Dattu and Ninad continued to remain best of friends growing up, through different seasons of life. Dattu continued to be the center of everything Ninad adored doing. He was the Hobbes to the Calvin within Ninad. They day-dreamt together, played together, understood the complications of life along with each other. In summers, they’d go plucking raw mangoes on trees and celebrate it like a trophy they won. The monsoon showers made them set out sails on paper boats through the narrow water lanes going through the garden at Ninad’s huge backyard. They dreamt of sailing on these boats one day and reach places where they believed everyone goes when they grow up, like where all grown-ups would go. The school kept them busy as the exams were approaching, but it never was their biggest worry. They really enjoyed a carefree life, growing up amongst the beauty of nature and seasons, enjoying with each other. Seasons kept on changing and a few years went by.

This was winter again. Dattu and Ninad enjoyed flying kites on the terrace of Ninad’s huge mansion, while enjoying the warmth of the winter sun. It was tied closely to the rituals of Makar Sankrant (The kite-flying festival) that falls in January, every year. The sky would be full of colorful kites soaring high and trying to make their way high sailing where the winds taken them. It’s a beautiful orchestra of colors, celebrations and social get together. Dattu and Ninad would start flying kites on the terrace a month before the actual day. Running behind the kites, fighting for who will be the one to fly it and who will play the second fiddle holding the Manja, and endless arguments formed part of the entire experience.

One such day Dattu and Ninad were flying kites on the terrace of Ninad’s huge mansion. The warm sun on a chilly day was making them feel nicer while they tried to gauge the direction of wind before they let set their kites sail with the winds. As they were getting ready, Ninad saw a piece of paper fly out of Dattu’s pocket. He ran to pick it up.

“What is that?” Ninad was curious, as he picked it up.

“It’s a ticket. Lottery ticket. No use to you.”

“Why do you have it?”

“Cause if I win, I’ll earn some money”

Money was an alien concept to Ninad. He only knew the stuff he liked, was exchanged with money at all the counters as he saw people getting the stuff they want in the market.

“How much money?”

“Depends … Sometime lots. Enough to buy the entire cricket gear that those big people wear and play in the stadium. And other times, not enough for this kite”. Dattu was ready to fly the kite and waiting for Ninad to release the manja.

“Really? Wow!” Ninad exclaimed. That must be huge. “But you can’t win often, right?”. Ninad remembered reading about something like this.

“No, you fool. That’s when they win a jackpot, but you can win ordinary amounts almost every day. See here is how it works. There are 10 digits in total on this ticket as one number. The jackpot number will come out at 5pm today in the market. If you get the last digit of your ticket matching with that on the jackpot number, you get 10 times the money you paid. If you get last 2 digits right, you get 100 times the money you paid. If you get the last 3 digits right, then you get 1000 times the money. And so on and so forth”

Ninad was intrigued.

“Do you also want to play lottery?” Dattu asked.

“I don’t have any money, unless I break his piggy bank. But then mom will come to know and I will have to tell her what did I do with that money”

“Hmm …” he sighed. “I don’t have much either, except this ticket”

They got busy flying the kite, but Ninad kept on thinking about the lottery. His mind was sailing much faster than the kite in the open skies. It wasn’t often that Ninad come across something that Dattu could do and he couldn’t. But this one seemed like a challenging one.

It was evening now and they both got tired of flying kites. They were now just resting in the open terrace enjoying the cold breeze blowing mixed with warm winter sun against their face.

“Ok, I need to leave now” Dattu got up and started getting ready to leave.

“Where to?”

“Market, to know whether I won anything on this lottery ticket.”

“Can I come? I want to see it too”

Dattu smiled “Let’s go”.

Ninad sprang out of his half sleep and ran behind him. Dattu ran down and started peddling his cycle.

“Wait, you scoundrel” Ninad started looking for his bike. He couldn’t find it in his sight. May be mom must have kept it somewhere.Ninad ran and hopped onto his backseat of his cycle before he loses sight of Dattu.

