Fifty years ago, Malayalam comedian Adoor Bhasi sang that “oru roopa nottukoduthal oru

laksham koodepporum” (if you spend one rupee you will get a lakh rupees). The song in the
film, Lottery Ticket, was a celebration of the idea of lottery ticket, a paper lottery the
government of Kerala had launched in 1967. The song goes on to impress prospective buyers of
the riches a lottery ticket can fetch — the list includes a pretty bride, a fancy car and even
ministership. For Rajan Perunnon, a daily wager from an adivasi community in Kerala, the
lottery ticket has turned out to be precisely that slice of luck Bhasi promised it would be. One
Monday, Perunnon, whose house was on the verge of being attached by a bank for loan default,
hit the jackpot: The Rs 300 Christmas-New Year Bumper lottery ticket he had bought some days
ago fetched him a prize money of Rs 12 crore. After deductions, Perunnon will get Rs 7.2 crore,
enough to repay his loan and buy or build a few more houses.
For thousands of people in Kerala and elsewhere, hope is the many digit number printed on the
colourful lottery tickets. Week after week, they trust in the ticket to ride out of misery and
misfortune. They rue their luck when they miss out on the winning sequence, but continue to
invest in the ticket. Who knows what fate holds for you. Ask Mofijul Rahima Sheikh, a Bengali
labourer who was working at a construction firm in Kozhikode, when he landed a lottery prize of
Rs 1 crore some years ago!
For the state government too, the lottery has been a worthy investment. In 2018-19, lottery sales
in Kerala amounted to Rs 9,264.55 crore and post all expenses — prize money and agent
commissions — the treasury was richer by Rs 1,673 crore. Over a lakh people make a life selling
these tickets that are priced in the range of Rs 30 to Rs 300. Some years ago, the state
government gambled on an exclusive lottery to fund a marquee healthcare scheme. The Karunya
Healthcare Scheme, which benefits 55 lakh people annually and costs Rs 700 crore, is now
funded by the proceeds from the Karunya lottery. So, as Bhasi sang, “varuvin ningal varuvin”
(come, join the queue).