Kannur (Kerala): An unending urge to become rich overnight made a man buy lottery tickets worth Rs 3.5 crore over the last 52 years of his life. Raghavan, 70, a resident of Kannur in Kerala, has hardly won anything since he purchased his first lottery ticket in 1970. However, he is still trying his luck and is determined to continue, still dreaming that he will hit the jackpot one day.
Born to a middle-class agrarian family, Raghavan started buying lottery tickets at the age of 18. Since then, he has been buying around 10 lottery tickets every day. He has also bought the state government's Onam bumper lottery, which carries the highest prize money of Rs 25 crores in the history of lotteries in Kerala.
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The tickets Raghavan has bought over the years have piled up into a big heap. He has kept them in gunny bags. One fine day recently, Raghavan sat to calculate the total amount he had spent on lottery tickets. He was shocked as he came to know that he has lost Rs 3.5 crores in this bizarre pursuit of luck. The maximum he once won was Rs 5,000.
Despite people telling him to give up this habit, Raghavan says he will continue to spend his money on lottery tickets. He is spending the amount from the wages he earns as a daily wage labourer. His family is also not unhappy about his habit but hopes for the best. Maybe one day, Raghavan will hit a jackpot to compensate for his losses, feels his wife Shantha.