After 20 mins of bumpy, uncomfortable ride on Dattu’s old, rugged bicycle they reached a bustling marketplace. The people there looked a bit dubious and moderately notorious. There was smoke, small stalls selling street food and several glittery novelty shops. The shops were nicely lit and had variety in it. There bright colors, music made a perfect concoction for attracting crowds.

Dattu applied the perpetually malfunctioning brakes of his cycle outside one of those stores. His cycle would mostly halt as a result of his large, rugged, flat feet that were firmly grounded to stop the motion of the cycle. They finally made our way inside through this particularly intriguing stores.

He went directly to a really crowded corners of this joint. Ninad watched him at a slight distance as he couldn’t make through the crowd without really knowing where does it lead.

In between the crowds, Ninad could see that they all were eagerly staring at the wall that had a black board stuck to it. On top of the notice board, it read ” Wall of Fortune”. Dattu, like everyone started reading the numbers from the top looking for some familiarity with the tickets he had in his hands.

“I got it. I won 50 rupees” he came to Ninad and jumped with joy. With that he ran towards to store owner. Not knowing what else to do Ninad ran behind him.

After standing in the queue for a few mins his turn came at the window. He gave his ticket and pointed to the digits. The man at the counter held the ticket carefully in his hand and analyzed it. He slid the ticket into the drawer and gave 50 rupees cash to Dattu. Ninad couldn’t believe what he just saw, but he was happy for him.

They came out of the store.

“Come, Ninad will treat you to Lassi” Dattu was happy. They both had a full glass of Lassi. He explained the whole system in detail over Lassi. Ninad’s eyes lit up with excitement. This was a new world and a lot more exciting than anything else Ninad have ever heard from Dattu.

“Can you lend me some money so that I can buy some tickets?” Ninad asked.

Dattu looked at him with the skepticism Ninad have never been subjected to.

“What do I get in return?” Ninad wasn’t expecting this. In fact, Ninad wasn’t used to this. But Ninad realized that he had the money and hence he needs to fall in line.

“What do you want?”

“Your bat and ball”

“No way”. Ninad couldn’t believe what he just asked for. He was ready to walk out of this.

“ok ok – what can you give?”

“I will bowl for the entire day and you can bat?. Now give me 10 rupees”. Ninad was ready to snatch it out of his hands and run him to the ground, if needed.

“Too less for 10. Let’s forget this whole thing. You can go and fly kites on your terrace”

“Fine. How about one whole week?” “Now we are talking. But it’s still not enough. Here is his final offer. You can take it or leave it. You will continue to keep bowling at me, until such time you don’t return his money”

At this point the only thing Ninad really wanted to do was to give him a tight slap and walk away. He had forgotten all the nice times when Ninad had let go of so many things for him. “Mom must have fed him food worth at least 100 rupees, Ninad told himself. But something held him back – the temptation of playing this new game.

“Deal”

“Good. Here is your 10 rupees”

“Can you teach me everything about lottery?”

“I will. But not today. I need to go somewhere” he smiled and started walking towards his bicycle.

“Welcome to his world. I promise you won’t forget this … Ever ” he smirked and peddled his bicycle.

Like the order of the day, Ninad ran towards the bicycle and jumped to grab the back seat before Dattu goes too far away. Ninad felt lost and excited. Having no idea of the magnitude of the decision Ninad had just taken he started dreaming about making a ton of money in this newfound marketplace. His dreams and thoughts ran much faster than the wheels of bicycle. Dattu was talking to him, but Ninad could not concentrate.

At 11, Ninad was already on his way towards one of the most dangerous path, traversed by mankind. The one of greed. Unknowingly, unaware and with careless innocence.

Next day Dattu took him back to that marketplace. It was known as Adda Bazaar. Adda Bazaar had its own soul. It was a bustling marketplace, well lit and would attract mostly domestic workers and lower middle class populace. The shops were crowded, selling mostly novelty items, food and grocery. They went back to the shop they had gone the previous night but this time Dattu took him to the backyard.

