Dubai:
Indian expatriate Jayaprakash Balureddy knows exactly what to do with the one kilogramme gold in his hand — help prepare for his wedding and help educate children in his hometown.
Balureddy, 30, from Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, bagged the first 1kg gold prize (roughly worth Dh146,000) on Thursday from the Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group (DGJG) for this year’s Dubai Shopping Festival.
“This is definitely a big help for me. This is like receiving my three years’ worth of salary at one time only. That’s why I want to help,” Balureddy, an air conditioner technician, told Gulf News.
Balureddy said he plans on selling the gold bar so he could put the money to good use.
“I want to use a portion of the money to help my family and also for my wedding on February 10. I will use some of it to pay off my loan here,” Balureddy, the sole breadwinner of his family, said.
Balureddy said he will use the rest of the money, roughly Dh50,000, to help send underprivileged children to school in his village.
“I know how they feel. I myself had difficulty getting an education because we had no money when I was growing up. So I want to help.”
Balureddy was buying gold ornaments on Thursday for his wedding when he was given a raffle coupon. The Indian resident said he was clueless about the raffle and was surprised when raffle organisers called him.
“I didn’t believe it at first when they called me because I had just bought the gold an hour before that. I asked myself, ‘How can this happen?” he added.
Sunny Chittilappilly, DGJG chairman, described Balureddy as an extremely lucky man. And this, he said, was what they had meant by doubling the chances for everyone to win at the gold raffle.
“We lowered the minimum spend to Dh500 and gave two raffle coupons to give everyone more chances of winning,” Chittilappilly said.
Apart from the 1kg gold given away daily, the group is also giving away a diamond solitaire ring every day for 32 days.
source: http://www.gulfnews.com / Gulf News / Home> Gulf> UAE> Leisure / by Janice Ponce de Leon, Staff Reporter – Gulf News / January 04th, 2014