Pooran Gobin riding nice

Gobin has been on a lucky streak for the past two years, some might say, with his latest ‘victory’ being driving off in a brand new Suzuki Vitara SUV thanks to the People’s Newspaper’s Bingo competition.

Gobin, a retired Assistant Transport Commissioner from Rousillac who says he buys Newsday Monday to Sunday, said he was quietly confident in winning the Bingo and told his wife, “listen, I am going to win that drive!” He collected the keys to his brand new Suzuki Vitara yesterday at Lifestyle Motors’ Bhagoutie Trace, San Juan showroom. His wife, Rohanie and daughter, Nishi were also present for the ceremony.

The company’s Marketing Manager Savina Ramkissoon and Newsday Project Officer Simone Walters-Rocke presented Gobin with his keys. He told Newsday, “I have been playing Bingo from a very long time. I have been playing Bingo since I was 15-years-old.” “When it came out on the Newsday Bingo it was a no-brainer as the only newspaper I buy is Newsday.

I decided to play the game and on Sundays I would even buy two copies of Newsday to get double the cards,” he revealed with a smile. Gobin said he got the Bingo in the second week of playing the game but that was to be his only Bingo for the entire six week competition.

The competition began on November 13 and came to an end on December 30. It saw thousands of readers sending in entries which culminated with a ‘live’ draw on Synergy TV. Although he played when Newsday first ran the Bingo several years ago, Lady Luck at that time, was not with him. How things have changed. This time around, Gobin’s got the kiss of luck and is now driving nice thanks to the People’s Newspaper.

Initially, Gobin was not aware of being the lucky winner, until, “someone who knows me saw it on TV and she called one of my nephews and told him. So my nephew called me and asked, ‘uncle, you entered something in Newsday?’, I said ‘yes’ and he told me I won.

I screamed out and told my wife that we win a car. (Loud laugh) She asked me if I was going off!” At first, he was sceptical but after checking a dated newspaper, he saw that he was indeed the winner.

“After I confirmed (that I won), I told my wife and you know she still did not believe me,” Gobin said. Another family friend who happened to record the ‘live’ draw on her hand held device, forwarded it to the Gobins. For the sceptics who think you have zero to little chance of winning a car or anything else, Gobin’s philosophy is simple: “if you don’t play, how can you win?” Gobin revealed that he won free WASA water for a year, when he was the 50th person to pay a WASA bill, during the country’s 50th Independence Anniversary.

So if ever you’re in doubt, take that chance, who knows, it just might be you.