Memoirs Of A Lucky Indian Lottery Winner

By PS Raaj

Have you ever wondered what happens after winning a lottery? How much it changes your life and what it is like to live and deal with the biggest and the most important change of your life? What it really feels like, if the burden of making money is taken off your shoulders? My book shares all experiences about winning lottery in the United Kingdom and takes your though this amazing journey which everyone dreams of.

Also, one thing which I am not doing is tell you about the secrets of winning the lottery or talk about Numerology or Scientology. So unlike other books, which promise to get you on the right track of picking the winning numbers, mine just talks about the experience and the changes which such a big windfall brings, at the same time giving references to my Indian lifestyle and upbringing. I feel that there are a lot of interesting aspects to cover here and my main aim is to provide a pleasant experience to my readers and talk about what winning a lottery is really like – the beauty, dangers and all the amazing experiences!!

• Language: English
• Publisher: PS Raaj
• Release date: Jul 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370865116

PS Raaj

I am a new author and this is my first complete publication. I wanted to start off by telling an interesting story about winning the lottery, using my own personal experiences and stories which I grew up listening to, as references. I cover everything from life as a teenager in India, the educational struggles, romance, lifestyle to winning the lottery and the huge changes which it brings to one's life. I am already working on my second novel, which is going to be about super human power, a concept that I was fascinated since childhood!

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Memoirs Of A Lucky Indian Lottery Winner

By P. S. Raaj

Copyright Information -

Copyright © 2016 by P. S. Raaj

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Table of Contents

Introduction

CHAPTER 1 - The Indian Hindu

CHAPTER 2 - The Virgin

CHAPTER 3 - The Very First Time

CHAPTER 4 - Education, Education & More Education…

CHAPTER 5 - Bachelor’s Lifestyle

CHAPTER 6 - The Next Chapter …..

CHAPTER 7 - Love is in the air

CHAPTER 8 - The Good, Bad and Ugly

CHAPTER 9 - Moving On..

CHAPTER 10 - The Windfall

CHAPTER 11 - The Next Step

CHAPTER 12 - I want to live…like an animal, careless & free…

CHAPTER 13 - A Whole New World

CHAPTER 14 - The Millionaire’s life

CHAPTER 15 - Sensible decisions

CHAPTER 16 - Blast from the past!

CHAPTER 17 - Just on a whim!

CHAPTER 18 - Adult Stuff

CHAPTER 19 - Eyes Wide Open

CHAPTER 20 - Parents

CHAPTER 21 - Ind-ya

CHAPTER 22 - Twenty Two

Introduction

Ok, where should I start this from? I have seen lots of ordinary people write their detailed life events when something extra-ordinary happens to them. So guess I am following their league and doing the same, as something extra-ordinary happened to me. It happened in a place where I initially came over for higher education, but now became a permanent resident and right from the day I began my journey, packing my bags and leaving my home country, I knew everything was going to be different. Different in a good way or bad? I wasn’t sure at that time. But 10 years later, had I known what was going to befall me, I would have endured everything in my life, the good, the bad and the ugly, hundred times and over.

As what happened to me 10 years after coming to this country, can only be described as the wildest of the wildest dreams coming true! I mean how can I even begin to comprehend this change, this most amazing thing which happened all of the sudden and yes, it changed my life forever. So why don’t I take you on my life’s journey, as I mentioned I belong to a different country and it is a world apart. You get to know me better and travel along with me on the wildest-craziest ride, which I know a very lucky few are given the chance to live it through and I am one of these lucky few!

I know, I should have given more thought to the title of this book, as it is a huge spoiler, but yes, I did win the lottery. It was the same routine, which I follow every week, buy a Euromillions lottery ticket every Tuesday and Friday, that particular Tuesday, there was a rollover and the estimated jackpot worth was 22 million Great British Pounds. For a guy like me, I didn’t even know how much that money was and what I could do with it, so I casually bought a ticket on my way to work at the supermarket which I usually shop at. And guess the only right thing which I did was to be at the right place, at the right time and nothing more! Plus, I had a strong backing from my guardian angel (more on that later).

But we are jumping ahead of time, let me go back so you can understand what my background is, how culturally different countries can be and give you a taste of the other side of India which I feel is mostly unheard of elsewhere in the world.

Also, one thing which I am not doing is tell you about the secrets of winning the lottery or talk about Numerology or Scientology. So unlike other books, which promise to get you on the right track of picking the winning numbers, mine just talks about my experience and the changes which such a big windfall brings, at the same time giving references to my Indian lifestyle and upbringing. I feel that there are a lot of interesting aspects to cover here and my main aim is to provide a pleasant experience to my readers and talk about the changes which a huge windfall brings into one’s life – the beauty, dangers and all the amazing experiences!!

