My quest for quick money.

My father bought one lottery ticket every month. He would then inform us on the proposed distribution of the winnings after the draw. Unfortunately our dreams on what we would do with the wealth would always remain in the realms of speculation.

Some of his genes rubbed off on me. I graduated to buying five tickets every month distributed over different state lotteries. I expanded this to ten tickets after one of my wife’s relatives read my palm and confidently informed me that I would win a big lottery. Unfortunately, my total winnings over the years stood at Rs. 5. Luckily for me, my salary did not get frittered away as there was a ban on many of the lotteries some years back.

I more or less gave up my quest for easy wealth after that. But there was always a sense of regret every time I saw people going around in their swanky German limousines or hosting barbecue parties in their garden, with a bartender from a well-known lounge bar churning out exotic cocktails.

A few years later I was on a work visit to Pune where I stayed in a new five star hotel. The room had a brochure where I had to answer three simple questions and also write a slogan in one sentence about the hotel to win a prize. While checking out I dropped the filled-in form in the designated box. From past experience I completely forgot about this. Some six months later I received a phone call from the hotel informing me that I had won the contest. I thought it was some friend kidding me so I rang up my Pune office and requested them to verify the news. Yes, it was true they confirmed.

Soon my wife and I landed in Pune to collect our prize. It was a car. All decked up with balloons and streamers. The press was invited for the function where I was ceremonially handed over the keys. Photographs of my wife and I standing next to the car were splashed on the front page of local dailies the next day. Unfortunately, the income tax department played party-pooper and collected a considerable sum in advance before the car could be handed over to me.

There are times my eyes light up when I receive polite emails from total strangers informing me that I have won $1000, 000 thanks to my mobile number matching the winning draw in some foreign country. I get tempted to send the person a small sum in advance to reimburse the processing cost. However, my prudent, if not unadventurous wife dissuades me and points out the news about some Nigerian citizens being arrested for similar scams, including duping a former senior police official.

Even now I never miss a chance to buy a product where all I need to do is to scratch a card and win exotic gifts. Our dustbin is testimony to my efforts.