The old desktop whirred like a tired buffalo, its bulky monitor glowing faintly in the dimly lit room. In 2003, owning a computer in a small village, Atreyapuram of Andhrapradesh was no less than a miracle. For most families, such a machine was a distant dream, but Dilli's father—though not the richest in the village—had made the sacrifice. He wanted his son to study, to learn the world beyond textbooks, and perhaps carve a brighter future.
Back then, the younger Dilli of his past life had squandered it. The computer had been a portal not to knowledge but to distractions—endless games, pirated movies, songs downloaded from shady sites. Time slipped away like sand through his fingers, wasted in fleeting pleasures. The memory now stung him like a whip.
"Children misuse gifts," he thought grimly. "We crave toys instead of tools, wasting what could build empires. I was no different."
But this time, things were different. The elder soul within him knew the stakes. This computer, this internet connection, was not just a shiny possession—it was a weapon. A gateway to the global world that his fellow villagers could not even imagine.
He sat down before the monitor, his reflection faint on the screen. His fingers hovered over the keyboard, steady and determined. No more wasting. No more foolishness.
He had already mapped the path in his mind. Local punters and shady bookies would never allow him to bet in crores. Their world was too small, too narrow. The true arena was international—platforms like Betfair and Bet365, digital coliseums where fortunes were won and lost in seconds.
To enter, he needed three things: a bank account, a PAN card, and seed money—no matter how small. That much he could manage. The rest, destiny had already placed in his hands.
He whispered to himself, "By God's grace, I was the first in this village to touch the internet. Last time, I touched it like a child touches fire, only to burn. This time, I'll forge steel from it."
The computer hummed louder as though acknowledging his oath. Outside, the village children played cricket in the dusty lane, shouting, laughing, carefree. Inside, Dilli was preparing for a different match—one where every click would shift the balance of his future.
And as he began searching, learning, mapping the steps to register and place his first online wager, a strange calm settled over him. He wasn't gambling blindly. He wasn't wasting his father's sacrifice. He was transforming it into the first seed of an empire.