Dubai:
He quit his waiter's job after winning a million dirham jackpot only to languish for four months without a penny. But he has finally managed to lay his hands on the prized cheque.
The rags-to-riches story of Pottengal Ahamed, who hails from Kerala, has all elements of a Bollywood thriller.
Ahamed had put his savings, all of around Rs 40,000 (3,000 dirhams), to buy UAE's saving certificate called National Bonds.
Around four months ago, he received an SMS announcing that he had won 1 million dirhams in a millionaire draw.
"It was around 7.30 pm. I was serving food as usual when I got an SMS from National Bonds saying I have won one million dirhams.
"Later that evening, I showed the SMS to some friends. One of them called up National Bonds. When they confirmed that I had indeed won, I felt my heart pound so heavily, I thought I would faint," Ahamed told Gulf News.
Ahamed quit his 1,300 dirham job. "A few days later, I told my employer to find someone else. For eighteen years, I've been cleaning dishes. Who'd want to do that anymore when you have one million dirhams in your account?" said the father of three.
The next few days passed in an unrealistic blur of ecstasy with his pictures splashed across newspapers and being flooded with congratulatory calls.
However, he could not get his hands on his million.
Forget Arbaic, Ahamed could not understand English and speaks broken Hindi.
"Every time I go to an exchange house or bank and ask for my money, I am turned away. I don't know what to do," he said.
He was all set to fly back to India since his visa was also expiring, when Gulf News brought his story to the attention of National Bonds CEO Qasim Ali Ali.
Ali expressed surprise over the "misunderstanding". His customer service and retention team was trying to "ensure" that customers are aware of the disadvantages of not continuing to save especially with all the weekly and monthly rewards that National Bonds provide.
But after Ali intervened, National Bonds got a Malayali speaker to communicate with him in his native language.
On January 29, he was called again. This time he was handed the cheque, which Ahamed deposited in his bank account.
Ahamed plans to celebrate by taking his friends out for dinner at the same cafeteria where he spent 18 years washing dishes.
"I am flying to India early next week. I have got some clothes for them and that's about it. I will start a grocery in Dubai when I come back and will need all the money. One has to spend wisely, you know," he told the newspaper.