Matki (or matka) is a Hindi word used for an earthen pot.It is used all over the Indian subcontinent, as a home 'water storage cooler'.It has been in use since ancient. Matka gambling or satta is a form of betting and lottery which originally involved betting on the opening and closing rates of cotton transmitted from the New York Cotton Exchange to the Bombay Cotton Exchange.It originates from before the era of Indian independence when it was known as Ankada Jugar ('figures gambling'). In the 1960s, the system was replaced with other ways of generating. If the government doesn't want to stop matka gambling, it has the option to legalise it, he said, adding that this would help fill state coffers and stop people from garnering wealth illegally. Shetye said that a person named Budo alias Parekh was running the matka gambling activities in Goa. From 2014 to 2016, (up to March 31, 2016) the crime branch booked 217 matka cases, arrested 250.
Vinod Bhagat, son of Kalyanji Bhagat, calls the ’90s the glory years of the gambling business. Pic /Bipin Kokate
In its heyday, 'matka' was the great leveller. The multi-crore gambling business, ingeniously birthed in 1962 by Worli grocery shop owner Kalyanji Bhagat as a spin-off of the betting on the opening and closing rates of cotton transmitted from the New York Cotton Exchange, was where even 'the stars' tried their luck.
'My father started the Worli matka and branched out to other areas due to rising demand. From the lower middle-class to big businessmen and film stars, everyone wanted a piece of the pie,' recalls Vinod Bhagat, Kalyanji's son. 'When the panna (the chits on which the winning numbers were written) were opened, the crowds spilled out onto the roads.'
The returns justified the large turnouts. A Re 1 bet on a single panna could earn Rs 150, a double panna Rs 250, and a 'trial' (triple) panna could rake in Rs 800-Rs 900, says Bhagat.
Rise and rise
The matka business thrived through the 1980s and touched its peak the following decade. Betting volumes in excess of R500 crore were laid every month. More than 2,000 big- and medium-time bookies had Mumbai in a death grip, so much so that people often sold their property to cut their losses. 'Once, a man lost R1 lakh in matka in the '90s. He left his Mercedes car in lieu of the cash,' reveals Bhagat, who is also brother to 'matka king' Suresh Bhagat, who carried on their father's 'legacy'.
Suresh took over the reins in 1993 following Kalyanji's death, but was killed in 2007 by his estranged wife, Jaya Chheda, and Suhas Roge, her boyfriend and close aide of gangster Arun Gawli.
Matka's free run began to end in 1995 when it emerged that the business was funding the underworld. The police launched a massive crackdown on dens, forcing dealers to shift base to the city's outskirts or to move to Gujarat, Rajasthan and other states. With money drying up, many punters also opted for other sources of gambling like online and zhatpat lotteries, and in recent years, betting on cricket matches.
Dens of iniquity
Today, the business is restricted to the underground as well as the online economy. Dens still operate in Sewri, Dongri, Vashi naka and Antop Hill, albeit clandestinely. Bets are largely placed via phone from noon to midnight. Matka slots open at 4.30 pm and 9.20 pm, and shut at noon and midnight, respectively. Bets are placed on both opening and closing slots. At a Sewri den, the manager, juggling three phones, accepts high bets and jots them down in his diary. A bunch of lackeys mill around. Punters putting in less than R100 are given a receipt and asked to wait their turn. Money never changes hands on the premises; a man sits around 100 m away just to collect the bets. Four lookouts are placed at strategic points around the den to alert the manager of any police presence. Each is paid R500-R1,000 per day.
Every gambling den's manager is a history-sheeter -- an ex-con or an externed criminal. One manager says he ended up with this job because no one was willing to give him another.
Bets start as low as R10; there is no upper limit. 'Back in the '90s, they started at 25 paise. Also, a den used to earn R1.50 lakh a day then. Now, the earnings touch R20 lakh,' says a source from a gambling den.
Will this payoff continue to be on the high? All bets are off!
R1.5L
Daily earnings of gambling dens in the '90s
Rs 20L
Daily earnings of matka dens as of today
Matka Gambling Photos Images
Matki (or matka) is a Hindi word used for an earthenpot. It is used all over the Indian subcontinent, as a home 'water storage cooler'. It has been in use since ancient times and can be found in houses of every class.
Production[edit]
They are made by the combination of two types of mud clay: the first is taken from the surface of the earth and the second after digging more than 10 feet deeper into the earth. Making a matka takes a considerable amount of time. It is a long process of at least 8 days. The clay is mixed with water, shaped, finished, polished, dried and baked in a kiln for 5 days. At last it becomes a completed eastern earthen pot, a home water cooler. In current times, in India, the earthen pots have undergone change, with taps being attached for people's convenience.[1]
Cooling process[edit]
Matka Gambling Photos Youtube
The cooling process works through evaporative cooling. Capillary action causes water to evaporate from the mini-pores in the pot, taking the heat from the water inside, thus making the water inside cooler than the outside temperature. Hence it is used only during summer and not in winter.
Gallery[edit]
Matka Gambling Photos Videos
A matka (big earthen pot) on roadside at Chinawal, India.
Indus Valley Civilization pot from Harappan phase found at Quetta in Baluchistan, c. 2500-1900 BC, displayed at Royal Ontario Museum.
Clay pots in Punjab in Pakistan.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^'Good old earthen pots , with a modern touch'. Thehindu.com. 29 April 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2018.