“Oye Rahmat” Dattu Yelled. Rahmat turned back. Tall, stout and dark, Rahmat looked like he was in his early forties. He only had one eye and was wearing an eye-patch on the other one. There was a deep scar that ran from his eye to his ear partially covered by the patch. He had a powerful, deep baritone voice. He smiled back at Dattu and they were introduced. On the face of it, he looked like a guy Ninad’s mother wouldn’t want him to talk to, Ninad thought. But he was fascinated and since Dattu was at ease with him, Ninad wasn’t worried.

Rahmat owned the lottery shop, the games & gambling parlor and a small dark room next to it, where apparently “all things came to life” as he described. He said you are too young to go there yet, and went onto show the rest of his joints.

He took them towards a wall, with thousands of numbers written on it. Seemed like a place with all of previous winning lottery numbers were written down, probably for the last year or so. On the top, it was inscribed in bold, “The Wall of Fortune”.

“Young man. Lottery is nothing but numbers game. You have to find the right pattern within these numbers and bet on them. It’s not just your luck. It is how fast you can spot a trend that no one has seen. That will define whether you win or lose. It can make you the king of this market overnight or have you sell your soul – your destiny is in your hands. It has made the life for many that I know. He went onto describe the rags to riches story of those living nearby that Ninad listened carefully with profound interest.

“So, come and see if you have it in you to be the king of this place”.

Ninad had never heard something so inspiring. It left an everlasting impression on me. He stared at the wall trying to fathom the depth of what was in front of me. Rahmat took them around in the gambling joint and introduced them to a few games including the slot machine. Ninad was completely startled and fascinated by this world, where winning gave a different thrill to life.

It was getting dark and hence was time to leave. Ninad told Dattu to drop him back home. His head was spinning with all that he had witnessed. Ninad went home and finished dinner without fuss. Ninad wanted to retire in his bedroom and think about all that he had seen. Should he trust Rahmat? Ninad have never been friends with such an old, scary looking man. Should he try his luck? What if he loses. What if someone from his family sees them? Ninad had only questions that night. He covered his face with the large blanket and went off to sleep in the midst of all these thoughts.

A week passed without them going back to Adda Bazaar as Ninad kept thinking about it. Ninad still had the 10 rupee note that Ninad borrowed from Dattu. It was a holiday from school and they decided to swing past Adda Bazaar and spend a few hours. It was early afternoon and hence the market wasn’t too busy. There were a few people in the store. Ninad went quickly to the wall fortune and started staring at the numbers. Ninad could see all kinds of patterns. Some were easy to find and see, some were hard. Ninad also saw a few men doing the same thing next to him. They were slightly older and were perplexed to see a 14 year old doing the same thing next to them. But they were deeply engrossed in reading patterns, and Ninad started to follow their train of thought to see what they were seeing. It was fascinating. These numbers were dancing in front of his eyes and Ninad could barely not notice a pattern in each of them. Ninad was glued to it for an hour.

“Let’s go eat some lunch. Your mom must be waiting” Dattu yelled. They made our way back to lunch but his mind was growing in curiosity trying to understand the patterns. Dattu knew that Ninad was glued, probably more than he would have hoped for. They biked their way back right after lunch to Adda Bazaar and resumed their unfinished business. At first, it felt like a library to Ninad where people are quietly sitting and learning numbers. There is nothing wrong with this place, Ninad justified to himself. Dattu finalized his bet and so did Ninad, his first. They had our own logic that night of which will be the two ending numbers on the tickets. They both bet on different types of lottery tickets.

“Give me 1 ticket for Maruti, ending with number the number 73”? Dattu yelled to Rahmat. Rahmat obliged. Dattu explained to Ninad the logic for his choice and told him to buy into the same. Ninad didn’t buy his logic and thought it made no sense.

“Give me a ticket for Shree Lakshmi, ending with 7”? Ninad said hesitantly and spent Rs. 5 out of the 10 Ninad had. Rahmat smiled and gave me the ticket.

