Bets


Wishing everyone a Very Happy Diwali and a Bright, Prosperous, Scintillating New Year and Many More to come!!

I read this in the local papers last week.

We have all sorts of 'betsmen' in our great State. They bet on everything, from number of sixes and fours by a team, by players, in a cricket match to whether it will rain as normal or less or more during the rainy season. They even bet on the registration plate number of the next vehicle that passes by, as they sip tea at the highway dhaba. But, this one takes the cake, along with the icing:

People actually bet on the number of squares (checks)that will be visible on the common man's shirt in the daily cartoon on the front page of Times Of India- the R.K. Laxman cartoon, which is always so timely, which says a lot and provides the first laugh of the day for many people including me!!

A Honda City actually drives up in the wee hours of the morning, to meet a truck as it unloads bundles of Times of India in Rajkot and snaps up a copy. An extract from the article goes:

" All they want to do is count the number of squares on the Common Man's checked jacket and bet on its various permutations and combinations . For this group of hardened speculators , the day starts with winning or losing a bet, even before this sleepy Saurashtra centre has woken up. "

" A regular bettor, says, "Earlier Laxman used to draw more squares. The checks on the Common Man's jacket peaked at around 75. But sometimes, they don't even touch double digits. The most popular range is between 30 and 50." The betting game is simple. Each person estimates the number of checks and the figure is noted down. On most days, the amount is Rs 500 each. During festivals, bets can go up to Rs 10,000 each. "

What's that?You don't believe me? Well, here's the article.

Comments

Keshi said…
not a fan of 'gambling' :)

Hows u Amit?

Keshi.
10/20/2009 3:57 AM
Vinita Apte said…
wow....people are soooo crazy..
10/22/2009 12:12 PM
Arunima said…
people always find many ways of amusing themselves. hum aaj se plain jacket hi pehnenge.
11/06/2009 6:29 PM
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