Rupees.Photo:Getty
Getty
A group of sanitation workers in India cleaned up last week with a stunning jackpot.
In June, 11 women working as waste collectors in Parappanangadi, a town in the southern Indian state of Kerala, decided to pool their wages for a chance at the lottery. Weeks later, theBBCreported that they’ve won the 100 million rupee grand prize, equivalent to $1.21 million.
As sanitation workers, the women take home wages of around 250 rupees a day, per the BBC. That’s equivalent to $3.04 for the day’s work. A full day’s wages, 250 rupees, was also the cost of the single lottery ticket the 11 workers pitched in to buy.
The women range in family backgrounds and ages from 20 to 70, according toThe Guardian, but the one thing they all had in common: The amount of money would change all of their lives.
“I am still in shock,” Radha MP, 49, toldThe Guardianafter the win. “It’s unbelievable. We had to check with multiple people to make sure that we won and still we couldn’t believe it. We all come from very poor families with lots of debt and liabilities.”
“I’m swimming in debt, so this money will be a big relief,” Leela K., a 50-year-old mother of four daughters, toldTheNew York Times, “I will finally have peace of mind. But my tension will vanish only when the money comes into my account.”
Mountain Valley in Kerala, India.Getty
Radha, the sanitation worker who purchased the ticket on behalf of the group, described the process of finding out they won to theTimes. Though she suffered under the weight of heavy debts and lost funds from financial scams, she remained hopeful.
“I decided to wait until the next morning after the results were announced to be able to check it with my mates,” Radha told the paper. “When I checked the winning number, it was the same as the ticket. But we could not believe it!”
After confirming with her boss that the numbers were correct, the pair hightailed it to the bank to validate the ticket.
“This is the fourth time we bought a ticket for the bumper prize,” Radha told the BBC. “We are fourth time lucky!”
Life-changing lottery wins are certainly rare — you have about a 1 in 300 million chance of winning the Powerball in the United States — but they do happen. (TheMega Millions jackpot is currently $910 million, if you want to check out what you would owe in taxesif you win.)
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source: people.com