The draw was at 5pm and the results are announced a few minutes after, when they are posted on the wall of fortune. Dattu and Ninad went to the gambling parlour next door. Ninad was specifically fascinated by the slot machine and how it worked. How people played the slot machine was very interesting and somewhat hilarious. There were some with genuine art and finesse the way they moved their fingers over the slot jack, mastering the pressure they apply to every stroke, while others simply prayed to God for luck and fortune.

It was 5.15 as Ninad made his way through a crowd to get closer to the wall of fortune to see the results, along with Dattu. His heart was racing and his inner voice told him that he got this. Ninad had his logic well worked out and knew the pattern well. It was an obvious win. Ninad just wanted the confirmation and return Dattu’s money as well as open his own account. Quickly, Ninad raced through all the of results to get to mine.

Maruti: 5-0-0-3-0-4-0-6-3
Shree Lakshmi: 3-2-3-9-9-3-9-4-5

Dattu was ecstatic as he got the last digit to match – he recovered his investment. Ninad couldn’t believe his eyes. How could Ninad be wrong? His heart sank. Ninad felt like crying, as his eyes turned watery, Ninad walked out of the store, out of the noise and slowly towards his cycle. Dattu came over in a few minutes as Ninad sat silently next to the back wheel of his cycle.

“What happened, Champ? Lost your heart. It was my money, why are you upset?” He laughed.

Ninad didn’t reply. He was right, it wasn’t his money but it was still his loss. He felt bad. It was the first time Ninad was introduced to what loss looks like in life. He was so sure he got this right and made fun of Dattu’s logic but life turned its back on me with a surprise.

Ninad sat there quietly absorbing all this.

“Alright, let me make you feel better. You don’t have to return the money back to me. I will not ask you to keep bowling to me again. Happy?” Ninad acknowledged but it didn’t make me feel any better.

They rode back towards our home as Ninad let the feeling of loss sink in. Ninad didn’t enjoy his dinner. Ninad was processing a loss for the first time in his life and he was overwhelming. He ran through the patterns over and over again in his mind and couldn’t understand where he went wrong. He thought he got it absolutely spot on and logic seemed air-tight. How is it that he lost? A part of him wanted to never visit this place again, and then there was a part of me that wanted to go there right now and do it all over again. This dilemma was exhausting and Ninad fell asleep thinking about his first loss.

“Lets go to Adda Bazaar.” Next Morning Ninad stopped by at Dattu’s school and announced when he was about to enter his class early in the morning.

“What are you doing here? You didn’t go to school? What if your parents find out?” Dattu looked through the window of his classroom, completely surprised.

“I will handle it. I am going. Are you coming or not?” Ninad knew he will come and if not, he was ready to carry him over his shoulder.

“Ok, wait. Let me get my bag” Dattu ran inside his classroom and came out in a few minutes. Ninad never bothered to find out how he did it. Ninad was focused on Adda Bazaar. They were well on our way to commit the first crime, prioritizing greed over knowledge.

Ninad spent the next 3 hours staring at the wall and what could have gone wrong last evening. Ninad took out his book and pen from the school bag and started scribbling the numbers. Ninad looked at all the different options, did a few calculations to figure out what would be the winning numbers today. Dattu stared blankly at the wall and me. For a while he disappeared inside the gambling room and played a few games.

“Are you done?”

“Yes. Let’s buy the tickets for today. I am ready”

Rahmat was sitting behind the counter counting his cash and busy arranging something in his drawer.

“You kids are back early today. Did you bunk the school?” Ninad was perplexed as to how did he guess it, but he guessed it their early morning appearance at a gambling joint in school uniform was a giveaway.

“No, the school gave us an off today”. Ninad wasn’t ready to reveal our secret to him.

He gave an awkward stare and then with a wicked smile, he let out that baritone voice. “Nice, I like such schools”.

“Give us two tickets ending with three (3) for Shree Lakshmi” Dattu announced. Today, they discussed some logic and Ninad had convinced him that this is the winning number. Dattu wasn’t convinced as such but he liked his logic. He agreed.

