10 turn millionaires overnight
Most of the winners in Abu Dhabi shared Big Ticket price
Ten people became millionaires overnight when the tickets they purchased for a draw ended up as the winning picks.
Eight Indians, one Canadian and one Filipina comprised the 10 winners of the Big Ticket draw held at the Abu Dhabi International Airport yesterday. Each winner will get Dh1 million as prize money.
Most of these winners shared the price of the ticket in groups ranging from two to 20 people.
Indian expatriate Sundaran Nalam Kandathil, 47, a jewellery designer who has been living in Ajman for 24 years, said that he along with 20 others, pooled the ticket’s money.
“Most of the people in my group are my friends, colleagues and shopkeepers from India. My niece’s wedding is in December, so I am delighted to win this prize in time,” said Kandathil.
Leilani Rosario, a 47-year-old Filipina, bought the ticket along with 16 people in a freewheeling arrangement with some in the group pitching in more money than the rest. “I am a regular buyer of the Big Ticket but this is the first time I won,” she said.
Rosario said she has a two million peso loan back home and that she would use her winnings to clear it. “I am the major contributor for the ticket so my share will be Dh200,000 of the Dh1 million,” Rosario added.
Indian expatriate Chandresh Motivaras, 43, also bought the ticket along with four others for the first time.
Ten people including eight Indians became millionaires, in a way, in yesterday’s Big Ticket Draw held at Abu Dhabi International Airport’s arrival hall. Some of them will share their prize money with others with whom they bought the tickets.
A Canadian and a Filipina also bagged Dh1 million each.
Big Ticket is the largest and longest-running monthly raffle draw for cash prizes and dream luxury cars in Abu Dhabi. Big Ticket started giving people a chance to realise their big dreams in 1992. The ticket price of the Big Ticket Millionaire is Dh500, and if you buy two tickets, you will get a third ticket for free.
Speaking to Gulf News after the draw, Leilani Quijano Del Rosario, 47, from the Philippines said, “It was really an unexpected win. I am a regular buyer of the Big Ticket but this is the first time I have won the cash prize.” “It’s a great news for me. I have a loan of two million pesos back home. First, I would try to pay off that,” she said.
Rosario will not get all of the prize money for herself as the ticket was bought with 15 other people.
“I am sharing the ticket with 15 friends and but I am the major contributor for the ticket so my share will be Dh200,000 from Dh1 million and the rest will be distributed among the other 15 shareholders,” Rosario said who has lived in Abu Dhabi for 14 years. “This is my second win here as I had won a Volkswagen Touareg in a lucky draw of Madinat Zayed Shopping Centre in Abu Dhabi two years back, she said.
Another winner, 26-yearold Kishore Kumar Reddy Beesireddygari from India, said, “I was pleasantly shocked when I heard the great news.
“Now my dream of having a home in India will be materialised. I will also pay off my loan of Dh80,000 from a Dubai bank,” Reddy said who is an optometrist in Dubai.
“My friend introduced to me to Big Ticket a year back so I also started trying my luck and it shined on me today,” he said.
Reddy bought the ticket in sharing with three other people who will share the prize money. “So I will get Dh250,000 from this. “This money is going to make a big difference in the lives of four of us friends. It means a great support to us,” he said.
Chandresh Motivaras, 43, from India also bought the ticket with four others for the first time. “Currently, I don’t have any plans for investments but once I receive the money, I would plan. Motivaras, a chief accountant with a jewellery group, has lived in Dubai from 2005. All winners thanked Big Ticket for changing their lives and uplifting their morale.
Another Indian winner, Abhaya Kumar Vennarathil Krishnan, 49, said, “I didn’t believe it when I got a call [about the win] and thought that somebody is joking.
“But when I received a second call from the organisers, I was pleasantly shocked,” said Krishnan, who is a purchasing manager at Spinneys’ in Abu Dhabi. He will share the money with a friend as they bought the ticket together. He plans to spend some portion of the money in charity back home in Kerala for poor people’s education.
“I bought the ticket but I didn’t know that today is the draw date,” said Krishnan, who has been living in Abu Dhabi since 1994.