I learn to play Tambula and win Rs 120 for a full house

In the late 60s, the only entertainment available was the cinema and, it was the said to be the golden era of Indian movies – even though majority of the movies was in black and white, each of them had a wonderful storyline and a variety of music with hummable tunes and lyrics.
Well – in the Kanpur Air force base at Chakeri, there was a cinema hall named Majum where a different type of entertainment was available on Sunday mornings. It was a game of random numbers and it would start at 9am sharp and, if it was Sunday, then all the bicycles would make a beeline for Majum to play Tambula (or Housie).
I had accompanied my friends to Majum on one Sunday and sat watching them as they purchased the tickets – each ticket had 15 numbers scattered at random. The numbers ranged between 1 and 90 and, all one had to do was to scratch out the number immediately it was announced on the stage by the Master of Ceremonies.
Once the sale of tickets was closed, the total amount collected for the particular game would be announced along with the amount on money earmarked for each game. The cost of tickets use to be 10paise (in the 1960s) and the prize amounts for the part games would be around Rs 20 while for the full house, it could go up to Rs 120.
There were several part games like jaldi five (strike out any five numbers), any line (strike out all five numbers in any line) etcetera and the prize amounts were not much. However, for the full house, one had to strike out all 15 numbers of the ticket – and, shout ‘House’ immediately he scratched out the last number. He had to be alert because if he missed out – it was just bad luck. No appeal was entertained.
I accompanied my friends for a couple of Sundays to get the hang of it and then took the plunge – I also bought a ticket and waited for the numbers with my pencil poised. It was exciting as I scratched out the numbers one by one. The part games were finished and it was time for the full house. I could not hold back my excitement because I had only one number left to scratch. It was the number 10 – and I was waiting with bated breath to hear ‘Downing Street shining 10’.
And – the moment I heard ‘Downing…’ I yelled ‘House’.
One of the volunteers rushed towards me, took my ticket, read out the numbers on it and confirmed that I had won – it was a princely sum of Rs 120. (to be continued…)

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