They paid Rs. 10 in total – 5 from what Ninad had left and Dattu had his own 5 rupee note. He had carefully placed it folded in the inner pocket of his shorts. It was the last note he had. They paid the money and took the tickets.

“Ninna, let’s go to this nearby temple and put our tickets there in front of God. I have heard of many people winning the lottery tickets after having gotten the blessings from there”. Ninad wasn’t too convinced, but when Dattu calls his “Ninna”, he’d agree to almost anything. Whatever works and whatever it takes, Ninad told himself. We went to the temple and prayed.

If we get the last digit as number 3, Ninad will get Rs. 50 for the Rs. 5 he paid, and so will you” Dattu mentioned the obvious, “Have you thought about what you will do with it?”

“First, I will give you your Rs. 10. Then I will go play some games in that parlor and have some lassi” Ninad had it all planned.

They returned back to our homes as the school closure time was nearer, in order to escape any unnecessary scrutiny about whether they went to school or not. And again, finished lunch and were ready to paddle our way to Adda Bazaar.

Rahmat wrote the winning numbers on the wall of fortune everyday. He had a black landline phone machine with a round dial that would make a screeching noise everytime he dialed a digit. Each afternoon, he would get a call from someone who would give him the winning numbers on the phone. Everyone would eagerly wait for that call which came around 5pm. Rahmat wouldn’t let anyone touch the phone from 4.30-5.30. His heart was pounding as Ninad saw him note down the winning numbers for today and then walked towards the wall of fortune to write it down. The crowd also waited with eagerness.

Shree Lakshmi winning number is – 5-3-2-0-0-1-4-3-7. He wrote and left.

His heart sank and Ninad stood there like a statue. Ninad had lost again. It was heavy and hard to breathe. Ninad walked out of the store and sat under the tree where our cycles are parked. Dattu came along with me. “I had told you to bet on 7” Not something Ninad wanted to hear. “When did you tell me? Haan” Ninad revolted and held him by his neck. Taken by surprise, he tried to kick and push him back. They exchanged a few blows until they were tired and realized there is no point fighting. They sat under the tree till evening – broke and bankrupt. None of them had any money left. Ninad didn’t have any confidence or self-esteem left either.

“Here have some tea, kids” Rahmat stopped by after an hour where they were parked. Tea was good. “Feeling disappointed hah?” He had his own quirky, deep voice. Ninad felt like he duped them into this.

“You said there are patterns and all, but there isn’t. I got it wrong even though I had studied the patterns of winning numbers very well. There is no pattern, it’s just luck”

“So now it’s all my fault that you lost?” Rahmat was defensive. “You see that old guy walking, he won Rs.5,000 on Shree Lakshmi ticket today. Doesn’t happen everyday. He got the last 3 digits correct and he had asked for a ticket with those 3 numbers. Tell me how did he know that if there isn’t any pattern?”

They sat quietly for a few more minutes. Seems like Rahmat felt sympathetic for the kids. “Ok, listen you two, I am going to tell you what I have heard people talking. Bet on last digit of “1” for Maruti, for tomorrow?. I cannot guarantee anything, but this is what some of my old clients have been talking in his shop”.

“Are you serious? I am never coming back here again” Ninad got up and decided to leave. Ninad was done. Dattu followed him as well. They bid goodbye to Rahmat, and left.

“Ninna, I think we should bet on what he said. He never says these things lightly.”

“I don’t want to gamble anymore. It’s not for me. I have already lost a lot. I don’t have any money and nor do you. Even if we wanted to, how would we do it?”

“Ask your mom”? Dattu said. “She will give it if you tell her you need to buy some books for the school homework”. Dattu planted an evil plan in Ninad’s vulnerable mind.

“No”. I don’t want to.

“Ok”

They returned home and Ninad retired to bed mulling over his second loss. Ninad was also wondering what that winner must be doing tonight with Rs. 5000 in his pocket.

Next day, he went to school and it felt a bit awkward. He had bunked the previous day and things didn’t seem coherent. He wasn’t into the school activities anymore. His mind was elsewhere.

