Expat ‘forced’ to buy Big Ticket wins Dh15-million grand prize
abu dhabi — What is luck? Ask Nobin Mathew, who was ‘forced’ to buy a raffle ticket and — in his second and final attempt — won Dh15 million in the Big Ticket Abu Dhabi draw.
Mathew, an Indian expat, has been residing in Kuwait since 2007. A family man with a simple lifestyle, he had never thought of taking part in raffle draws. However, his colleagues Pramod Mattummal and Minu Thomas were able to nudge him into buying a Big Ticket with them.
Luck didn’t shine on them last month, so Mathew had vowed that the November draw would be his last attempt. And that was when he hit the jackpot, which he will share with his two colleagues.
“My colleagues have been purchasing tickets for some time now. They forced me to join them. This is only my second time in buying a raffle ticket. I didn’t win last month. So, I had told my colleagues that this will be my last attempt,” Mathew said over the phone from Kuwait.
He was shocked when the Big
I have seen a lot of struggle in my life. I have worked at many companies. I am still finding my feet. And now I am blessed with this win.” Nobin Mathew, Indian expat in Kuwait
Ticket organisers called him. He was working at that time and didn’t watch the live telecast of the draw. “I didn’t know what to say then. I was lost for words.”
Mathew was born in Oman’s capital of Muscat and raised in the Indian state of Kerala. After finishing earning his degree, he moved to Kuwait where he now lives with his wife and five-year-old son.
“I have been living in Kuwait since 2007. I have seen a lot of struggle in my life. I have worked at many companies. I am still finding my feet. And now I am blessed
with this win,” said Mathew, who works in the auto sector.
On Tuesday, his phone rang non-stop with congratulatory wishes from friends and family members. The 38-year-old from Kerala’s Thiruvalla town is yet to figure out what he would do with the money. “I will make a decision after consulting my family.”
Mathew is the second consecutive Big Ticket winner from abroad. Last month’s winner, Ahmed Al Hamidi, is a Saudi national living in Bahrain.