Satta matka trend in the Indian Culture

                   Satta matka trend in the Indian Culture

                         Satta  matka is a lottery game played in the India especially in the Mumbai. That game was associated with the opening and closing rates of cotton transmitted from the New York Cotton Exchange. That game was played even before the independence of India. Those days it was called as figures gambling. The decade of 1960 is important in the history of that game. During that decade the game was replaced other ways of generating random numbers, including the putting slips in the earthenware pot which is called as matka. After that a random number is picked from the earthenware pot and the owner of that number is declared as the winner of game. Some times that game is also associated with playing cards.     

                   In the decade of 1960’s the New York Cotton Exchange left the practice, due to which the punters have to look for some alternative ways to survive the game. At that time the Rattan Khatri introduced the concept of declaring the opening and closing of some imaginary number. All the numbers will be written in the small piece of paper and after that they are put in the earthenware pot. One person just randomly picked a number and the owner of that number is declared as winner. In that game there is 100% chance to win and lose.  Over the years the rules of game became more and more mature and the practice of picking one random slip was replaced with three numbers. Three numbers were drawn from the playing cards but the name makta still exists.  

                   Kalyanji Bhagat introduced the Worli matka with slightly changes in the rules of the game. Kalyanji Bhagat’s  matka ram for all days of the week but the Rattan Khatri matka ran for just five days, i.e. from Monday to Friday. A lot number of mill workers in Mumbai played the satta during the flourishing of textile mills. As an outcome a large number of bookies opened their shops in the respective area especially in the Central Mumbai. In a very short time Central Mumbai became the hub of satta matka. That game was at peak in the decades of 1980s and 1990s. Every month it gains the volume of Rs. 500 crores.  After that the Mumbai police take the action and the massive crackdown on the matka dens forced dealers to find some alternative city in order to survive the game. Many of them left the Mumbai and shifted to the Gujrat, Rajasthan and other states.  With the advancement in the social media and online visibility of websites, now that game is mostly played on internet.