A Painstaking Gambler
That god forbidden instinct took hold of him in his drunkenness - the instinct to gamble! After a successful term at the college, his well-imposed academic constraints yielded to the influence of ignoble company of gamblers and hooligans. As it is he was drunk in the glory that education conferred upon him in that small town. That fateful evening paved his downfall. Goaded by a friend, he made his way to the gambling den.
The previous evening had adumbrated the doom when he lost Rs. 4000 at one sitting. Gambling is like a bee sting: leaves you with a pain and also leaves the sting buried under the skin. And, another gambling session seems to be the only cure to both. The only wisdom about gambling is avoiding it. But, 'fools rush in where angels fear to tread'. My foolish friend staked again that evening to recover what he lost the previous day. After hitting a few chances, he started losing out on four bets at 10k, 20k, 20k, 20k and at the closing was under a debt of Rs. 70,000. Imagine what Devil was riding him!
He reeled under the shock of that irreparable loss. The consequences loomed large before his eyes. He walked in as a king and walked out a pauper perspiring in the cold darkness of the night. Life changed for him in those brief twenty minutes.
The worse part of the story (the worst is to follow) is that he was duped at the game. It was a well laid trap which was found out much later.
The worst part was the zeal he showed to uphold the ethics of the game and to save his family from disgrace. The fear of bad name is despicable to even the bad; and the only son of a good family could go to any lengths to save it although knowing fully well he was duped at the game.
Needless to say, he fell on very bad times. The so called friends to whom he extended implicit support in the years at college did not come to his help. He literally begged for money from all those he counted on the most but to no avail. With tears in eyes he pleaded for help from all quarters, with promises that he would repay the amount with interest. He woke up to a cruel reality and his animosity for the perpetrators who landed him in the soup grew less and grew more towards his 'friends'!
In utter helplessness, he parted with his most valuable belongings. The ring that his late father had given him, he being the only son of the family, had to be mortgaged along with everything else that could fetch some money. His career was in the custody of his undoing; he couldn't move from his town to take up a job which could be easily his with his academic distinctions backing him. He spent a year before he paid the good amount with interest to the wagers and spent another two years before he could repay the pawnbroker and reclaim his belongings.
In the retrospect, if not for anything else, the hero of the story has my admiration for the respect he bore to the norms of the gamble. The game of Gamble shall ever cherish such a 'painstaking' gambler!
(572 words)
The previous evening had adumbrated the doom when he lost Rs. 4000 at one sitting. Gambling is like a bee sting: leaves you with a pain and also leaves the sting buried under the skin. And, another gambling session seems to be the only cure to both. The only wisdom about gambling is avoiding it. But, 'fools rush in where angels fear to tread'. My foolish friend staked again that evening to recover what he lost the previous day. After hitting a few chances, he started losing out on four bets at 10k, 20k, 20k, 20k and at the closing was under a debt of Rs. 70,000. Imagine what Devil was riding him!
He reeled under the shock of that irreparable loss. The consequences loomed large before his eyes. He walked in as a king and walked out a pauper perspiring in the cold darkness of the night. Life changed for him in those brief twenty minutes.
The worse part of the story (the worst is to follow) is that he was duped at the game. It was a well laid trap which was found out much later.
The worst part was the zeal he showed to uphold the ethics of the game and to save his family from disgrace. The fear of bad name is despicable to even the bad; and the only son of a good family could go to any lengths to save it although knowing fully well he was duped at the game.
Needless to say, he fell on very bad times. The so called friends to whom he extended implicit support in the years at college did not come to his help. He literally begged for money from all those he counted on the most but to no avail. With tears in eyes he pleaded for help from all quarters, with promises that he would repay the amount with interest. He woke up to a cruel reality and his animosity for the perpetrators who landed him in the soup grew less and grew more towards his 'friends'!
In utter helplessness, he parted with his most valuable belongings. The ring that his late father had given him, he being the only son of the family, had to be mortgaged along with everything else that could fetch some money. His career was in the custody of his undoing; he couldn't move from his town to take up a job which could be easily his with his academic distinctions backing him. He spent a year before he paid the good amount with interest to the wagers and spent another two years before he could repay the pawnbroker and reclaim his belongings.
In the retrospect, if not for anything else, the hero of the story has my admiration for the respect he bore to the norms of the gamble. The game of Gamble shall ever cherish such a 'painstaking' gambler!
(572 words)
Comments
However, the most important thing could be what the 'gambler' learned from all this. I don't want to hear him saying he was duped rather he was wrong in doing all.
It must have been very hard time for 'gambler' BUT if he still longs for gambling then...