The 11 women had never felt luck was on their side. The friends, some in their 20s and others over 70, all struggled to make ends meet, earning only a small salary as they collected and segregated rubbish in their town of Parappanangadi, in the south Indian state of Kerala.
Yet this week, their fortunes changed. An impulsive decision to pool their small resources to collectively buy a single lottery ticket, at a cost of 250 rupees (£2.50) – the equivalent of a day’s wages – resulted in them collectively hitting the jackpot. This week, they found out they had won the monsoon bumper prize, worth 100m rupees (£1.2m).
The women all spoke of their joy at winning big, stating that the money would enable them to build homes, pay off debts and put their children through education. They were also insistent they would continue their jobs as sanitation workers.
“I am still in shock,” said Radha, 49, among the winners. “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.”
Cherumannil Baby, 62, said the money would finally enable her to rebuild her house that was washed away in the floods that devastated Kerala in 2018, while 49-year-old Lakshmi spoke of her relief of having money to pay for her daughter’s schooling. Leela, 56, said she could finally pay for surgery for her daughter.
For K Bindu, however, the win was bittersweet. Last year, she had lost her husband to kidney failure, after the family had been unable to afford a transplant for him, and he had often bought lottery tickets in the hope of funding his treatment.
Kuttimalu, 72, also among the winners, told the BBC that she had not had enough money to contribute 25 rupees (25p) towards the ticket, but another in the group had helped her out with half.
“We agreed we would get an equal share if we won anything,” said Kuttimalu. “We didn’t expect to win such a huge amount of money.”
Sheeja, the chairperson of the Haritha Karma Sena, the waste collection group in which the women work, said she was delighted that luck had come upon the 11 women.
“These are extremely hard-working people who go to great lengths to make ends meet,” she said. “It’s very surprising but I am very happy for them.”
