Sunday 16 / March / 2025
Muscat: MV Abdussalam required a lot of convincing before realising that the news of him winning OMR2 million in a lottery were indeed true.
The Indian expat, who lives in Rustaq, and runs a number of businesses, won a prize money of AED20 million in the Big Ticket lottery in Abu Dhabi.
Abdussalam, a native of the south Indian state of Kerala, and seven of his friends, decided to stump up AED500 (OMR50) a head to buy tickets for the lottery, with the agreement that they would share their winnings equally, should one of them win.
“When I heard this for the first time, I could not believe I had won,” he said. “My cousin tried to convince me, my brother tried as well, but I would not believe them. I thought they were just playing a joke on me. The organisers had contacted my relatives here to tell them I had won, and they then contacted me.”
Abdussalam and his friends Venugopal, Nawaz, Baiju, Saheer, Riyaz, Rajesh and Jaleel have pledged to use at least some of this money to help the less fortunate back home.
“Not so long ago, our state of Kerala was badly damaged by floods,” he recalled. “Many people lost their homes and other property, and sadly, some also died. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected many people there, particularly the poor, so we want to do something to help them.
“We will allocate about OMR160,000 to conduct mass weddings of many who cannot afford lavish ceremonies,” added Abdussalam. “We will donate more funds to other charities, but we don’t know how much that will be. We will take a collective decision on how much to donate.”
His wife and children were also, understandably, delighted, and he is waiting to make plans on how to spend his share when they return from India. His wife travelled to India with his young daughter three months ago to give birth to his son, and are expected to return in seven days.
“Fortunately, my business was not so badly affected by COVID-19, because all of the items we sell are essential to people,” Abdussalam added. “But we wanted to share some of our winnings with others because it is important we give what we have to those who are not as lucky as we are.”
Sooraj Kumar, a friend of his, who also works in Rustaq, was just as stunned when he heard of the news. “I live with Abdussalam’s cousin and work with his brother, so when I heard the news, I was obviously happy for him,” he said. “But he was not willing to believe us when we told him he had won the lottery. It took a lot of efforts to persuade him into accepting the truth.
“The plan to win the lottery and share the winnings was something he and his friends had thought of for quite some time, after one of them had suggested entering the competition,” said Suraj of Abdussalam, who bought the lottery tickets online with his friends.
One of his brothers, who also works in Oman, said this was the reward for the hard work and dedication he’d put into his job, as well as his sincerity to look after his family.
“We have received a lot of calls from India asking if he would be willing to donate to charities there, because they are helping a lot of people, but that decision is not ours to make,” he admitted.
“Let Abdussalam and his friends decide, but we are sure he will make the right one. This is proof that if you work hard and do what is right, you will be taken care of. He is my brother and I am very happy for him.”
