Tambola

The construction of clubs in Karachi is growing in number with more and more being added to the list. Apart from the famous already existing DHA clubs we now see a rise in the growing new ones like Royal Rodale, SouthEnd, Dreamworld Resort, and so on. The first facility that each of these started right after their functioning was the Tambola night. The reason for this is the increase in demand of Bingo, another name for Tambola, due to great appreciation by women of all ages. Years old clubs like Gymkhana, Karachi Club, Creek Club and many more are all crowded the most on their respective Tambola nights that is one day in a week when mostly women come to spend their evenings indulging themselves in the luck of numbers.

Tambola is the game of calling out numbers from 1 to 90 with people in the audience striking out the numbers on their sheets if they have them. The success behind this game is the huge crowds of women who go to their clubs every week on nights when the Tambola is scheduled. The clubs allowed only members at first but now many have permitted the entry of guests on these nights which results in women going to every club almost every day of the week. Each club has a Tambola night that does not conflict with the other clubs’ Tambola nights leaving each day of the week with a Bingo night. The National Sailing Club holds its Tambola night on Sundays with Karach Gymkhana keeping it’s on Mondays. Tuesdays is seen to be Karachi Club’s night and Wednesdays is given to DHA Golf Club. Sunset Club holds its Tambola night on Thursdays along Royal Rodale and Beachview Club entertains its Bingo audience on Fridays leaving Saturday to Defence Authority main Club and Dreamworld Resort. Each of these days women are greatly seen playing the game with great interest and a huge circle of them rotates from club to club every day. The ratio of men to women playing is 4:10 with most women comprising of housewives who make sure to keep their evenings free to enjoy a night with friends, testing their luck.

Chandni Zohaib, a woman in her early 50s, said,” I live alone with my husband who loves watching the TV in the evening. My kids are married which leaves me to do absolutely nothing at home and so I head out with my friends to keep myself busy otherwise the depression of loneliness will kill me!” Ayesha Salman, in her late 40s, says that since she is a widow her son and daughter in law have a life of their own in which she feels like an outsider so she prefers to stay out and enjoy the night with people with minds like her. Shaheena Baig, a recent widow claims that though she has a loving family of a husband, two sons with wives and a grandchild, she believes that staying in the house with them makes her feel dependant and lifeless. She feels that she has given all her life to bring up her family and now it’s time for her to pamper herself. Mehreen Nasir, and Indus Valley School of Art graduate was married 8 years ago and has 3 children. She stated, “ All day I pick and drop children to and from school looking after their needs and studies. By the time night comes I feel as if life is nothing but this which sends me into phases of depression thus 3 hours of harmless entertainment feels like a blessing after which when I go home I am able to enjoy my family even more. Life should have everything in it and not just a woman’s duty towards her family”. Zeest Merchant, an 18 yeard old studying at Lyceum school tells that she enjoys coming with her mother to Tambola as it is just not fun but also she and her mother get their personal time aside from their family. She feels that her mother and she feel free and independent for those few hours where they enjoy being women.

It is a fact that mostly women in our country are housewives who spend each day looking after the needs and wants of their families with busy spouses and children. They crave for some source of entertainment other than the daily soap operas that sometimes cause even more depression. The changing trend in women activities is growing due to these reasons as they now prefer to spend some time of their days doing things that please them and make them happy. The above examples of women were the views of almost every other women who plays Bingo on a regular basis and the number of them is growing with passing time.