Casino royale

God doesn’t play dice with the Universe, said Albert Einstein.

But perhaps the great scientist was not quite au courant with Indian mythology, where the divinities did indulge in a spot of gambling.

In fact, it was in our part of the world, indeed, even Universe, that so many games of chance were invented and perfected.

Which is why the news that King Gyanendra of Nepal has taken to online gambling in his spare time is hardly surprising.

After all, his critics may well say that he has already gambled with his kingdom and the fate of monarchy in Nepal.

Sadly for the king, he appears to have lost that one. But in his avatar of Mahavishnu, gambling may fit very well into the cosmic scheme of things, even if on the internet.

In any case, Nepal is the cradle of gambling in the subcontinent.

Indians, Pakistanis and even visitors from further afield regularly hotfoot it to the Himalayan kingdom to make or break their fortunes.

Casinos filled with blackjack tables, one-armed bandits and other sinful pleasures are ours for the taking; it is our own Las Vegas in the mountains.

It seems appropriate on all counts, then, that Gyanendra should spend his despair with a little bit of roulette or poker or blackjack.

His minions complain that they have to stay up all night serving him while he’s online, but that is an occupational hazard they have to put up with.

There are also fears that the king may max his international credit cards, but that’s obviously a risk he’s willing to take.

Yudhisthir famously gambled his inheritance and that of his brothers’ away in the Mahabharata, and so of course, the cousins went to war.

Online gambling seems a much less destructive pursuit, especially for a king who has perhaps run out of options in real life.

Now, as he spends his nights online, he could be wondering about what could have been.

In his role as a reincarnation of God, Gyanendra is well within his rights. Ideally, like all divinity, he would have liked to toy with humanity some more, but alas those pesky democrats got in the way and cut him down to mortal size.

Cruising the net and cursing his luck, His not-so-exalted Highness may well be looking at the four kings in the deck of cards and thinking: “I was once one of you.” Today, he is the joker in the pack.