KBC’s dreamcatchers
Kuch log KBC (Sony) paise kamane ke liye watch karte hain, kuch apni GK ko test karne ke liye, kuch entertainment ke liye. Not me. Na. Main toh unke deedar ki pyaasi hoon.
Har sham jab woh aate hain, sade-aath baje, smile karte hain, hello-hi karte hain, dil se ek aawaz nikalti hai: Battiyan bujha-do...
Hai! Anyway. To-the-point baat yeh hai that this season’s KBC is different. KBC 5 is samarpit to the aam aadmi, and the sexy'n'fabulous aam aurat. We are introduced to the contestants in the hot-seat with a short video clip – there are housewives, teachers, municipality officials, out-of-work young boys and girls from small towns.
Their homes and lives are opened to us and we are invited in, to meet parents, aunts, kids and grandparents sitting around dining tables or huddled on a bed.
We feel the warmth in one-bedroom homes, crave the garam chai and food that comes out of fridge-size kitchens, and drop a tear when we listen to stories of struggle and teamwork that went into seeing the son/daughter through school.
They all have dreams, needs. A house. Killer loans. A decent school. A good doctor. And yet there is contentment. Under the calm ordinariness lies an undaunted spirit.
There is the man who hasn’t married because his daily earning for manning an ambulance helpline is Rs 115. There’s the daughter who is saving up to build a pakka road in her village. There’s the son who can’t stop crying when he talks of how his father struggled to educate him. He wants to say thank you, with a house, a car, a holiday.
And then there is 31-year-old Yusuf Mallu from Banswara, Rajasthan.
Yusuf loved to swim and play volleyball with his friends. He had a job, a wife and a son. Life was good. On January 14, 2007, Yusuf climbed a tree to retrieve a cricket ball for the kids in his colony. He slipped and fell and has not walked since. Yusuf’s legs and arms are paralysed. His fingers don’t follow his commands, and that’s why it took him several attempts in Fastest Finger First. But he did it finally, using his knuckles, in 3.60 seconds.
Yusuf, sitting in a wheelchair, introduced his mother, father and nephew who take care of him. He joked, chatted and then wept and told Mr B that he wants to walk again, play with his friends again.
Mr B wiped Yusuf's tears, offered him water to break his fast and asked the audience to give Yusuf a standing ovation. I have not seen or shed so many tears in a very long time.
But then came a moment that made me pause, think.
Mr B said, “Third question, bees-hazar ke liye. Ready Yusuf bhai?”
Yusuf: “Sir, aap bhai na kahein, please.”
It was that steely core and it was shining.
Mr B saw it, acknowledged it with a smile and said, “Achcha, main Yusuf kehta hoon aapko”.
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