Dubai: Certain that someone was playing a prank, Indian expatriate Hemal Josipura, 41, could not believe his luck when he was told he was one of the three lucky Gulf News subscribers to win an Audi A3.
“I am expressionless, and speechless. When I was first told I was a winner, I told the person on the phone, this is a prank,” Josipura told Gulf News on Thursday.
The engineer lives with his wife and two children in Al Ruwais, a town located around 240 kilometres west of Abu Dhabi city, and works at a plant in an industrial area close to his house.
“I drive a lot in the UAE, and especially to Dubai. I live 350 kilometres from here and I usually go to work by bus since it’s in an industrial area, so my wife usually has the car during the week,” said Josipura.
He added that his wife and two kids, who were also there to collect the prize, were “super excited to finally be in the car”.
“For sure, the new Audi will be with my wife. I can’t believe we won — I never thought I would own an Audi,” said Josipura.
The reader subscribed to Gulf News five years ago in November 2012 when he first arrived to the UAE. “I chose Gulf News because I heard it is the leading newspaper in the country,” explained Josipura.
He pointed out that he regularly reads the local news published in the paper, and then turns over to read about news happening in India. “There are a few pages in Gulf News about Indian news that I like to read because we’re out of touch with news back home, and sometimes we don’t have time to even watch TV channels. So this is a good way to remain updated,” said Josipura.
Gulf News has carried out two raffles, one on January 26 and the second on March 2, with the third set to take place on April 5. All subscriptions made until March 31 will be entered in the third raffle on April 5.
For every subscription worth Dh400 of Gulf News, readers can save up to Dh750. Aside from getting a chance to win a car, every subscriber receives Dh350 in vouchers from leading brands such as Centrepoint, Homecentre, Iconic, Pizza Hut and Krispy Kreme. Subscribers also get Dh400 charged back to their statement, upon getting a new CITI credit card, which is subject to standard terms and conditions from CITI Bank. Also included with the subscription is the Good Living online membership for the year of 2017.
