Call it a passion or an inflated ego, the youngsters today are ready to go to any extent to prove a point

"Izzat ka sawal tha boss. I mean in today’s world of gender equality, it's not just men who can accept a challenge, however dangerous it may be and when the bet was placed I just had to fulfil it!” exclaims 22-year-old Tejaswini Ranade who today is still glowing despite her prominent and gruesome scar.
A few weeks ago a boy from her neighbourhood challenged her to do something that most of us would simply scoff at and ignore. “If your name is Tejaswini and you have your parents’ blood then you will slash your wrist with this razor,” he had challenged her while under his breath he muttered something about being a faint hearted girl and mocking her.

Caught up in the heat of the moment, she snatched the razor and made a deep gash on her left wrist. Having completed the act she was immediately rushed to a doctor after the boy panicked on seeing the amount of blood lost. “I know what I did was very foolish but at that moment all I could think of was that I will show this idiot what I am made of. What the hell does he think of himself daring me like that? Well today I guess I was an idiot for having fallen for his dare and every time I look at my wrist I am reminded of my folly. If only I had rationalised and not been this impulsive to do such a stupid thing. The only positive thing that came out of this is that the boy now doesn’t take any panga with me,” she says.
At one of the high rise construction sites, a rope was dangling and it appeared to be the right place and time for placing a bet. One youth was challenged and he had to slither down that rope. It seemed simple enough except by the time the bet was completed the youth had cut his skin so badly that he needed immediate medical attention.

Another youngster decided that she needed to live up to the challenge that her classmate gave her. Envied for her long, black lustrous locks she took hold of a scissor and snipped! That was the end of her crowning glory. Today she sports a boycut much to her mother’s displeasure. And it’s not like she herself had a problem with the length or the maintenance it took. “It always felt nice when I was complimented for my hair. I would proudly give tips to my friends and always kept them guessing as to what style I would sport when we would hang out. Long hair had so many options. I hope it grows back soon,” is what she says.

“I spent years oiling and ensuring that she take care of her hair. She was not allowed to colour it or reduce its length since it’s been a family tradition. Today everyone wants to have thick glowing hair and my daughter goes and chops it off. The closest she had come to a scissor was for her regular trims,” mentions her mother woefully.

Bobby Grewal is another victim of youth betting. While he was dancing away near the pool at a private party a couple of months ago his best friend made a bet with him. “Hey Bobby man, c’mon and spice up the party. I know that you don’t know how to swim. But show me what a man you are and dive into the deep end of the swimming pool. If you do it then I will give you those three cds from my collection that you have been eyeing for a while now. Chal yaar itna bhi bhao mat kha. Ladki hai kya?” said his so called best friend.

Bobby believes he had little choice after his masculinity was challenged and promptly jumped into the deep end of the pool. Obviously there was no life-guard around and the party revellers simply stared blankly as Bobby beat his arms around in an attempt to keep himself afloat. Shortly there after he began gasping for breath as he had got tired and was making attempts to keep his head above the water and panicked as no one was making any attempt to help him out and he seemed to be losing all his strength. As thoughts of drowning gripped him, he realized to his dismay that most of his friends were completely sozzled and he now had no one to get him out.

“Imagine a girl pulled me out. I really don’t know whether that was lucky or not because since then I am the butt of constant jokes since a girl saved me. It is really depressing and humiliating for me. Tell me what could I do? If I had said no they would have gone on and on and jumping into the pool didn’t make any sense either because I would have paid for it with my life literally had I not been saved. Atleast I am alive today and guess what. I have actually joined a class to learn swimming. Not again baba. One bad experience is enough. Bahut mahenga padta ye bet,” he says.

23-year-old Sapna Pawar had to eat a combination of raw eggs, mud, worms and chicken liver so as not to look like a loser. “If I had not eaten it then I would have be taunted for months about not taking up the bet. It was a question of my reputation. It’s easy to pass judgement when you are not on the hot seat. Do you know how it feels to be side tracked and ignored in college? It’s like you’re an outcaste, a pariah,” says Sapna who spent the rest of the day and night running between the washroom and her room.

