Ca(n)seeno

What do u call heavy rains in the month of April on a day when the sun is at its supreme glory, a man in his tux in a casual get together, a pinch of salt in your cup of tea? Something like, ‘out of place’. Exactly the way I felt when I found myself in a CASINO. With the drinks doing its rounds, the foggy atmosphere, the screaming, the whining, the disgust, the pain. A plethora of human expressions with one lacking- and that my friens is happiness.

Let me take you to the very beginning. We are in Nepal. My father and I have come for a very short visit, mainly business purposes. We don have much to do for the night so we decide to check out a casino in Kathmandu. We are in a jovial mood, accomplishing the task we have come here for. Looking forward to a pleasant and eventful evening we start our journey to Casino Anna supposedly the best of the lot in the city.

We pay for the highly inflated taxi and step out as the keeper opens the gate with a ‘salaam’. A colourful extravaganza, with beautiful lights the trees and the red carpet laid out for our welcome. As soon as u enter u feel that u have come to a different world and after close inspection u find the semidark room containin slot machines and those video gambling games. One also has an electronic roulette table. Here the bids are low, generally beginners flocking the room. So is this what you call a casino. Its quite small, not much fun and does not look like a harmful place at all. A kids video game parlour where you can gamble.

Well I didn’t know that this is just the beginning. After a couple of rounds of the small room I find the stairs takin me to the second floor. This is the place we are looking for. Exactly like some hindi movie. Ppl smoking heavily, drinking heavily and betting heavily ( breathing….well that too heavily after the bets)…..well I had imagined myself to gel into the place but what happened was quite the opposite…..noone is here to help…..the grey suited fellows keeping a tab on the tables and the breast jacketed ones dealing…..a roulette table, all kind of card games from blackjack to flush to kitty but no one to get me accustomed to them…..

The drinks were on the house along with snacks….. my father ordered his pale drink and munched into the manchurian and announced hes not gambling (so who is)….gives me ten thousand and leaves me alone in this world of professional gamblers……ok…..no problem…..i like challenges…..so I got my management brains working…..understand the game, competition, environment and bets, pretty much in the said sequence……

Lets start gambling fellows…..understand game…..which game….roulette….o that game has been taken over by some strange ppl…..i find this man in his early twenties with his mountains of chips…..before every round he manages to place all his chips on the board…..he does that with hysterical freakiness without much introspection and places his chips all over the table and takes his positions on half of them available…..1st lesson learnt…..don think while gambling trust ur instincts and be bold…..the other table a rich blighter was orderin the grey suited supervisor to book the entire table for him and his frien….this meant big and large bets……lesson no 2….money speaks, not only speaks in this case it screams……lets see the card games….no I cant play black jack….kitty, whats that….theres a huge commotion at the table…..so many ppl, never going to get a chance to play…….i finally spot this table…..5 cute girls, ahem, and they are playing flush……now flush is what I can play….a simple 3 card game without much use of ur grey matter……I take the vacant seat and ask the dealer to continue as I want to see before I bet…..so these girls continue doing their thing….girls about my age…….probably from india and all dressed up as if it’s the mayors party….. I call the supervisor….” I need some help here” I said. He went thru the intricacies of the game in 2 mins and said “ Sir I think we should get some chips and get started”…..”hmmmm, yes I think we can start now, so gimme chips worth 2000”, I said

He gave me a disapproving look…”Sir this wont do for more than a couple of games”

“ don worry about the money, I need to get a hang of the game”

“ As u wish, but I would suggest you to be bold, u might lose initially but my experience says that the bold generally win”

“2000 will do at the moment” and I rested the argument

He came with two red chips….and I got them exchanged at the counter for 20 yellow ones……..and we are on a roll….. the game was something I was comfortable with…..competition-5 young innocent girls, I have soaked in the environment and I am ready to bet and bet big…..management says I have the odds in my favour…..i never knew my fundas could be so mistaken……..i start and the supervisor helps for a few games…..i get the hang of it and I am at par even after 5 mins…..the manager takes his leave and I am ready to take on the dealer on my own….i roll up my t- sleeves set myself on the chair….the girl adjacent lights a cigarette and the one next to me adjusts her top….ok no distractions…..we are on a mission……but at this determined moment the girl next to me gives me the dice….”ur turn” she said….and I looked at her for the first time….well she was the kind of a girl who would make u rock back on ur heels with a startled whistle……her eyes were a deeper shade of blue than the sky, her nose……………no no noooooo we are moving away from our objective…..concentrate……

For the next few games I have the luck on my side and I wont be bragging if I say I made a killing out of it…..the size of my bets increased…..my voice came back and I found myself creating a commotion at the table…..yellllo ladies…..” I am winning”…… then came a tense situation, I have betted heavily and i have a pair of aces on me but should I go ahead…..this could be a defining moment…….i was contemplating what to do when the girl next to me (who had actually stopped playing some time back) came closer and whispered in my ears “ We can do it”….....i blinked…......

“Do u really think we can do it?” I said trying to make some conversation( ok ok I was panicking)….. she looked into my eyes…….as if studying something……a slight nod….something like a half wink…..a hand on my lap and she affirmed in a soft voice “ We can do it.”

I didn’t last long……I lost the game and all the money I bet after the “do it” episode…..what do u mean ‘we’….i am playing….stupid hot woman…..made me lose all my loot….i have to start afresh…..but now I found that the manager was right 2000 is only for a couple of games…..and I lost 1200 in just 2….i am not bettin with just 800 in my kitty and as I looked around the “do it” girl smiled as if hoping that I played a little longer…..again the soul searching stare…..and before she could say something, dad appeared out of nowhere….
”Time to go” he said,"We have an early morning flight."

Yes we do…………………