A for Aditya.. B for Birla....SIBM Pune

The Power of Visualization

Not everyone in our country can say that they have been a part of Kaun Banega Crorepati and have won prize money. Well I am among the fortunate ones who can!

The year was 2013 and I had just turned 18. My grandmother casually nudged me to apply for KBC after seeing the lucrative TV ads. After the initial hesitation I decided to apply as all I had to do was send an SMS answering the question which came on the television.

It was a beautiful summer evening in Bangalore, whilst playing gully cricket with my friends, I received a phone call informing me that I was selected for the next rounds of KBC and I had to immediately answer 3 questions to be considered for the auditions. My newspaper reading habit helped to answer those quick-fire out of the blue questions. In the following month I was called for an audition process wherein people from all over my state had gathered. It was a daunting task for me to compete with people from diverse backgrounds and those who have seen much more of life than me. The 45 minute audition tested us on multiple aspects of our personality and it was not the question of who comes up on the top but it was of about who made a lasting impression on the panel. Staying true to myself and being honest helped me throughout this rigorous selection process.

To my endeavour, I was selected for a chance to compete for the coveted hot seat. Here again I had to compete with people who actually deserved to be on the hot seat. The atmosphere in the studio was captivating and at the same time it was intimidating. I failed miserably in the initial fastest finger first rounds. My fingers nervously shook, my brain froze and I was unable to perform to my potential. The sheer gravity of situation weighed me down. But then I found a stroke of inspiration from Rahul Dravid's magical advice wherein he said, that he always prepared by visualizing himself facing the harshest delivery that could bowled and he made up a plan as to how to face it. I kept my nerve and concentrated on doing things right. One breath. 10 seconds and 4 correct choices later, I reached the dream seat and was able to answer 10 amazing questions.