Dubai: “You are the Big Ticket winner of Dh12 million.”
When Harikrishnan V. Nair, an Indian national based in Ajman, heard a woman say those words over the phone at 10.05am on January 7, he thought someone was pulling a prank on him. Putting his meeting on hold, he quickly called his wife to give her the news.
He told Gulf News: “I told her about the call, but also said I wasn’t sure about it. I asked her to check online to confirm.”
His wife, Nisha Harikrishnan, was stunned.
“Dh12 million is a big amount! I was blank,” she said.
In a state of frenzy, she ran to her boss’ office, who also happens to be a close friend of the family, and narrated what had just happened. Her boss, Naveen Natrajan, checked the website and confirmed the news.
This is the moment it all began to sink in. The Nair family had just won Dh12 million!
This wasn’t their first attempt at the lottery, though. It all started in March, 2017.
Nair said: “I bought my first ticket then and lost. Then bought the second ticket in November, and lost again. Finally, I bought this ticket in December. With God’s grace, we won.”
Throughout the day, he received congratulatory messages and calls from friends and colleagues. But, the most memorable call was to his mum.
He said: “She didn’t understand the winning of millions part. She just wanted to know when I was coming to see her.”
The family plans to travel to India on Friday. For Nair, it’s all about luck and in his opinion, people need to “be positive and keep trying”.
What do they plan to do with the money? They haven’t decided yet.
Nair said: “Most important is to save for my retirement and my child’s schooling. The rest we will plan once we return from our trip.”
But, after all the responsibilities were fulfilled, they would like to splurge on some travelling.
Nisha said: “We both love to travel and eat. So, we would like to do that and try new cuisines.”
Their seven-year-old son, Karan, has plans of his own.
He said: “I’ll buy food and toys. For my mum, I’ll buy shoes and for my dad, a [car].”
