Shillong, India CNN
Tej Gurung, a retired Indian Air Force worker, now spends his days at the archery ground in Shillong, northeast India.
At 80 years old, he goes there to play teer, the only legal gambling in Meghalaya state.
But teer is different from regular sports betting. In teer, bets are based on dreams.
Here’s how it works: Around 20 archers sit in a semi-circle with their bows. For 10 minutes, they shoot arrows, aiming at a bundle of straw about 50 meters (164 feet) away, trying to hit it as many times as possible.
Archers earn a small fee
Teer, which means “arrow” in Hindi, has been around for about as long as the state of Meghalaya. Meghalaya was created from Assam in 1972 and includes the Khasi, Garo, and Jaintia Hills, which were once kingdoms that came under British rule in the 19th century.
The British called Shillong, the capital, the “Scotland of the East” because of its wet climate, hilly terrain, and frequent cloudy weather.
The state’s three main tribes were mostly converted to Christianity by British missionaries, making Meghalaya one of the few mostly Christian states in India. Tourism and mining, especially coal and limestone, are key parts of the economy. However, Meghalaya still ranks low in India in terms of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), life expectancy, education, and overall living standards.
Gurung has been playing Teer for 40 years. It became legal in 1982 when the Meghalaya government decided to make money from taxes. Now, every ticket seller pays 10% to the government, plus the archers’ salaries and other costs.
The archers, who are members of one of the 12 clubs in the Khasi Hills Archery Association, see their earnings as extra money since they usually have other jobs or run a teer counter. Michael Shaibor, a 24-year-old archer with seven years of experience, says he makes about 300 to 400 rupees ($4 to $5) a day for around three hours of work. “It’s not bad,” he says.
Bets fall into five categories: single (0 to 9), house (10 to 19, 20 to 29), ending (last digit), and pair (11, 22, 33, 44) up to the high-stakes forecast, which involves guessing the exact numbers in both rounds in one day. Players place their bets at counters around town, each with different limits for the jackpot.
Chandra Kumari, a local from Nepal, says she sometimes bets small amounts of 10 or 20 rupees, while others bet much more.
“There are about 500 to 600 counters and countless bookies in Shillong alone, where the bets can reach up to Rs. 5 crores in a single day,” said a bookie in Shillong, who wished to remain anonymous as many bookies operate without a license.
Women in the game
Meghalaya is special because it allows people to legally gamble on Teer.
It is also the only Indian state where families follow a matrilineal system, meaning mothers pass their names and property to their daughters. This is unusual in India’s mostly patriarchal society. Even though women have a high status in Meghalaya and efforts have been made to make Teer more inclusive, the game is still mostly played by men.
Philip Gean Khongsngi, president of the Khasi Hills Archery Association, says that before he took over in 2017, the archery ground in Shillong was a dirty place where men would drink and gamble.
“About two years ago, we cleaned it up. But gambling still has a bad reputation,” he says. The church forbids any form of gambling, adding to the stigma.
Khongsngi says many women avoid the shooting ground, but some gamble secretly.
“Younger women don’t go to the game or buy tickets. For them, it’s as bad as going to a wine shop,” Khongsngi says.
Sushma, a female ticket seller for 16 years, says: “Church-going women do play but keep it a secret. They’ll send someone to buy a ticket or buy it discreetly.”
Lisa Wallang, who has sold tickets at the Shillong shooting ground since 2012, says: “My mother ran a teer counter to support her children. Now, I’m feeding my family and running my home this way.”
Modern form of gambling
Last December, the Meghalaya government made an announcement that surprised the Teer community.
They decided to restart the state lottery, which had stopped in 2005. Meghalaya is one of 13 states in India where legal lotteries are allowed by a Supreme Court order in 2015.
“Restarting the state lottery will be very bad for Shillong Teer,” one teer ticket seller told local media.
Some bookies worry that the state lottery will take people’s spare money away from Teer, but others aren’t worried. “Teer is like an addiction, so people can’t stop playing,” said one Shillong-based bookie.
When the Indian government removed 500 rupee and 1,000 rupee notes overnight in November 2016, Teer and many small businesses that rely on cash were badly affected.
But even this did not stop locals from playing the game. “Those who used to play for Rs. 5000 now play for Rs. 500 a day,” the bookie adds.
For many, Teer is more than just a gamble; it’s a way to stay connected to their roots, especially for those in the Jaintia Hills. Many there still follow their indigenous religion, Niam Tre, or have returned to it from Christianity.
“Christian evangelists have tried to stop us from playing this game, saying that gambling is a sin,” says Pasah, who runs a teer ticket counter. “But for us, it is a way of keeping in touch with our own culture.”
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