India, Nov. 6 -- It was the call that could change his life, but Saravanan Venkatachalam ignored it, believing it was not important. The 44-year-old electrical engineer from Chennai was at work in the UAE when he received multiple calls from an unknown number. Believing it was unsafe, he chose not to answer. What he didn't realise was that on the other end were Big Ticket hosts Richard and Bouchra, trying to inform him that he had just won a Dh25 million (approximately Rs.60 crore) jackpot in a raffle draw series 280.

Venkatachalam only realised what had happened when his wife and friends began calling him repeatedly. "It was unbelievable. Even then, I wasn't sure it was true because there may be many people with my name," he told Gulf N...