A34231566

Translation of "A34231566" from the collection "Vaanatthil oru Mouna Tharagai"

Copyright (C) Sujatha (S.Rangarajan) - translated without permission by Ramki Krishnan

This story is set in the early 1980's. I have not made any attempt to contemporize it.

A34231566 

When Rajanna got up in the morning, he did not think that this day was going to be different from any other. In fact, he got up late (it was a second Saturday, and he could afford to sleep till 7), and till he had finished his morning chores and sat down with the "Daily Telegraph", everything was the same. As usual, he turned first to the lottery results.

Surprised? Let me give you some background on Rajanna and his family. 43 years of age, he was a clerk of little consequence in the Accountant General's office. At work, he was below average, (15 years at the same post without a promotion) and considered by his colleagues to be a pretty harmless sort of idiot, without any particular interest in life.

But Rajanna had a driving passion. For the last 25 years, he had been an addict of lottery tickets. From Andhra to West Bengal, he would buy all the state lotteries meticulously every month, with the firm conviction that they were his stepping stones to riches. With the price of tickets having gone up tenfold, and his salary still hovering in the same range, he did feel the pinch. But as with all addicts, he found the habit too hard to break.

It has to be mentioned here that he did once (in the summer of '73) win a grand prize of Rs. 10. Which only made him believe that this was merely an indication of things to come. Never mind that he did not win so much as a single pie since then.

His wife Nirmala was not particularly bothered by this habit. As long as she could get the money for household expenses by continuously nagging him (something in which she was an expert) she didn't mind. At least, it was a harmless and less expensive vice than drinking or gambling, she felt.

Children, you ask? One daughter - Hema. At 14, she wasthe beauty of her class and proudly aware of the fact. Already boys were asking her out for dates. An inspection of her school bag would reveal "FilmFare" and "Cineblitz" camouflaged as History and Science texts. Nirmala doted on her, and wanted her to take up dancing. After all, wasn't it the first step to stardom?

So, that Saturday morning, Rajanna turned to the lottery results. Sikkim bumper - not a very big prize this time, only Rs. 10 Lakhs. Still it had been worth buying. He saw the winning number : A34231566.

Something clicked in his mind. Wasn't this the number on the ticket that he'd bought last week? He quickly took out his lottery folder (he never kept the tickets in his purse, it was too small to hold all of them) and took out the ticket.

He checked up the number, and almost fainted.

A34231655.

He couldn't believe his eyes. So near and yet so far! Just 89 from the winning ticket. How could Fate have been so cruel? He'd never before come so close to the "big" prize. He checked the numbers again. No doubt about it - a neat flip of the last 3 digits.

How could it happen to him? The winning ticket must also have been sold in the same city, maybe even by the same vendor - Rajanna was his favourite customer. Who was the lucky *!?$-? Various uncharitable thoughts about the winner passed through his mind. He was about to tear off the ticket in a fit of rage when something stopped him. He put it in his pocket.

Nirmala came to the hall, rubbing her eyes. She always liked to oversleep on holidays. "Has the milk come yet?"

"No", he said.

"Well, don't just sit there! Go out and buy some from Nair's shop, can't you? Else, no coffee for anybody today!"

Rajanna got up docilely, took a bag and left. He had long ago realized that it was futile to argue with her when she was in one of her shrewish moods. He wondered if he should tell her about the ticket. Better not. It would only trigger off another tirade.

He walked slowly towards the shop, still pondering on his luck. Curse all lottery tickets! One of his friends, who was something of a  wit, had neatly summed it up: "Imagine that a monkey sits in front of a keyboard and starts hitting the letters at random. What is the probability that it will type out Shakespeare's Othello ? Probability of winning in a lottery is the same."

Nonsense, he had told him. How can you say that? My second cousin's brother-in-law has won Andhra lottery twice in the space of 10 years - Rs. 1000 and then Rs. 5000. What do you say to that? All it needs is the goddess Lakshmi to smile on you, just look at you from the corner of Her eye..

