ROI 10: Pur..pur..pur..purrrrrrrrrrrrr

He had a CD player of his own…but he had to borrow mine! He had an awesome sony erricson K750i but he had to listen to the songs on my Creative Zen all the time!! He had a room and room mates but he would always be with us in 308!!! He’s the person who irritated me the most at Savoy and managed to go scott free each time…Parleen the great!


He only looks mature guys…I have never met a more immature guy than this young lad!! Trust me...he is so very easily distracted from his goal…just like small children…so very easily dejected…so very easily hurt! God sometimes when I used to have these ‘pep-talks’ with him it was as though he was the girl and I was the guy! Sheesh!


He’s a good friend…irritating yes…annoying yes…immature yes…but nevertheless fun!


There was a time when almost all the girls on Idol (except 308) had a crush on this dude and he always came to me to express his utmost disgust on that matter, although I knew within he was jumping joyfully at the attention he got unasked! These boys I tell you!

Although I have heard from reliable sources that boys seldom clean their rooms, I fail to agree in Parleen’s case. I can say he was the ‘Aisha’ of 206 (his room) with his roommates Shan and Roshan. He was cleanliness raised to a 103. Whenever he felt even a spick of sweat/dirt on him he would dash for a bath! Yes a full fledged half-hour bath! Even if it was 12 in the night! Have you heard of such insanity? I think he used to have it thrice or four times a day!

Apart from his irritating urge to keep attacking my tickle-sensitive spots (this disease which soon transferred to Chang), even though his weakness was the same too, his weird table manners irked me. He used to eat with both his hands! Yes…tear a chappati with two hands…my two year old cousin does it single handedly with ease! When I told him that we normal human beings use only one hand, and after a lot of coaxing…he started using one hand. Phew! I told him his parents would be glad that he found a friend on Idol who transformed him from a naughty boy to a well-behaved man!!



He loved posing for pictures. And if the photographer (like mua) was really serious about what he/she was doing then the pictures came out brilliantly. If not singing…after Idol I’m sure Parleen a.k.a Pinni is gonna get loads of modeling offers!! Among all my pictures half would be filled with both Parleen and Vani posing extensively!! They loved being shot…and sometimes I really did wish my cam could shoot them down! Hehe!


Check this one picture I took of his, first I experimented the Beckham hairstyle on him and then wanted to try out the low-lighting technique in my room and the result is…

So…? Wha’dya guys think of my photography huh?


Since I am in the mood of displaying my skills here’s another one with Suhit and Chang (the posing idea was Suhit’s while I was the hand behind the cam!)

Hmm I know I know… multi-talented…well…that’s me!! Hehehe!…Puh-leez I am just a Jack of all trades and Master of known seriously!!!


Back to pur..pur..pur…purrrrrrrrleen!! That’s the nick name Harshi gave him!


He loved talking about…no no I’m sorry…he Loves talking about bikes!! Given a chance he could spend days telling you his adventurous (boring to me) biking trips! Or even car swerving tricks would do!! Gosh!! Why do all boys have some-sort of magnetic craze to these metallic wheeled vehicles??

Well I know Vani & Aish always asked me why I never reacted to the pranks and irritating things he did to me or why I never got pissed off at him…probably that’s because under all that naughtiness and immaturity I saw a pure-heart and a genuine friend…he was more like a brother I never had...a younger one though in age he is elder to me by two months! Like that matters!!

If you end up becoming the Idol dude…don’t forget old folks like me…atleast I know I did try hard to get you to focus on your singing when you were busy thinking of “other things”!Hehe! And if you don’t well…don’t give up faith in your talent…keep trying…and like you told me once..I might see you in those army uniforms like your dad one day!! All the best for everything buddy!

ROI 9: Damsel from Dubai...

I had known her from Dubai. Known her in the sense…we used to meet annually at every single singing competition, inter-school, solo or group that was held in the country. We used to regularly compete with each other for the classical vocal category to be more precise. It was always like this…She used to come first, then another girl from my school second and then me with the third prize. No jokes... this happened every single time!! After a point I began telling my parents the minute I saw her at a competition…”why are we even here…she’s gonna bag first and im gonna be stagnant at 3rd! Hmph!” According to me she was snobbish, had a big time attitude written in capital letters all over her face and thought of herself as the most prettiest thing on earth!! WHAT EVER!!!



But then…we met again at another singing contest, this time we were singing English songs…and I got second in it while she bagged third!! I couldn’t believe it!!! The first time I was ahead of her!! Then she came and congratulated me and said that I really sang like Christina Aguillera ( I had sung Genie in a bottle!)…I felt elated and my opinion about her slightly changed. After a gap of a year or so we met again for Zee Tv’s SRGMP Middle-east Muqabala 2006. This was hosted by Shaan and had eminent Judges like Kumar Sanu, Adesh Srivastav, Ismail Darbar and Jatin and Lalit Pandit who judged us ( we were 32 contestants from the middle east) and while she got out at the Quarter final stage, I went up to the finals and came second. Coincidently we both lost to the same singer…that lady was horrible anyway!! Coming back to this person…by the time SRGMP was over we both had gotten to know each other a little better. Not just us but our parents too. I was invited to her place once and we bumped into each other at our college campus too if I am not mistaken. So my initial conception of her was changing with these un-planned frequent meetings.



