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Funny Tambola Number Calling Phrases in Hindi and English

Anyone who has sat through a flat, numbers-only game of Tambola knows the real fun is in the calling. A good caller turns “42” into a line the whole room repeats back. Here’s a list to borrow from, in Hindi and English, organised the way callers actually use them — by number.

Why callers use nicknames at all

Traditional Housie call-outs date back to the game’s bingo roots, where every number got a rhyming or visual nickname so players could catch it even over noise. Tambola nights in India layered Hindi phrases and local humour on top. This site’s number generator already speaks the classic English nicknames out loud when you draw — the list below is for hosts who want to add their own Hindi flavour on top, live.

Classic English call-outs by number

  • 1 — Kelly’s Eye
  • 7 — Lucky Seven
  • 8 — Garden Gate
  • 11 — Legs Eleven
  • 13 — Unlucky for Some
  • 22 — Two Little Ducks
  • 44 — Droopy Drawers
  • 66 — Clickety Click
  • 77 — Sunset Strip
  • 88 — Two Fat Ladies
  • 90 — Top of the Shop
  • 1 — “Akela” (the lone number)
  • 7 — “Chhoti si umar” (young age, playing on 7 looking small)
  • 9 — “Doctor ka bill” (because nobody wants a big one)
  • 10 — “Gurkhas ki dus” or simply “Dus ka dum”
  • 16 — “Sweet sixteen” or “Solah singaar”
  • 21 — “Ekki baan, Gabbar ka plan” — a crowd favourite that always gets a laugh
  • 30 — “Dhai kilo ka haath” (nod to the famous Sholay line)
  • 36 — “Teen tiya chaalis” or a cheeky “Figure” for the shape of the digits
  • 40 — “Sarhe maam, Kutub Minar”
  • 42 — “Jahaj ka pankha”
  • 50 — “Half century” — borrowed straight from cricket commentary
  • 65 — “Bachpan ki shaadi”
  • 90 — “Umar dar hui, Budhapa”

Mix languages freely — most family games end up with half the board called in Hinglish by round three anyway.

Tips for calling with confidence

  1. Pick a handful, not the whole list. Memorising all 90 nicknames on your first night is a good way to slow the game down. Learn five or six you like and call the rest by number.
  2. Say the number twice. Housie convention is nickname first, number second — “Two Fat Ladies, eighty-eight” — so players who missed the joke still catch the digits.
  3. Let the room talk back. Half the fun is when players shout the nickname before you finish saying it.
  4. Keep a cheat sheet on your phone. Nobody remembers all of these under pressure, including seasoned hosts.

If you’d rather not call numbers yourself, the Tambola number generator on this site draws numbers 1–90 with no repeats and announces each one out loud, with traditional call-outs built in — useful for smaller games or when the host also wants to play.