Debts kept piling up and land belonging to the family shrunk fast as Bharilal, Jayakala´s husband, continued to gamble. Instead of extending a hand in household chores, Bharilal would leave home early and return at midnight, sometimes, only the next night. [break]
For Bharilal every occasion was an opportunity to gamble, be it marriage, pasni (feeding rice to a new born for the first time) or the meetings of local consumers committees. Bharilal always carried a pack of cards in his pocket.
As the number of mouths to be fed increased in the family, the burden on Jayakala´s shoulders mounted. She even had to sell all her ornaments including her earrings and wedding necklace.
Another woman of the village, Parvati Rokka, was protagonist of a similar story. Her husband Jagannath too was a hopeless gambler.
Whenever Parvati tried to protest his gambling addiction, Jagannath would resort to violence. At one point the village elders had to intervene and discuss whether it is better for the husband and wife to part ways. But Parvati´s concern for her children proved to be too strong, and she resigned to live with the husband.
Many women in the village lived miserably with their gambler husbands. But that´s no longer the case.
The women decided to put a collective effort to fight the scourge. They took help of women´s groups, a local club and mother´s groups in their village.
Soon putting a ban on gambling became the first agenda in the joint meetings of the groups. Gradually, teachers, students and local political workers joined the cause of enforcing the ban. Today, gamblers are not only fined but also shunned by the society.
It has curbed gambling altogether. What is more encouraging is that these days even former gamblers are part of the campaign to end gambling, said Nisha Rokka, chairman of a local women´s group.
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