Try to imagine how the contemporary Fatafat game can be described to the person who played it during the 90s the difference between slips, local bookies, and announced results and online results on websites such as fatafatkolkata.net is the best example of transformation of Indian street culture to Internet-based one. Let us take a look on how this transition was performed.
The Age of Slips Paper and a Trustworthy Bookie
At that time, Kolkata Fatafat was entirely an offline game. You would go to a local bookie, who usually sits near the pan shop or tea stall, tell him your chosen number single digit, Jodi or Patti and bookie would write down the same number in his register, collect the money and give you a slip as the receipt. It was all based on trust and reputation of both bookie and the whole local community. No apps, no SMS, no screenshot just paper and pen.
Result Announcing System in the Era of Offline Game
This process was analogue as well and, to say honestly, quite interesting. As soon as the number was chosen for every Baji by the organizers, the runners delivered it to different localities. Some bookies were writing the last Patti number on the outside chalkboard, some were announcing it every 90 minutes, and there were those localities where there were people responsible for announcing from house to house. If you missed the announcement, you had to wait till tomorrow or just ask someone.
Mobile Phone Transition (2005-2012)
The next breakthrough was introduced by affordable mobile phones. Now bookies started sending SMS with results to their clients and people were calling each other right after every Baji result. This era did not kill the culture of slips completely, but it greatly accelerated the distribution of information. The result which usually was delivered to the locality within 30 minutes was delivered in 5 minutes now. There were some companies which were running the missed call groups which was the closest thing to "online result" before Internet era.
Website Era Instant Result Checking
Starting from 2014-2015 when smartphones became available in West Bengal, the websites gained popularity. Sites such as fatafatkolkata.net started publishing the results of every Baji nearly instantly after the declaration made by the organizers including a three-digit Patti, single digit, time and date stamp. Player no longer needs any intermediary person to get this information as everything becomes available online. This is the greatest change in the history of the game since the cotton exchange era even greater than Matka and random numbers transition.
Things Which Have Remained Unchanged during the Transition
Surprisingly, the structure of the game itself has not changed at all. The way Patti is constructed, the rules of digit sum and even the amount of Bajis (8 for weekdays and 4 for Sundays) has remained the same. Even the timing is still the same from 10:30 AM to 9:00 PM. Internet did not re-invented Kolkata Fatafat; it just gave the method of instant result checking and abolition of the usage of physical intermediaries. The core of the game remained unchanged.
Conclusion
From slips to result websites Kolkata Fatafat went through all the stages of evolution of Indian information space and adjusted to all of them. While the game structure remained true to the traditions, the distribution system kept improving. Just keep in mind that this is still the game of luck and no Internet platforms will change it.
