The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Monday, May 15, 2000,
Chandigarh, India

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Betting on Lara began week ago
From Raman Mohan

HANSI, May 14 — This city, the betting capital of Haryana, is never short of ideas for betting. With cricket betting out of reckoning, heavy betting took place here yesterday on the chances of Lara Dutta winning the coveted Miss Universe crown.

It is learnt that about Rs 20 lakh changed hands following the crowing of Dutta. This was the first time that bets were placed on the Miss Universe contest. Another novel feature was that though professional bookies were involved in the acceptance of bets, betting was limited to nearby towns without the involvement to big-time bookies of Delhi. Inside sources say considering the interest generated by the contest, bookies are now looking forward to the Miss World contest.

Betting on Lara Dutta’s chances began about a week back. As word spread, habitual betters discreetly began putting their money on Lara after making queries from the young in the family. The biggest winners yesterday turned out to be those who had placed bets in her favour in the early days.

But the most remarkable feature of the betting was that in addition to professional betting, groups of women and teenagers also placed bets on Lara’s chances of winning among themselves. These bets involved much smaller amounts and in many cases were limited to throwing parties. Consequently, the town’s bars and restaurants did brisk business last evening. The number of such parties was so large that the town restaurants could not accommodate all revellers.

While many were, therefore, forced to throw parties within the four walls of their homes, others went to Hisar and Rohtak to splurge. Many upmarket dhabas and restaurants on the Hansi-Hisar highway, too, made a quick buck. Sharp showers in the afternoon and the cool breeze that followed was another reason to celebrate. Groups of teenagers could be seen on National Highway No. 10 last evening with car stereos blaring Punjabi pop singer Gursewak Maan’s popular number “Lara lappa, lara lappa layi rakhdi, ik kuri”.

Arun Bajaj rues the moment he decided to bet against Lara winning the contest. He promised to pay Rs 5,500 to his wife if Lara won the crown. He lost and his wife invited four families last evening to dinner at a popular roadside restaurant. The evening ended with Arun wearing a placard around his neck that said” Ek bechara, Lara ka maara.”

A few kilometres away in a Hisar restaurant, a group of teenagers went on a binge with the proceeds of bets placed on the beauty contest’s outcome. A young hunk and his slim girlfriend were the cynosure of all eyes. Together, they had won Rs 2350 from bets placed in favour of Lara Dutta. Asked why he was so certain of the outcome in Lara’s favour, he parodied the opening lines of Gursewak Maan’s song. Pointing to his blushing girlfriend he said”: Lara Dutta, Lara Dutta layi rakhdi. That’s how”. Music stores here and at Hisar reported brisk sale of Maan’s cassette. By the evening, there were hardly any copies left and young boys and girls were borrowing the cassette from their friends.

It came as no surprise that no woman had betted against Lara. However, bets among males were generally against her winning the title. “She isn’t any great beauty. I am surprised she won. Nevertheless it is a pleasant surprise because she is an Indian,” commented Ravinder Saini, a student of Guru Jambheswar University, Hisar. But in no case, he said, he could have bet his money on her. Girls said they always knew she would win. “She may not be a Marilyn Monroe to men, but to me she is a deadly combination of beauty and brains”, said Arti Mehta, an engineering student at Mulanal hailing from Hisar. She said though she was against betting, she would have happily put her money on Lara.