The Hindu : National : A crorepati, by training and by luck

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 30, 2005

National

National

A crorepati, by training and by luck

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

The first winner of the big prize on KBC show has had his wife as coach

NEW DELHI: It is not without reason that little Muniya, all of three years, has been reciting `A' for Apple and `A' for Amitabh Bachchan for days on end now. Her daddy came home a winner from the `adbhut khel' Kaun Banega Crorepati-2 hosted by the star. Brajesh Dubey from Guna in Madhya Pradesh is the first `crorepati' of KBC-2, the high-profile, big-stakes TV-based game show of questions and answers, reflexes and risks, anchored by Amitabh Bachchan.

The episode to be telecast on November 5 at 9 p.m. on the Star Plus channel will see Sikander — as he is fondly called by his father — becoming the fastest finger first, occupying the hot seat, using all his lifelines — and going on to win Rs. 1 crore.

The electrical engineer is the son of national hockey umpire K.N. Dubey. According to Mr. Dubey, it was the popularity of the game show and the mega host that prompted him to give it a shot. He is planning to invest all of the money on his dream projects.

In the national capital along with wife and daughter, the man of the moment revealed he had two months to prepare for the game show. "My family, colleagues and friends relieved me of all my work pressures and insisted that I concentrate only on preparing myself for the show," he says.

His wife Archana says: "We prepared the hardest for the `fastest finger first section' which would ensure that he got a chance at the hot seat. I prepared two large exercise books full of questions and made a mock switch panel and I would time his response with a stopwatch. Also, I decorated his room with inspirational punch lines like `If you have a dream, fight for it', which ensured that he remained focussed on winning all the time. My job was to make him fighting fit and mentally cool ... We would have been greatly disappointed if he hadn't won."

Mr. Brajesh admits that getting through the KBC-2 phone lines was a tough part. "But I tried repeatedly, prayed fervently and when it seemed most unexpected, I got through. However, one needs to be mentally prepared for the telephone line selection. Bahut accha kismet honi chaiiye (you need to be terribly lucky) to get through the lines." And the moment he won, the first call he made was to his father. And he said: Dekho papa, aapka Sikander jeet gaya.

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