Dubai: Anil Varghese Theveril has always believed that one day he would stumble upon a good fortune. So, when he bought a raffle coupon from Big Ticket for the second time in April, he decided to use his son’s birthday.
On Thursday morning, Theveril’s lucky number paid off.
The Indian national was declared the latest winner of the Dh7 million jackpot prize in the Big Ticket millionaire draw held at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
“I believe that in order to hit the jackpot, you don’t just pick random numbers. And for me, my son’s birthday is my lucky number,” Theveril told Gulf News.
26 years in the Gulf
The 50-year-old expatriate is based in Kuwait and works as an executive assistant. He’s been with the same company for 26 years now.
Though he’s been in the Gulf for quite some time, it was only last March when Theveril decided to try his luck with the Big Ticket draw.
“I noticed that most of the winners are Indians, so I thought maybe I should try and hope that one day I will get lucky. I bought the tickets online,” he said.
Unlike many raffle ticket buyers, Theveril paid for the full price of the ticket. That means he will be able to pocket a total of Dh7 million.
Theveril is also thankful that his financial health has been quite clean and he’s got no mounting debts to pay, so he would be able to maximise his new-found fortune.
“However, I haven’t decided yet what I should do with the winnings. But I will definitely set aside some money for charity and for my son’s education,” he said.
His advice to those who have yet to hit the jackpot? “Just keep on trying. It happened to me. One day your luck will come.”
Seven more expatriates will also be taking home Dh100,000 cash from Big Ticket.
Winners of the minor prize are identified as Indian nationals George Kallarackal Mathew, Satish Thoghota, Baiju Pookottu Kuttappan, Irshad patel and Saidalavi Modeen Kutty Thottunkal, and Mohammed Mizanur Rahman Hasmat Ullah and Zouheir Almellouki from Bangladesh and Morocco, respectively.