“Oye Ninna … ” Ninad heard Dattu running towards me as Ninad was playing with his ball near the mango tree in his compound. He stopped to catch a breath, when he saw him.

“What?”

“Guess what?” he was huffing and puffing. “It really was 1 today for Maruti”.

“Whaaaat?” Ninad exclaimed.

“Yes, Rahmat was right. We should have put some money on 1”

“Oh No”. Ninad put both his hands over his head not being able to believe his luck. Ninad could have won and put everything behind, but Ninad chose to walk away at the wrong time.

Ninad realized he had to win at least once before Ninad get this out of his head. This cannot be the end of this episode. He needed a better closure. They ran again to Adda Bazaar and talked to Rahmat. They waited for him under the tree after he wraps up his chores. He came with a cup of tea and they were better prepared to receive him today.

“Listen Rahmat, about yesterday … “

“Look, I told you kids but you didn’t listen. So who is at fault here? And it’s not like everyday I have a good tip to give, I don’t have anything for you today, Go away and go back to school”. That was possibly the best advice that Rahmat had given to them unknowingly and probably in hindsight, Ninad should have listened. But, no. Not that day.

Ninad came back furious at Rahmat and his rotten luck. How dare he insult them like that? Ninad wanted to win badly. He wanted to play a few more times until he wins at least once. But Ninad had no money and Ninad didn’t know how to ask for money from his mother. He didn’t want her to get a whiff of this as it would also mean blowing up his secret of bunking from school, which Ninad knew would spell deeper trouble for me.

Over the next week, Ninad started paying more attention to where his mom keeps her money. Ninad started noticing how much she gives to people in and around our house – the shopkeeper, the vegetable vendor, the maids and servants, everyone got some money from her. Ninad finally found out the source – a small leather wallet kept safely tucked under her clothes and locked inside her cupboard. The keys were kept in the drawer. Ninad was curious to open her money box and see how much it had. But the room was open all the time. If Ninad tried to sneak into her cupboard she could walk in anytime and find out. The only time when there was a window for him, was when his mom took a power nap in the afternoon for 20 mins. Ninad had to complete the entire mission in those 20 mins as the possibility for her to wake up and then come to check on me was low. Ninad was looking for the right day and time, and it came soon enough.

Ninad saw her sleeping in another room and slowly escaped towards her cupboard and open the money box, There were several notes there, big and small. Ninad was dazzled. Ninad took a couple of notes worth Rs. 20, and quickly closed the drawer.

Ninad kept quiet for the remainder of the evening trying to see if his mom will come to know that Ninad have taken money from her box. What if she had it all counted? Ninad observed her opening up the box a couple of times and closing it. Ninad didn’t notice anything unusual in her behavior till evening. Ninad was the most obedient boy that night till dinner. Secretly, it was his way of thanking her. After dinner, Ninad ran to Dattu’s house and slowly knocked on the window of his bedroom. They weren’t allowed to meet after 9pm, so this wasn’t a good time to go from front. His dad was a scary man.

“Dattooo … ” Ninad whispered and knocked a few times before he opened the window. Before he could say anything Ninad flashed the green notes of Rs, 20 at him. His eyes were wide open.

“Tomorrow morning, we play again” Ninad announced as he saw Dattu puzzled and smiling. Ninad ran back towards his house before anyone finds out.

Next day they bunked school again and reached Adda Bazaar early. Rahmat was quick to spot and told them to leave until Ninad flashed the green notes at him. He allowed them inside then knowing that they have money to play today.

“Rahmat, do you have any tips for us today?” Dattu was directly to the point.

“Shh … “ Rahmat looked around and tapped on Dattu’s shoulders. “No, I don’t. Go away.”

“Leave him alone. Let’s try on our own, Dattu” Ninad pulled him back from Rahmat’s counter. Ninad looked around to find some guys analyzing trends staring at the wall of fortune. Ninad had seen them before and they looked like as if they have been doing this for a few months, maybe years. Ninad stood next to them and tried to understand what they were looking for. There way of finding patterns and trends in historically winning numbers was very different than his. Ninad was adding up the numbers to predict the next, while they were simply looking at how often a particular number repeats itself and in which position over the last few weeks. Ninad saw one man writing down several numbers in his diary. Ninad peeked and noticed 3,7,9 written there. Ninad wasn’t sure what he was doing. He looked at Ninad suspiciously before shutting down his diary and moving away. Dattu was still chatting up with Rahmat to gain some tips, although his efforts didn’t yield much.

