CHENNAI: Rajan (40), a former gambler from Sowcarpet, makes no show of hiding the bitterness in his voice as he talks of the first time he crossed the threshold of a gambling centre. It didn’t take him too long to lose everything at the tables.Up until a few years ago, he was known for his flamboyance, style, extravagance and generosity among the goldsmith community in his locality.“Even now, the goldsmiths say how I used to always wear crisp, white dhotis,” says Rajan, now working at a goldsmith shop. Five years ago, he owned one of the biggest shops in the locality and more than 20 goldsmiths worked under him. “I lost more than 50 sovereigns in gambling,” he moans.“I was always accompanied by five people to the lodge for gambling and everybody wished me,” he recounts. A little after 3 pm every day, around 10 of his friends would book a double air-conditioned room at a lodge and start drinking. They would spend at least `2,000 on drinks and another `1,000 on food.“We started gambling around 6 pm. We would either play rummy or mankatha for the next three hours. We were divided into two groups. While they gambled, the others would bet on the players,” says Rajan, getting lost and excited in his own narrative.The bets would begin with `500, but as the game went on, the stakes would be raised to `20,000 to `30,000. “I remember having won `50,000 one time. I lost all of that in the next two days,” he says.Sometimes, the police were tipped off by his friends who were sore at their loss. Duly, the cops would conduct a raid and seize the money from the winner. But that did nothing to plug the business for good. Gamblers always came back, like moths to a flame. “The game is very addictive like smoking or drinking. Besides, when we gathered, we would consume alcohol first and chat for one hour,” the 40-year-old recalls.When he ran out of money, he pledged the jewellery of his wife. He then started using customers’ jewels, sending him down a spiral.Many of Rajan’s friends have drawn a similar hard deal. Having shuttered down their business, they work as daily wage labourers.(Name changed)
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