states opted to abolish them. Yet, despite the prohibition, naïve individuals persist in risking their last cent on different types of gambling with the ardent wish that one day they may find the elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
