A regular shopping trip turned into a headline moment at this year's Dubai Shopping Festival. Aniketh R Nair, a 13-year-old Indian expat student from Sharjah, won one kilogram of gold — valued at more than Dh500,000 — through the Dubai Jewellery Group's official DSF gold raffle, becoming one of the youngest and most talked-about winners of DSF 2026.
Aniketh is an eighth-grade student originally from Kerala. His name was entered into the raffle after a jewellery purchase made earlier in January, and days later it was drawn as the winning ticket. The prize was formally presented during a ceremony tied to the festival's gold promotions.
With gold prices at historic highs, the win drew widespread attention across the UAE and quickly placed Aniketh at the center of one of DSF 2026's most memorable prize moments.
How the Raffle Entry Happened
The winning entry came from a purchase made on January 8, when Aniketh's parents bought a bracelet priced above Dh1,500 at a participating jewellery outlet.
That spend qualified the transaction for entry into the Dubai Jewellery Group's DSF gold raffle — one of the festival's most anticipated promotions, running from December 5, 2025 to January 11, 2026. The entry requirement was a minimum Dh1,500 spend at any participating store.
The raffle ticket was registered under Aniketh's name. The family treated it as a standard receipt-linked entry, with no special request and no additional purchases involved.
Days later, that same ticket was selected as the winner of the 1kg gold prize, placing Aniketh at the centre of a festival moment seen across the UAE.
The Winning Call and Family Reaction
When the notification reached the family, Aniketh's father, R Nair — a regional sales manager at an international company — reacted with immediate caution. His first instinct was that it could be a scam call, given how frequently such calls circulate.
Only after verifying the ticket number and his son's name on the official Dubai Jewellery Group website did the family accept the news as real. R Nair confirmed the prize through official DJG channels, ending any doubts and clearing the way for the formal handover.
He later described the moment as completely unexpected but very welcome.
The Gold Handover Ceremony
The official presentation took place on Monday, January 26, 2026.
Aniketh received four gold bars weighing 250 grams each, completing the full one-kilogram prize. The gold was presented by Tawhid Abdulla, Chairman of the Dubai Jewellery Group, who noted that Aniketh had won at "the highest price of gold ever" — underlining the prize's exceptional value at the time of the award.
The ceremony drew attention not only for the scale of the prize, but also because of Aniketh's age and the straightforward way the family had come to enter — a single jewellery purchase, no campaign, no extra effort.
Plans for the Prize
According to his father, the family intends to manage the prize responsibly. VAT obligations will be addressed first, followed by long-term planning focused on education — for both Aniketh and his sister.
No immediate personal purchases were announced. The family's stated priority remains education and future preparation.
Each year, the Dubai Shopping Festival produces stories that capture the UAE's spirit of possibility. This year, one of those stories belongs to a 13-year-old student from Sharjah. For one Kerala family living in the UAE, a Dh1,500 bracelet turned into a defining chapter of their DSF experience.
