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Ruhani Kaur
A VISUAL STORYTELLER
Quiver Full of Dreams
Archery is spinning big bucks in Meghalaya, but few seem to be interested in it as a sporting discipline.
Text: Jaideep Majumdar, Photos: Ruhani Kaur/Open Magazine
This stuff is all about dreams, about interpretation of dreams. Dreams that can translate into a rich windfall, or severe disappointment. Even financial ruin. Dreams are what turn the wheels of the estimated Rs 750 crore-a-year gambling business that masquerades as the traditional sport of archery (teer in local parlance) in this picturesque capital city of the Northeastern hill state of Meghalaya.
“What did you dream last night?” is the question tens of thousands of desperate gamblers ask even a passing acquaintance every morning. The figures, events and objects in a ‘dream’ are then decoded—a snake ‘seen’ in a dream represents the number ‘7’, fire is ‘4’, a woman is ‘5’, a man is ‘6’, a baby ‘3’, a two-wheeler ‘00’ and so on. The gamblers then sprint to the nearest bookie to place their bets—from as little as 10 paise to a few hundred rupees.
Bets are registered on single or double-digit numbers. Re 1 placed on a winning single number yields Rs 80 in the first round and Rs 70 in the second round of the game. A Re 1 bet on the last digit of the winning two-digit number yields Rs 95 in the first round and Rs 70 in the third. But it is the ‘forecast’ that is the windfall: a gambler who bets Re 1 on the winning numbers of both the rounds gets Rs 4,444. But such winnings, and luck, are rare. Betting closes at 3 pm for the first round and 4 pm for the second round.
The shooting ground, called ‘Madan Thma’ in Khasi, comes alive after noon every day. Archers, bookies, gamblers and office-bearers of Khasi mill around, exchanging notes and gossip, often over liquor or the fiery local brew called kiat sold at makeshift stalls run by ladies that ring the ground.
As the clock ticks towards 3.30 pm, the ground is full with tense men and some women. The 45 archers—15 from each club on weekdays and another 15 employed by the bookies to ensure that the archers don’t rig the game by shooting only a pre-determined number of arrows at the target—hunker down on their haunches in a semi-circle, examining their cane bows and reed arrows, about 60 ft from the target.
At the blow of a whistle, the shooting starts and the air becomes thick with the ‘whoosh’ of arrows shooting like meteors. It’s over in four minutes at the blow of another whistle; the ‘stewards’ go to the target and take out the arrows that are embedded in it. The last two digits of the number of arrows that have hit the target make for the winning number of that round of the day.
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By Arindam Mukherjee, Photos: Ruhani Kaur/Open Magazine
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