JACKPOT

Jackpot:

                                                           This is another real life drama from Ispat General Hospital(IGH), Rourkela.

                      A young doctor named Kalipada was working in the radiology department of IGH. He was senior to me and studied in the same schools of Baripada where I had my primary education. Along with him there was a senior Bengali radiologist named Tapan in that department. He was very miser. Doctor Kalipada had the habit of purchasing lottery every week. Few times he had won small amount with which he used to entertain his departmental staffs.

                                                                  As luck would have it once he got the third prize of two lakhs rupees from Kamadhenu lottery. The news spread like wild fire. Doctor Tapan asked his friend to give a loan of few thousand rupees so that he could purchase a second hand Vespa Scooter, to which Kalipada agreed.

                                       Doctor Tapan called his friend for a dinner at standard restaurant with the hope of getting some loan from his junior colleague. They had some beer and heavy dinner to celebrate the occasion. Those days one tanduri roti was fifty paise and a bottle of beer was two rupees seventy five paise .Weeks past but Kalipada could not meet the lottery vendor; from whom he had purchased the ticket, as he had gone to his home town. In the mean while Tapan sir was getting restless, after all he had spent rupees one hundred twenty-five on the dinner!

                         One fine morning doctor Kalipada came with the lottery ticket in original, the news paper and showed it to Tapan sir.

“So my friend when would you give the money? I have already arranged a 2^nd hand scooter.” Doctor Tapan asked with a broad smile on his face.

                                              “Sir, I am so sorry, just for one digit and I lost two lakhs. In the news paper the last digit was same as my lottery number but when I verified with agent he said “bad luck sir there was printing mistake in the news paper. Anyhow go on purchasing, some day you may get the first prize”.

                                                            Tapan sir was heartbroken; felt cheated and continued to come to hospital in his old bicycle as his friend left for a new job in London the very next week.

Sanjoy Kumar Satpathy