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CULTURAL CURRY
A taboo throughout the year, the vice of gambling gets is legitimised
during the festival of Diwali. Gambling is illegal in India. Barring
lottery in a few states, betting on horse races is the only legal form
of gambling. There are a few offshore casinos in Goa now but illegal
gambling is rampant in the form of matka and satta. In addition, a
large amount of illegal betting also takes place during international
cricket matches particularly the ones which involve India and
Pakistan. The stakes in these betting rackets are unimaginable and
could easily be in millions of rupees. Gambling is one of the oldest
industries in the world. In today’s world, India stands ninth, by gross
profi ts, in the list of the leading global betting and gaming nations.
The tradition of gambling during Diwali epitomises how ingrained
the activity is in Indian culture. India has the largest middle-class in
the world, and an economy that has grown at a rate of more than 7
percent per annum over the last 10 years. It is only natural that the
gambling industry has been, and will be eager to enter the Indian
Queens enjoy the game of dice
market. If legalized, gambling could collect huge
revenues for the government and proper organized
gambling could help in reducing the criminal
element that is at present governing the game.
With modern technology invading our everyday
lives, gambling is also done on the Internet through
various online gambling websites. These sites
originated in the United States but are now gaining
popularity in India. One such website, 3Patti.com
claims to be the largest Indian online gambling
den, for about a week leading to the Diwali night.
On October 21, the site recorded its highest hits
from Indian clients (that was second only to the
number of hits from the US). Recently the US has
made online gambling illegal but experts believe
that these online gaming fi rms will rush out of the
US, but they may just turn to offshore sites and
overseas payment services out of the law’s reach.
That means online gaming is all set to bloom in
Asia. Asia certainly looks all set to emerge as
the next gambling den of the world. Internet
gambling is considered illegal in India. There are,
however, no specific laws prohibiting internet
gambling specifically, only gambling in general. The
offi cial government stance is that the existing laws
governing gambling offl ine are suffi cient enough to
curb Internet gambling as well.
One can trace back different forms of gambling
in every age, civilization, religion and culture.
It exists as a form of entertainment.Different
gambling games have different backgrounds.
The illegal status of gambling business promotes
secretive and corrupt practices. These vicious
practices cause the erosion of moral values as
well as economic and social life of the country.
There are divergent views amongst scholars and
policy makers on gambling. An activity is branded
as illegal because the government considers it
wrong and undesirable but the consumers on
the other hand see it as an activity that satisfi es
desires (for pastime or for making quick money).
However these benefi ts also bring problems. The
main problem with gambling is when a person
loses self-control over the gambling activities,
resulting in fi nancial losses that have an adverse
impact on their personal, economic and social life.
That is the main reason why people wait for Diwali,
to fulfi l their desire to gamble. When gambling is