When luck clicked

It took only a click of a mouse for Mohammed Karim Basha to pocket the whopping $10 million prize. This lower middle class government employee hailing from Mayur Vihar from New Delhi found himself a rich man in less than 10 minutes – the time it took to choose the six digits in the Internet gamble site, and create a record of sorts.

Basha (58), who is a Rajya Sabha (upper house of the Indian Parliament) reporter (he jots down the speeches of the politicians for the records), got an Internet connection only six months ago and got addicted to Net surfing ever since. He says that he had earlier never bought a lottery ticket, but when a banner advertising a U.S. raffle portal freelotto.com flashed on his computer screen he opened it out of curosity.

"I did not take it seriously. There was a game that required me to choose six digits at random and I did it without any thought. After a few days I received an email that I had won the $10 million prize money," he reminiscences.

It was on October 2 that he got a phone call from the U.S. The president of freelotto.com congratulated Basha and confirmed him as the winner. "I was naturally thrilled. But the real impact of the win will come only after I receive the first instalment," he says.

According to the rules of the site, the winner would receive the $10 million in 30 instalments over a period of 30 years. The instalment money would increase with each payment, with the last instalment being the highest. There is another catch – the instalment money will stop immediately on Basha's death.
But Basha is more than happy. He has already planned how he will invest the prize money. "One of my sons is interested in computer graphics, so I will help him set up his own institute," he says. Another son is pursuing his studies, and Basha says he will ensure he gets the best education.

As for himself, he is content working until he retires two years from now. The only major plan he has for himself is to visit Makkah the next time around. "I had thought I would visit Makkah after retirement when I have the money, but now that the money is there I will go right away," he says.

As for his wife, she is happy that the endless "wastage" of time on the computer which ran huge telephone bills has reaped some benefit. However, she says she will believe her husband has won the $10 million only after he receives the first instalment. Basha is expected to receive the money soon.