Originally from Kerala, 37-year-old Renjith Somarajan worked as a driver in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. For three years, he had been buying lottery tickets in the hopes of winning the jackpot one day. Recently, his dreams came true.
In a stroke of luck, Somarajan hit the jackpot along with nine of his associates living in other countries by winning a 20 million dirham (Rs 40 crore approximately) raffle draw, local media outlets reported on Saturday.
An elated Somarajan after winning the lottery said, “I never thought I would hit the jackpot and had always pinned my hopes on the second and third.”
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He stated that the second and third awards this time were 3 million dirhams and 1 million dirhams, respectively.
Ever since he won the jackpot, Somarajan's phone has not stopped ringing with all hisfriends and family members calling to congratulate him on the win. Hopping jobs in hopes of getting better pay, Somarajan said that it had been a difficult life for him thus far.
“I have been here since 2008. I worked as a driver with Dubai Taxi and different companies. Last year, I worked as driver-cum-salesman with a company but with my salary deduction, it was a difficult life,” Somarajan added.
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Somarajan will be sharing the amount with nine others whom he gathered only recently.
“We are a total of 10 people. Others are from different countries, like India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. They work in the valet parking of a hotel. We took the ticket under the ‘buy two and get one free’ offer. Each person pooled 100 dirhams. The ticket was taken in my name on June 29. What I can tell others is to continue trying your luck. I was always sure that my lucky day would come. I was always sure the almighty would bless me one day,” he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
