'Dene Waala Jab Bhi Deta, Deta Chappar Phaad Ke,'

Basharat Peer

It never rains, it pours. Ask Narendra Verma.

The engineer from Najafgarh, New Delhi swears by the adage.

He has become the highest winner in a television game show in India. Verma has bagged a crore rupees, plus a car, a washing machine and a computer in Sony Entertainment Television’s game show Jeeto Chappar Phaad Ke, anchored by Bollywood star Govinda.

"Dene Waala Jab Bhi Deta, Deta Chappar Phaad Ke," a beaming Narendra Verma hums the background song of the game show.

His face shone as he told rediff.com, "My wife saw the JCPK advertisement in a newspaper inviting contestants, just two days before the last date for applying. Both of us applied, but I received the call. We were very happy about it. But I did not really expect much".

"When I received the call inviting me to participate in the game show at Bombay, I realised that it was a golden chance to change the course of my life," he adds.

He had 20 days to prepare for the competition and he used the time to work day and night on his general knowledge.

"My wife helped me a lot ,she would stay awake with me throughout nights while I prepared for it," he added as he smiled at her.

Finally the day to travel to Bombay arrived. Verma and his wife Kalindi, boarded a flight, which was sponsored by the show.

"Traveling by air for the first time, was a dream coming true and we had a feeling that there was more to come," says Kalindi Verma, who is pursuing computer studies.

On their sixth day in Bombay, Narendra Verma was a contestant on the show. "My heart was beating very fast when I was moving towards the aasan. (podium)" But Govinda's friendly approach soothed his nerves.

He had to use his first dost on the very first question. The second one was used after he won two lakh rupees.

But Verma has always been a fighter. A school teacher’s son, he had worked hard to get a seat in an engineering college, and now works with the Delhi Jal Board as an assistant engineer.

"I was playing to the best of my ability and my morale got higher with every right answer."

Then Govinda asked the one crore question: In which of these films was Salman Khan not called 'Prem'? There four options and Narendra managed to pick the right one.

He had won a crore!

What was the first thought after you won the crore? "Nothing. I forgot everything then," he says dreamily.

He wanted to call all his friends and family and give them the good news, but Sony did not allow him, as they didn't want to publicise it. He was presented to the media on March 2.

The most obvious question was asked: Will he go into modeling? "Of course, I have not closed any of my options".

While his kids, Harsh, 5 and Sanskriti, 3, were busy in mock fights, his wife says, "We badly wanted to win at least a car but thankfully there is a lot more. All our dreams will come true now. Our friends and relatives are very happy. Even those who never bothered about us are being nice to us now."

He has not yet decided how to spend the money. "The priority is my children. I will send them to good schools which I could not afford earlier."

A sports complex that can produce Olympic medal winners for India is another dream he has. But the 52 lakh he would get to keep after the income tax cut isn't enough for that.

So will he play again? "Yes, of course," he glows.

Photographs: Sayem Mehmood