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Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com/2009/09/30/stories/2009093051310200.htm)
Other States
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Orissa
  

Gambling fever grips towns, villages


Correspondent
KORAPUT: People are seen more indoors than outdoors for the last few days in the towns and villages of Koraput district. It’s not out of any terror or the result of any conflict that has been in the news for the last many days. It is the immense attraction of gambling during the festive season that has forced people from rich to poor to get confined into the doors that many of them had ventured for the first time.
In most homes, people invite their friends and relatives over to play cards. Friends get together to indulge in games of cards. The ‘addicts’ seek legitimacy for their unusual pastime by recalling the golden moments of the past when the royal kings had played cards for their entertainment or also by referring to the celestial game of dice having been played by the lord Shiva with his companion Parvati. Others rationalise that this was just to remind oneself of the fickleness of lady luck and to inculcate a sense of balance in the pursuit of material success.
While the practice of playing cards had generated a sense of collective living during the festive seasons by inviting people from the families of one’s near and dear ones, the greatest concern has been the continuous growth of temporary gambling dens in many undisclosed destinations, be it some houses or secluded groves in the villages and towns, even not known to the family members. Invent of the mobile phones has helped the players to decide the spot at the last minute. While some players keep on changing their venues for maintaining their security from the police, most of them do not prefer to change their partners.
The stakes range from as small as a rupee to lakhs of rupees. Sometimes valuables like jewellery and vehicles are also put on stake.
While some expert gamblers make fortune from the game of cards during the season some earn their livelihood for the whole year. But a greater number of people return home losing their lifetime savings.


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