What began as a Dh500 purchase ended with an astonishing prize — a studio apartment in Dubai.
When Dubai resident Inderjeet Kaur went shopping with her husband, winning a home was the last thing on her mind. But a purchase worth around Dh500 unexpectedly turned into a life-changing prize — a studio apartment in Dubai.
In fact, Kaur had completely forgotten that she had even entered the draw.
It was her husband, Gurcharanjit Singh, who scanned the barcode and uploaded their shopping receipts after they returned home. So when Kaur received a call informing her that she had won an apartment, her first reaction was disbelief.
“I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t think so,’” Kaur recalled. Her first instinct was to turn to her husband and ask whether he had uploaded any of their shopping bills for the draw.
When he confirmed that he had, Kaur began to wonder whether the call might actually be genuine.
“I said, ‘Then it can’t be a coincidence.’ But I was still not believing it,” she said.
It was only the following day, when an official email arrived with details including the apartment number and a letter confirming her win, that the reality finally sank in.
“I said, ‘Oh my God, this is true.’”
A home she doesn’t plan to sell
For Kaur, however, the win means more than simply adding another property to her portfolio.
She has called Dubai home for around 35 years and already owns property in the emirate. She lives in one of her properties and rents out the others. She plans to do the same with her newly won studio apartment.
“I am definitely going to rent this because there is no point selling it. It is an asset,” she said. “Dubai is always growing.”
Her attachment to the city goes far beyond property and investment.
“This is home. I want to live here. I want to die here,” Kaur said. “That much love I have for this country, for this place.”
‘I never had to worry about my daughters’
One of the biggest reasons for Kaur’s deep connection to Dubai is the life the emirate provided for her family.
She spoke particularly about raising her daughters in the city, saying they had access to education and career opportunities while growing up in an environment where she felt they were safe.
Her daughters now live in the United States. One works as a rheumatologist, and the distance has changed one small part of Kaur’s daily routine — she now checks in on them more often. It is a concern she said she rarely had while they were growing up in Dubai.
“When they were here, I would never bother,” she said. “Imagine, for a mother, being able to sleep peacefully knowing that your daughters are in such a safe environment.”
Kaur said that sense of security remains one of the things she is most grateful for after more than three decades in the emirate.
Flew back for the winning moment
The couple were in the US when the time came for the prize ceremony. They flew back to Dubai, arriving on Friday night ahead of Sunday’s event.
“We came to participate in the prize-winning ceremony,” Singh said, clarifying that the property would be handed over at a later stage, as the formalities could take some time.
For the couple, the journey was about being present for the special moment and expressing their gratitude.
“We wanted to come to Dubai to participate and to thank the Dubai government,” he said.
At the time of the interview on Sunday, the couple said they planned to fly back to the US by Tuesday or Wednesday.
What began as an ordinary shopping trip — and a prize entry Kaur had almost forgotten about — has now resulted in another property in a city she says she never wants to leave.