CHAPTER 1 - The Indian Hindu

Since I have moved into this country from India, most people ask me if I am a Muslim. I know we do share the same skin colour but we are a world apart. Culturally and in several other aspects, we are very different. My religion is called Hinduism and I am a Hindu. We have lots of gods, we go to temples to pray and you probably heard of Diwali or Holi, which are our main festivals. Diwali is the one where we lit lamps and burn fireworks and Holi is the one where were besmear each other with colours.

Most of the Hindus (especially from the South part of India) give a lot of importance to education, so we mostly are computer engineers or doctors. And I cannot stress this enough, we are the most peaceful people on Earth. I mean have you ever heard of a Hindu being involved in anti-social activity or robbing a bank!! Just check the history, we probably are the most peaceful people and I am quite proud of that. Mostly that is due to the teachings of our religion, our upbringing and our general set of mind. For instance, I was working as a part-time stock attendant when I was a student and the guys who work there wanted to nick some items which were left to be restocked. I simply didn’t want to be a part of that and quietly walked away. Not saying that I am great for this, but doing something like that is totally against my principles.

So yes, next time please do not generalise us, most of us are here legally, pay taxes, work our asses off and if we are in a good position, that is because for nearly 20 years we struggled hard, working our way up through high school, university and further education, plus we had our parent on our asses for every single day of that 20 year period, pushing us to be even better. True story, I know so many friends here in the UK, who after completing the compulsory 16 year of education, wanted to take break or travel the world or just give up education and work at a superstore, their parents were totally fine with that. On my side, if I would have said that I would give up education after 16 years, my dad would have literally killed me. Actually, I don’t even know anyone from my family or friend’s family or friend’s – friend’s family whose parents allowed them to stop education after 16 years. See, that is how serious we were about education.

There was also a very strong impact of society back in India and our parents always compared us with other kids of same age pressuring us to work even harder and be the best! Now compare that to the flexibility which you have here, I know a guy whose father had university education, but he wanted to become a carpenter as he was very skilled at building things and his dad just let him do that! I seriously miss that and always wondered what life would have been if I was allowed to follow my heart. (But now, I know I can and I couldn’t be more thankful to this country for providing me that which was devoid for the past 30 years in my life!!)

I am 33 years old, Indian, Hindu male, born in a city called Hyderabad (in India). It is down south, located relatively close (ish) to Goa and it is the city famous for the recent Information Technology boom and the yummy dish, Biriyani. Actually, you should try the food in Hyderabad, it is simply amazing and totally authentic Indian, nothing like the Tikka Masala which you get in Britain.

Every country has different classes of people. I belong to the educated class, our parents are job holders and also had good education themselves. We are not high up with the rich, we do not drive Mercedes Benzes but yes, my dad owns a Suzuki Swift and a three bedroom apartment in the centre of the city. My dad also has some ancestral property to his name which he rents out to get some additional income.

I grew up in a close knit family with lots of cousins around, so there was this constant pressure and comparisons to perform better. I always got average score throughout my education and was not exceptional. My parents always pushed me to be better but I was more interested in movies and music. I could play some decent guitar and loved watching cinema. I loved all kinds of movies, Indian, Hollywood, World Cinema, etc. and there were times when I used to watch a movie every day on my computer.

Studies didn’t come naturally to me, I always had to struggle to clear my examinations. I used to envy some of my cousins who used to understand subjects easily and clearing examinations was so effortless for them. It wasn’t the same in my case, I used to slog all day long before examinations to get about 70%. I always wished to do something else, something different. In my family, you hold respect only if you are an engineer or a doctor. Most of my family didn’t even consider any other profession as an option. Out of the two, to become a doctor, you need to put in quite a lot of effort and years. Engineering was the other options and Computer Science was the most preferred major.

That’s how I ended up becoming a Computer Science Engineer. When I moved to London, I met a British student going to the same university as me and we ended up chatting for long time. He was majoring in Film and Media and I soo wanted to be him! Back home those options were there but unless you are exceptional, the chances of making it are very less. So our parents opted for the safest route for us. The world needs computers, even a pizza joint needs an application to take orders, so there is a lot of demand and my parents saw that as a gold mine.

I studied Engineering for 4 years and then did Masters, which was a further 2 years totally against my wish. I couldn’t raise my voice or oppose them as I knew, the moment I complete my Masters programme, I will get a job straight away. And yes, I did. It wasn’t right away, but a few months of struggle, I landed a Developer’s job in London which used to pay me 24,000 pounds per year.

So that is the first big difference, actually I was lucky as my parents were strict but not nearly as some of my uncles. If you send a British kid into those homes, they would probably call the services unable to cope with that pressure. It really is that bad! I totally pity my cousins, their parents put soo much pressure on them that I cannot help but every time I meet them, I tell them to endure for a few more years and then, when they leave home and go abroad, things will totally change.