He began one of his usual pipe-dreams. If only I had won that lottery.. first thing, I'll quit the job. No more rushing to catch 23B at 7:12 in the mornings, getting cursed by the manager for a simple accounting error, being snubbed by even peon Munuswamy.. Must buy a house. And a car - Contessa.. Poor Hema, she has to take the bus to school everyday. And Nirmala, she won't ever dare to nag me after this. I'll show her who's the boss at home. One more stunt from her, and I'll just blast .. "What do you mean, no coffee ?"

"Sir ?!"

With a start, he woke up from his reverie, to find that he'd arrived at Nair's shop. It wasn't open (of course, he should have remembered that Nair opens only at 9 on weekends), and there was just another person (who had asked the question) at the door.

Rajanna looked at the other man. One would think that he was a beggar. Around 50, thin, with sunken eyes, a scruffy beard, wearing a tattered lungi a faded shirt. He looked as if he hadn't eaten for days. He smiled at Rajanna, showing a set of yellow teeth.

"Sir, the shop isn't open, is it?"

"Can't you see or what?", he felt like retorting. Trying to be civil, he said, "It opens only at 9."

"Oh, I wanted to see the newspaper."

Rajanna did not respond, thinking that that would keep the other quiet. But the old man was clearly in a talkative mood.

"The lottery results are coming out today, sir. I just wanted to see them."

 Rajanna gave him a curious look. Another lottery addict! The old man continued.

"You see, nowadays I can't even see 2 feet away without my glasses. And today I didn't bring them. I may even have to ask you to help me check the number!" So saying, he took out a lottery ticket from the folds of his lungi, and offered it to Rajanna.

"Oh go away, old man! I don't want to see another lottery ticket again. Just by the last 3 digits..." he thought. However he just took the ticket from the old man, and casually glanced at it.

The next moment, he felt as if some one had kicked him in the stomach. The number on the ticket was..

A34231566.

He looked up to find the old man blinking short-sightedly at him. God, you lucky bum! Do you realise that you, you beggar, are about to become a millionaire?

Just then, Fate took a hand. A cyclist driving hands-free collided with a bullock-cart, and started a furious argument with the driver. Invectives began flying back and forth. There was no one else in the road. The old man turned away and started watching avidly.

Then Rajanna did something very wrong. While the old man's back was turned, he quickly hid the ticket in his purse, and took out his own ticket from his pocket.

"Sir!" he called.

"Eh?", said the old man, still watching the fight.

"Here, take your ticket. I'm going home. When the shop opens, they'll help you check it."

"Eh? Ok..", said the old man. He took the ticket and put it back in his lungi without even looking at it.

Rajanna gave him one more look, and then began racing homewards.

Rs. 10 lakhs! Wow - what a prize! Thank you, dear God, thank you! All my dreams have come true. After all these years of waiting, I've finally won!

A small voice inside him asked, "Isn't this cheating?"

"What? Of course not!" he replied.

"Don't bluff, Rajanna! Think of that poor old man. You at least have a job, a family.. God knows how much he's suffering! Even now it's not too late. Go back and give him his ticket."

He ruthlessly suppressed all qualms. Of course I deserve to win this lottery. Don't they say that it's all a matter of Fate? Well, surely it was Fate that stopped the milkman from coming today, made the old man come to the shop just when I was there, caused that accident.. it was all just Dame Luck's way of gifting me the prize!

He reached home. "Hey Nirmala, listen!"

.....

Now, dear reader, I ask you, is this fair? How can I end the story? Shall I say that

1. Just when Rajanna took out the ticket from his purse, a gust of wind blew it into the stove, and it was burnt? What poetic justice!
2. The old man realised that he'd been fooled, filed a case against Rajanna, and eventually got his money?
3. Rajanna, in a fit of remorse, gifted the money to an Old Age Home?

Each would probably be a more satisfying ending, right?

Well, none of this happened. Rajanna very carefully sent the ticket by registered post to the proper authorities, and "rightfully" claimed Rs. 6 lakhs and odd.

And they lived happily ever after ?

Well .. not exactly. I could tell you about how Rajanna left his job, Hema began attending screen tests and suddenly ran away from home one day, how Nirmala had a paralytic stroke, how Rajanna was influenced by some friends to invest the money in certain "pure-gold" stocks and shares that bombed, how he lost his wealth, family and job within a year ...

 But that's another story.