Four Indian-born residents have struck gold in the October third-week e-draw of the popular Abu Dhabi Big Ticket lucky draw, with winners winning 200-gram bars of 24-carat pure gold. Arun Krishnappa Kidiyoor, who came to the UAE from Udupi in Karnataka, and Sadatullah Shareef, who is a civil engineer from Bengaluru, are among them.
Each gold bar is worth around AED 96,500, or about ₹25.02 lakh according to figures provided in the report. The wins have sent a jubilant wave through the Indian expatriate community at home to which Big Ticket is an obsession for thousands of people who are in the Gulf who are hoping to win big prizes.
The four winners are reported to be Arun Krishnappa Kidiyoor from Udupi, Sadatullah Shareef from Bengaluru, Jijoy Vishwan from Kerala, and Manisha, a freelancer living in Sharjah. Their stories are different in participating in the draw: some bought tickets with groups of friends, some entered independently. The winners have expressed their surprise and happiness when they received the news from the organisers. The gold prizes are a big windfall for the winners, but their plans for using or sharing them differ.
Udupi's Arun Krishnappa Kidiyoor Wins Gold After Four Months
Arun Krishnappa Kidiyoor, 45, from Udupi, Karnataka, has been living in Bahrain for the last 23 years. According to the report, he started buying Big Ticket entries with his friends a few months. After about four months, he received news that his entry had won a 200-gram gold bar. The news took Arun by surprise as he did not expect such a big prize.
Recalling when he found out about the win, Arun said he was astonished and so happy when the organisers called to inform him of the win and said he had won the gold bar. He is yet to decide what he will do with the prize. He also said Let’s not lose faith and keep trying. His win is also remarkable as he participated for only a few months, as it was reported in the report.
Bengaluru Civil Engineer Sadatullah Shareef Wins 200 Grams of Gold
Sadatullah Shareef, 51, a civil engineer from Bengaluru, is another Indian winner in the draw. He moved to Dubai for employment around a year ago. Shareef first learned about Big Ticket at an airport and subsequently began buying entries both online and offline.
His participation resulted in a 200-gram gold bar. Like Arun, Shareef was unable to believe the news when he received the call informing him of the win. The prize marks a major moment for the Bengaluru native who had started participating after learning about the draw during his travels.
The value of the gold bar is estimated to be AED 96,500 or around ₹25.02 lakh, so the win is considerable. However, the final value a winner could receive by selling gold could be different from the current prices of gold, purity verification, dealer margins, and applicable charges. Thus, the figure given should be seen as an estimate of the market value rather than a cash win.
Kerala's Jijoy Vishwan Plans to Share the Prize With Friends
Jijoy Vishwan, 51, from Kerala, has been in the contracting industry in Sharjah since 2007. He regularly bought Big Ticket entries with a group of between five and ten friends, the report said. So his win is therefore linked to a shared participation arrangement.
Jijoy intends to share the prize with his friends and set aside part of the benefit to support his family. Group participation can mean that the prize is shared among several people, depending on the agreement made before purchasing the ticket. How much each participant gets will depend on the arrangement between the group members.
Sharjah-Based Freelancer Manisha Also Wins Gold
Manisha, the fourth winner, is a freelancer living in Sharjah. She had been participating in the Big Ticket draw for the past three years. Unlike the participants who bought entries with friends, Manisha purchased the winning ticket independently this time.
Her win of a 200-gram gold bar adds another success story to the October e-draw. After years of participation, she has now won a major prize, she said. Her experience is different from the group participants because the winning entry was purchased separately.
Big Ticket Wins Bring Excitement to Indian Expatriates
The latest draw has gotten the attention of Indian expatriates residing in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. With winners linked to Karnataka and Kerala, the result is significant for families and communities back home. The estimated value of each gold bar puts the prizes among the big personal windfalls for the four winners.
Lucky draws are based on chance, and previous participation does not guarantee a future win. The winners’ stories illustrate the excitement that comes with an unexpected win and that the decision about how to spend one’s money is a matter of fact.
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