Coming back to my case, I cannot totally be against my parent’s decisions. It is because of them, who by the way paid for my entire education until Masters, I have the confidence that I could live and earn in any place around the world. It’s just a shame that they did not consider any other major apart from Engineering or Medicine as a viable option.

CHAPTER 2 - The Virgin

There are several more differences and one of the biggest one the related to sexual experience. I was 30 years old, working full time in London and I was one hundred percent virgin!! Yes, it must sound shocking but that is totally true. I did kiss and make out a few times, but I never had sex with anyone. Compare that to my British colleague, who confided with me that his first sexual encounter was when he was 15 years and now, he is 25 years old and doesn’t remember the number of girls he has been with! I wanted to worship him!!

I’m not saying that every teenager/youngster is a virgin back home, especially now when times are changing. But when I was in high school and college, sex was strictly off-limits. Added to that, my introvert nature didn’t help much. Also, there are loads of guys, my cousins, friends, who had their first sexual experience after getting married, which was around the 28 year mark. So right from hitting puberty until getting married, it was a long, long wait.

Hollywood wasn’t the right companion either. There was soo much sex shown in movies, it only made us more desperate and hungry for companionship! Movies like Basic Instinct, Showgirls, Sliver made things worse!! So, the only relief was self-pleasure!! My right-hand was my soul mate!!

When I moved to Britain, it was a shock for me to see people making out in the open. This is not a peck on the cheek or lips, but some serious lip-tongue-action. This one time, I was waiting at a bus stop in London and there was a coffee shop in front of me with a huge glass window. And behind it was a couple making out seriously, they were kissing passionately, tongues and all for about 15 minutes. Then when I was waiting in a queue to submit an application in my University, there was this young couple who were kissing and fondling and the guy kept putting his hands inside the girl’s trouser!! You will never ever see such kind of things in public in India. Even though we break the population record of the world, we still prefer to keep this behind closed doors.

My sad, lonely, sex-less life did have its moments though. My first kiss was with a neighbour girl when I was about fifteen, then it was with my Indian girlfriend when I was doing Masters in the UK and I was 24 years old. But yes, even having a girlfriend for about a year, I still was a virgin until the windfall which happened when I was 30 years.

If they made a movie on me, the apt title would be The 30 year old virgin!! When I think about it, it is really sad and I made a promise to myself that I will make it up now for all those years of abstinence! At the time of writing this, I am 33years old, almost 3 years after winning the lottery and it has been a whale of time!! Actually, we are skipping ahead, I will definitely come back to this later.

Sex is considered taboo in India. It is never spoken outwardly, people keep this within their bedroom doors. I know that some outgoing girls do talk about this when they get together and we boys lust about sex which is the constant topic of debate throughout our teenage and college years, but once we get girlfriends/wives, we do not talk about it anymore. It feels weird to mention how we had sex the night before and then introduce our partners to the same group of friends.

Fun fact, there are guys in India who do not know tight foreskin is an issue until they get married, try with their wives and get rushed to the emergency room -))))) Funny but sad, one of the basic necessities of mankind after air, water, food and sleep, is kept under the lids for about 30 years! Now you can understand our population explosion!! I know soo many of my friend’s wives who got pregnant within 3 months of getting married and they all were accidental pregnancies. After 30 years of abstinence, you get a legal go ahead with a girl, in a beautifully decorated bedroom with snacks and perfumed flowers, you are eventually going to run out of condoms!!

True story, this is the custom. You have heard about arranged marriages right. Parents fix this up and you go and marry the girl right away, without knowing much about her. And you know what, couples usually make it work. The divorce rate in India is relatively low compared to the rest of the world, plus when kids come into picture, people brave it even if it is a troubled marriage as they do not want their kids to grow up without both parents being together. I know that arranged marriage system is still widely prevalent, especially with the lower classes in India, but it is slightly different with the upper and educated classes. For the rich, it is totally different, I think they don’t even live in same planet as the rest of us. (I shouldn’t make fun of the rich, especially after the windfall!)

So for the educated / upper classes, we still have arranged marriages but it is not that bad. See problem is that girls usually are not that outgoing (especially in South part of India.) When in college, say around 17 years, if a girl has a boyfriend and her parents knew about this, it would be the end of the world for the girl. I am not saying it is like this with everyone, but looking at all my uncles and friend’s parents, they were all strict with their daughters and dating/boy-friends was not something which was taken casually. If they had friends, who were boys, then they need to be properly introduced to the parents, plus there is no concept of going out alone with a boy, it always should to be in a group consisting of girls as well.

Now,

Reviews for Memoirs Of A Lucky Indian Lottery Winner

[aishwary nigam · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Who gives a fuck what you do with your money!