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| Sivaprasad, lottery agent, Guruvayoor, Thrissur |
Fortune knocked at his door with a loud bang but he was more receptive to the still small voice of his conscience. So, lottery seller Sivaprasad had no hesitation in returning to its rightful owner a winning lottery ticket worth Rs.10 lakhs that had landed up in his hands.
Sivaprasad was approached at his kiosk adjacent to Guruvayoor temple by a pilgrim from Tamil Nadu desiring to check the result of his ticket. Based on a fax message of the result of the draw, Prasad thought the ticket had won a consolation of Rs.100 and gave the prize accordingly. A little while later, when he glanced through the paper dealing with lottery results did he realize the mistake.
It seems the series in the ticket number had been reported wrongly in the fax message and the consolation prize winner was in fact the winner of Rs.10 lakhs.
That set him on a frantic search for Selvaraj, the pilgrim from Trichi who had presented the ticket to him. With the clue that Selvaraj had worn a red dhoti, Sivaprasad wandered in the temple premises, looking for the fortune-blessed. When after 1 hour of hectic search he could locate Selvaraj and hand over the ticket to him, he felt a sense of relief while the winner perhaps felt a double shock of his life.
Although Sivaprasad earns his living from the meager amount he gets by selling lottery tickets, he had the firm conviction to reject the fortune that did not rightfully belong to him.
Courtesy:
Mathrubhumi, January
14, 2006
Contributed by: Administrator
