'Our financial situation was tight': Kerala man who won lottery worth $3.1million speaks to WION

He feeds his family of four by riding an autorickshaw (tuk-tuk) and running a small eatery, bringing home about $250 every month. His family is awaiting a new member - his wife is expecting their second child in the next few months and the financial situation couldn't have gotten tighter. \

He had just sought a loan for $3,800 to build a house and was soon to leave his hometown in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram and head for Malaysia to work as a cook. Soon, he could be richer by as much as $1.9 million (Rs15.75cr).

WION spoke to Anoop, the man from Kerala who has been all over the internet, for having won first place in a festive-special lottery ticket.

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Early on Saturday (September 17), the 29-year-old spent $6.25 and purchased the Onam bumper lottery from a dealership near his residence in Kerala's capital city, Thiruvananthapuram.

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"Our financial situation was tight, even then I went ahead and purchased the lottery as it would be my last chance for many years. My Malaysian employment contract requires me to stay there and work for two years at least and hence I wanted to give it (lottery) a final shot before I depart from Kerala," he recalls.

Anoop has also recently received approval for the loan that he had sought from a cooperative bank. He hoped to build a modest home with that sum and repay the loan with his earnings from Malaysia, where he would work as a cook at a restaurant serving Kerala cuisine.

"I myself ran a small eatery here, besides riding my auto. However, things didn't go well doing COVID and the eatery wasn't of much help. That's when I considered the Malaysian opportunity, where I'd earn about Rs.50,000 a month, which is more than double that I make today," he said.

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Come Sunday (September 18) noon and much of these worries had vanished and Anoop became a media sensation. The salt-of-the-earth auto driver was the lucky one who possessed the first-prize winning ticket "TJ 750605".

"The announcement of the winning tickets was made around 3:30pm and I couldn't believe what had unfolded and then I asked my wife to check if it was for real. Then, the media attention followed", he said.

From Sunday evening until Monday noon, his phone has been buzzing, journalists have been queuing up at his residence, it's been endless activity.

Anoop expressed boundless joy on the win and is happier for the fact that he can stay at home, be by his wife and witness the birth of his second child. The lottery win has meant that he wouldn't have to go to Malaysia and eke out a living, staying away from his loved ones. He wouldn't be needing the loan either.

He's on top of the world, yet Anoop laughingly says, "In reality, I am a pauper.. Our financial situation is that bad... I have deposited the lottery ticket in the bank, it is being said that it would take more than a month to receive the prize money... However, we are all happy about how things have turned out, so far we haven't even had time to celebrate as a family."

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