Ninad looked at the trends of Maruti in past 4 weeks of winning numbers and realized that each week there was a unique pattern. In one week, there was odd numbers that won each day and the next week it was even numbers. No wonder that guy wrote 3,7 and 9 in his diary, Ninad tried to connect the dots. Ninad told Dattu everything Ninad observed. He had started to understand the pattern as well.

“Give me the tickets ending with 3, 5, 7 and 9 in Maruti. 4 tickets, here is 20 rupees” Ninad told Rahmat.

“Nice, Ninad am proud of you” Rahmat joked. “You are now hedging your risks”. Ninad had no idea what that meant.

They collected our tickets and went back home. Ninad waited with baited breath for the clock to turn 5pm. It would be a disaster if Ninad lost 4 tickets on the same day. But if Ninad won any one of them, Ninad’d win 50 rupees. Which means it is still make 2.5x time the money he used to purchase the tickets”

Dattu and Ninad reached the place at 4.30 waiting for the black telephone to make a cacophonous ringing sound marking the arrival of the results. And it surely did, in due course.

Rahmat got up from his shabby, worn out seat to write the winning numbers of all lotteries on the wall of fortune.

Maruti lucky number for today is 5-0-0-9-2-3-4-6-7.

Yes, Ninad had 7! Finally! Ninad gave out a loud cry ignoring he was around people. Ninad climbed over Dattu’s neck as he carried me out of the store. Yes, they had won! 50 rupees. They both hugged, danced and screamed out of joy.

Ninad walked over to the counter and collected his money from Rahmat. Ninad got new and shining notes Rs. 10 each – 5 of them. Ninad gave one to Dattu to repay his debt, Ninad kept two in his back pocket to return it back in the wallet of his mom he took it from and then he held two shining notes in his hand – it was his earning, his first profit, his first income of his life. Ninad held it proudly.

It was a good day. They gathered under the tree where our cycles were parked for Rahmat to come by. Ninad treated Dattu and Rahmat to Lassi. It was a sweet victory. Rahmat was surprised that they treated him after he had given them a cold shoulder.

“You see Rahmat, knowingly or unknowingly, there was your hand in our victory and I don’t keep anyone’s debt. You told me you heard people talking about number 1 winning in Maruti the other day. It not only opened my eyes, but also my ears. Today, I wasn’t just playing based on the patterns but also looking around for what others were talking and writing. You gave me the hint to keep my ears open to what others are playing and why. So, you have earned your Lassi today”, Ninad winked and smiled at him.

“Sweet Mother of God, You are a dangerous fellow. You took out the winning recipe from me” He exclaimed and they all laughed as they cheered our way to gulping down the Lassi with a taste of sweet success that day.

Ninad learnt a few lessons of his life that day, some of them more dangerous than good. Loss is a permanent friend, you will experience it in some form or other, all the time. Learn to digest it and deal with it. When you invest or bet on anything in life, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Ninad kept on betting on one number and losing it, while when he bet on 4 digits, he increased his probability to win that much more. Also, never forget to check what others are doing or thinking when you are betting your life on something. Confidence is good, but validation is even better. Our own logic, no matter how good, is never sacrosanct in life. It is important to peek once in a while and check how others are viewing or thinking about the same stuff.

And finally, the most dangerous lesson, in life, its ok to take a risk and do some small wrongs as long as you can back it up with a greater victory that masks it. You can erase your smaller wrongdoings on the way if you can turn-around a big one at the very end. Ninad stole money from his mom’s money box, but because he was able to return it back, no harm was done. No one saw him taking it and Ninad returned it back. Hence, it was only a well calculated risk.

Or so he thought.