Special issue with the Sunday Magazine
From the publishers of THE HINDU

ADDICTIONS: February 25,2001

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Gambling ruined my life

Anonymous

I come from an affluent family where all the men are highly educated and in good jobs. We never lacked love or good manners. Even though this fortress was around me, it did not prevent me from falling a victim to the deadly disease of compulsive gambling. I was indeed a pitiable man.

Manoj K. Jain

Right from my childhood, I had this habit. If somebody opposed my views, I would immediately retaliate and challenge the opponent by inviting him for a bet. Psychiatrists who have treated me now say that this attitude of betting which was in me in my early days was a clear symptom of my eventually becoming a compulsive gambler.

In my school days, I liked a particular betting game. As days passed by, the desire to bet increased. I began to stay away from classes so I could play such games. If my friends did not have money, pencils and books were sold t each other for betting. Gradually, I began stealing money from my father to meet my gambling needs.

The elders in my family never dreamt that I was playing such games. When I joined college, gambling dens functioning round-the-clock in the city lured me. I was attracted by the free liquor, food and lodging provided to me in those places. "Special class in college", "Educational tour" were the reasons I used to give my family for staying on at the gambling dens for days together. I extracted money from them for "special fees" and "important books". Apart from becoming a compulsive gambler before the end of my college days, I also became an expert in cheating and conning others.

After my college days, a new gambling game attracted me and I became addicted to it. This made me steal money from the company where I was employed. A police complaint was lodged against me. I had to live underground for many days. Every time my father or some relative would get me out of trouble and I would promise them that I would never gamble anymore, only to break the promise soon after.

Once when I was in a gambling den, I received the news that my wife had been delivered of a stillborn baby. To perform the last rites of the infant, I was dragged to the crematorium by my relatives. There I was asked to promise never to gamble again. Without the least hesitation, I did so. Once I left the crematorium, I went straight back to the gambling den. These experiences destroyed me as a person, leaving me numb. I had become a perfect example to illustrate the amount of destruction that the obsession to gamble can cause in the life of a man. Even today I can realise the pain I felt on those last days of compulsive gambling.

Today with the help of Gamblers Anonymous, I have started a new life. Not only did I get release from the clutches of a grave illness, but I have become an active members of Madras G.A. which is engaged in rehabilitating the lives of many compulsive gamblers. There are many persons who ruin themselves and their families without knowing the grave intensity of their illness.

Those people who are still suffering should be made to understand the facts of the disease of compulsive gambling. They should be advised to seek help. If and only if they seek help, can they be saved. Otherwise the quicksand called "compulsive gambling" will swallow them.