Her mother said that normally her daughter is level headed but when her ‘in’ quotient is threatened she turns into some kind of a robot and doesn’t use her brain or rationality. She opines that youth betting is such a vicious circle. “If you don’t take up a bet you are labeled a loser and taunted at, which hurts your self-confidence. If you take up the bet and lose, it still doesn’t help and if you win in rare cases then another bet is given to the kids. The sad part is that it is educated kids who are doing this in the name of a thrill,” she laments.

Jacob Mathews had to mouth expletives at his girlfriend’s dad in the eeriness of the early morning. “A bet is a bet. At 1:00 am I stood under her building and started mouthing abuses. Not only did I wake everyone up but also got dumped promptly the next day. I tried to apologise to her and her dad but the damage had already been done. Today I regret it since I really loved her but nothing can be done,” he says ruefully.

Praveen Nair (name changed) has the living with the Jonese’s philosophy. Though he comes from a lower middle class background he spends his time with rich kids. Renting expensive clothes and accessories or borrowing from others are part of his normal schedule. Today Praveen is a desperate man. He betted a considerable sum of money and lost. Unable to cough up the dough he is hiding in fear of getting caught by the people he has messed with. They are angry and will spare no means to get their cash back. The fear in his eyes is a clear give away when he says, “In my josh I just forgot to see any reason. The bet has proved to be very costly for me. My friends have the money. A couple of thousands is no big deal for them. I didn’t want to appear inferior in any way. One bet and I paid for it with my freedom. I watch over my shoulder every time I leave my PG accommodation.”

These are not isolated cases. Almost everyday in the name of a bet youngsters are propelled to do something dangerous, scary, freaky or embarrassing. Mental abuse, sexual exploitation, violence and a tendency for sadistic pleasure are all explored under the guise of bets. And most of the times the youth end up becoming victims in the name of courage, bravery or simply to keep their pride intact. The once innocent game like truth and dare has also undergone a more vicious turn. Formerly the dares given included saying hi to someone of the opposite gender or going up to them and expressing your feelings real or otherwise. Now such dares are considered childish and boring.

New dares supposedly manly and macho include anything from trying out the new drug that gives a high to sexual experimentation. A common form of ragging cum bet in youth hostels includes the famous electrocution attempt. Here a tub is filled with water and 230 volts of electricity is connected to it. The victim has to then urinate in this tub. He gets a shock when he does this.

Another bet is to gather around the railway tracks and when the train is approaching, to run across the tracks as many times as one can. Betting on cricket matches, horse racing, stripping of youth of his clothes and leaving him standing in the biting cold is passe. “The more innovative the bet the more fun it is to give. The sky is the limit when it comes to human imagination. In one episode of CSI on AXN there were bets being placed illegally on which celebrity would die first. See what I mean,” mentions a youth who bets regularly.

Dr Satyasheel Naik, an orthopedic surgeon says, “Mostly boys come in with such cases of youth betting. A common challenge given to them is to jump from construction sites where there is soft sand. Such youngsters come for treatment of fractured heels. The age group of 13 years and above is when the kids are fearless and don’t realise the consequences of their actions even though they are life threatening. One moment of supposed bravado and the result is pain and restricted movement for the individual, unwanted monetary expenditure for the family and such an overall waste of energy and time”
A criminal lawyer explains that such cases are not only dangerous but also illegal. “Such cases are known as abatement to do illegal actions under section 114 of the Indian Penal Code. Imprisonment up to seven years plus a fine at the discretion of the judge can be imposed on the miscreants. Such betting cases can also be dealt with under section 44 of the Indian Penal Code wherein injury denotes any harm illegally caused to any person in body, mind, reputation and property,” he says.

A senior police official of the crime branch states that such cases are reported to the local police stations. “However in most cases when the accident is reported the real story is withheld and the truth is not put forward,” he opines.

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