Bet Fest

With my extremely limited knowledge of betting and bookies,what I understood was this: On this pregnancy the safest bet to place is on a boy,but you make the least money if you win. The odds are on a girl,where you can easily make double of what you bet. Inexplicable? My friend’s explanation is this: The Bachchans’ would want a boy for the family legacy to continue. They are superstitious and would have consulted geneology charts and planned the pregnancy accordingly. I should add that this assumption is based on no concrete information,just perception. (A rather telling comment on what regular folk think of the Bachchan’s mindset.) I argued,in this particular matter,what you want isn’t always what you get. But my friend contradicted me immediately,saying it’s entirely possible and reminded me of a particular clinic in Bangkok that specialises in gender selection pregnancies,a very popular destination for Indian families who want boys. He also announced that all the bets are off if there are twins,(something like cricket,when all bets are off if there’s a tie). Apart from the sex of the Bachchan baby,there are separate bets on a Caesarean-section or normal delivery,where the odds are in favour of a normal. It appears that bookies think of filmstars as too posh to push,and normal deliveries are for lesser mortals. I asked my friend what if it’s a normal delivery with an epidural? He seems a little unsure.

In England,you can bet on the rain,on Kate Middleton’s clothes,and pretty much anything that catches your fancy. Betting on celebrities and stuff other than cricket,elections and the stock market are still relatively new in India. My friend had not veered from the regular options till he bet on Bigg Boss a couple of seasons ago. The rates come out when there are 3-4 contestants left. Rahul Mahajan had Rs 150 crore riding on him when he was a participant,and in this season,Shakti Kapoor is the favourite. He stopped betting on Bigg Boss because he found the process murky. Since it’s shot and canned a day before,the news inevitably leaks out,he says.

Right now,the thriving betting industry in Mumbai,all the way to Dubai,is placing bets on this eagerly anticipated infant,who has over a Rs 100 crore riding on him/her while the parents,at this stage,probably only care about one thing: having a healthy child.

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