Where there is a will, there is a way. The 24-year-old youth, Sanoj Raj from Bihar’s Jehanabad district became the first contestant of Kaun Banega Crorepati season 11 to win Rs 1 crore. Despite the fact that he failed to get the answer right for the jackpot question worth Rs 7 crore, Sanoj is pleased that he has won a crore.
However, he considers the money to be his father’s. His father is a farmer. He was unable to complete studies owing to financial constraints in the family. Understanding the struggles that his father went through, Sanoj concentrated on his studies to combat the cash-crunch situation.
“My father is a farmer. It is not about giving money to him. It is his money,” Sanoj added, “He couldn’t finish his studies due to our family’s condition. We concentrated on our studies so that we don’t have to face that situation.”
Sanoj’s mother is a homemaker and lives in a joint family along with his grandparents, uncle, aunt, brothers and a sister.
Sanoj was accompanied to the grand show by his father and uncle. After bagging a crore, he called up his mother and said that his struggles had finally borne fruit. In case you didn’t know, the question that made Sanoj a crorepati was: “The father of which Chief Justice of India was once chief minister of an Indian state?”
However, Sanoj lost his flow at the jackpot hurdle of Rs 7 crore question: “Who was the Indian bowler off whom Australian legend Don Bradman got a single to reach his 100th first-class century?” The answer was Gogumal Kishanchand.
“I found it very hard. The game’s rules barred me from using a lifeline, so I used my final lifeline for the Rs 1-crore question,” he added.
Sanoj’s journey as a contestant on KBC was indeed a good one. “There were 10 of us as contestants, who were put up in a hotel. We became friends. One thing I found irritating was the clothes. I have always given importance to comfort while dressing up but on the show, fitting and colours were more important. So much effort went into choosing our clothes,” said Sanoj.
The IAS aspirant didn’t really study extra for the show. “I was studying for civil services, so I didn’t do any extra preparation,” he added in a statement.
The show also gave him the opportunity to sit face to face with megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who has been hosting KBC since the show started. “I had only seen him on the big screen. When I met him, he spoke to me as if he has known me for a long time,” said the self-confessed fan of the actor.
Sanoj is someone who does not settle for the run-of-the-mill as he has bigger dreams and higher aims to achieve in life. “I am focussing on my civil services exams right now,” said the 25-year-old, who was earlier working at Tata Consultancy Services in Delhi.
When asked about what he would like to as an IAS officer? He said: “I would like to do something I have an interest in, which is interacting with people and solving their problems. These are more important than money”.
(With inputs from IANS)