THE DREAM MERCHANTS
Plans to sell its lottery tickets online, but the ticket sellers of Bara Bazaar keep their old-time clientele
It’s a warm November afternoon in Kolkata’s swarming Bara Bazaar. On Rabindra Sarani, the street named after great lyricist and poet Rabindranath Tagore, the only music you hear is blaring Bhojpuri pop and the incessant honks of cars and bikes. Sitting for nine straight hours at the counter of one of the many little stores, Milan Goswami, 26, is selling that rarest of commodities – hope. “Bolo dada, bolo!” he calls out, teasing a middle-aged, comfortably pot-bellied regular. Unfazed by Goswami’s gentle attempt at bullying, the man takes time to think, scratching his head for a few hesitant seconds before finally picking a stack of West Bengal State Lottery tickets for ~501. He takes the bunch and places it in his front shirt pocket for safekeeping.
“This ticket gives me the permission to temporarily feel peace and relief,” says the buyer, Sushil Kumar, 48, smiling to reveal paan-stained teeth. “I can sleep with the possibility of some dreams coming true,” he adds. Kumar, who is here every day, is just one of thousands of people stepping into the constellation of state government- licensed lottery ticket stores in Kolkata.
Prominent lottery agencies and stockists like Nirala, Vira, Dhar, Jyoti and S Lal are ubiquitous on Mahatma Gandhi Road and Sealdah. Each has anywhere between three to five branches. On a typical day, the smaller outlets – barely large enough to accommodate a handful of people at a time – serve 40 to 50 customers like Kumar. These buyers frequent a handful of small stores regardless of loyalty to agency. The bigger shops, stocking lottery tickets for both retail customers as well as wholesale,
“THE LOTTERY GIVES ME A KICK, AND I’M ADDICTED TO THAT ‘JOSH.’ THE LOTTERY IS THE ONLY MEDICINE FOR THE ILLS OF MY OLD AGE!” TRANSWOMAN APSARA REDDY GETS KEY POST
country, every policy affects me, whether it is on infrastructure, health, or taxation. I want to be part of a larger discussion on policy that affects women and children and transgender individuals. This is also the only way that mainstreaming can happen,” she says.
In her new role, Reddy must reach out to women across demographics through workshops or conferences. This will include reaching out to transgender women’s groups too, she says.
“I’ve been given a mandate to identify women who think as leaders and to empower them. I will conduct localitywise, district-wise, block-wise workshops with the Mahila Congress unit in each state – on public speaking, vocational training, and even the importance of voting – to show women how every decision of the government affects them.”
While political parties have begun to recognise the importance of women voters – in the recent Madhya Pradesh state assembly election, for example, the Bharatiya Janata Party released a separate manifesto for women, while the Congress manifesto had promises directed at women – they still need to confront the issue of representation. If there was adequate representation, chances are public policies and programmes would look different. Which is why, Reddy’s appointment in a national political party is important.
As a transwoman, Reddy is no stranger to the numerous hurdles in asserting one’s gender identity. She recounts meeting a counsellor at age 15, who told her that peo- ple like her are “stoned” to death. “She scared the living daylights out of me,” says
Reddy. She also speaks about the abusive comments that her interviews on Youtube receive, which range from lies –“someone commented that he had seen me beg for money in a train”– to death and rape threats.
She narrates her ordeal to correct her gender identity on her passport, which was finally sorted out in the court. “I’ve had the most humiliating experiences in airports. Even after transitioning, I would be sent to the male line, (and the guard) would touch every part of my body while screening me,” she says. In a few hours, she will catch a flight back to Chennai, where she is based.
“There needs to greater sensitivity all round,” she says.