Then we met again for another competition held by a radio station in Dubai called ‘Radio Star’ where the contestants sang over the Radio, and the listeners voted for their favorites. In that both of us were singing with different duet partners. My duet partner Karan (with whom there is a pic I have on Orkut) and I won the first prize while she and her duet partner got third. By this time we had become good friends. But the time I have most cherished with her is when we both got selected not just at the auditions but right upto the top 28 stage of Indian Idol 3…



Even though I haven’t told you guys who she is…I’m sure my readers are smart enough to have guessed who this “she” was in the above paragraphs…no??? C’mon…. how can you forget my dearest friend and oh-so-messy roomie….Panni… I mean.. .Vani!!! :-) Heheh!



The minute we both found out that we were roomies at Savoy we were the happiest creatures alive!!! For the first two days the two of us were always muttering something or the other in tam-alyalam (that’s Tamil and Malayalam alternatively) and didn’t know or rather didn’t bother to worry about what out third roomie Aisha would think about us…until the time she went…”There you go with your ‘Enna Pa…Enna Pi…Enna Po…’“ and the two of us were rolling on the floor laughing! That is was nothing of that sort in Tamil or Malayalam! Hehe!



As the days flew by Vani and I really got close. We both confessed to each what we thought of the other when we were in Dubai…and we both laughed at the others confession!! But now our opinions are no where near to what we originally had in mind…She’s worse than worse could be!!!! Hehehe!! I bet Vani’s face would be red if she was reading this!!



There were only two irritating things…no three…no actually there are a lot of irritating things she does…but I’d be inviting all of you to my funeral if she finds out I am disclosing all of it online…for Public Viewing! Any way coming back to my point…whenever she gets a new song the first thing that bothers her is the damn ‘Pitch’ of the song. Which in most cases should not and is not a problem in the first place. Pitch or Scale of the song is something we decide. It is the singer who decides what pitch to sing his/her song in. But No…Miss Vanita Subramanium has to make sure her pitch is right even before having the very first practice with the orchestra!! I can’t even count the number of times I have consoled her that she doesn’t sound as though she is screeching or that she can fix her pitch with the band members. But some things just don’t change.



The other very irritating thing about her is this nagging question she asked me from time to time whenever my facial expression changed from a wide smile to an ok-I’m-not-so-excited-now smile. “ What’s wrong Rashu? Did I do something? I know something’s not right…tell me..is it me? Huh?” GOD!!! Even if it was a buzzing fly I was angry with she had to make sure I was not pissed off with her and had to reassure her that it would in no way affect our friendship. Can you believe that?? I don’t remember how many “You are now one of my close friends and I don’t want anything to spoil that rashu” from her!! She got soo paranoid with me sometimes for nothing absolutely! Well that’s the part of friendship one doesn’t mind facing!! She couldn’t beat Aishu’s irritating “Maain”ing anyway!!



One thing’s for sure…in the one month that I spent with her at Savoy…I can truly count Vani as one of my closest friends now. We shared so many of our problems and helped each other understand others better. I am sure I would have been lost and I’m sure she would agree with me if either of us weren’t there with the other during Idol! Seriously. We had gotten so used to eachother there that we completely forgot that this was just a temporary phase and that one day we would have to go back to our normal routines in Dubai. And trust me when I say this…even though we are just about 10 minutes from each others places, meeting up never really happens, planned! That’s how it is in Dubai.



I miss getting up before she did…

I miss trying a zillion methods to wake her up…

I miss scolding her for acting like a kid at times (though she’s a year older to me)…

I miss how annoyed she looked when Aish used to call me the achi bachi…

I miss screaming at her to clear up her things…

I miss telling her to stand straight (I have never met anyone slouching the way she does!)…

I miss the warm and loving goodnight hugs and kisses we gave each other like siblings each night…

I miss the excellent leg massage both Vani and Aish gave me once… (not to forget the oh-so-relaxing hair massage both Vani & I received from Aish!! Damn…she’s god at it!!!)


I miss hearing her loving “Rashuuuuuuuuu you piece-a-shit!!!!” and calling her a “Panniii” in return…


I miss doing our riyaaz together…


And I miss our frequent fights over Shan and Chang… (Don’t looked confused folks I’ll be explaining this part soon…)



Well Vani…I hope we remain this way for ages to come and hope you do well in life…which I’m sure you will, hanging out with smart mallu friends like me!! Hehe! Luv you girl!!

Sorry for the interruption...

Hey guys!!


This ain’t another entry about my Idol experience...but just a small note to let you know that I would be out of “comp-reach” for another week…and wouldn’t be able to post any updates till then!!


Sorry folks!


Moreover the reason I am not giving you guys one entry per day is ‘cause then my blog would come to it’s end very fast…I wasn’t there for that long on Idol you see!!! :-) So hang in there…I know a lot of you have really become addicted to this blog and as horrible as you feel about not being able to read any updates, I feel the same not being able to write!!:(



So until next week…Adios Amigo!! :)

ROI 8: Mummy of 308

Sultry eyes…pretty face…beautiful smile…and a different voice…that’s the Aisha you know. But people…let me tell you guys…no one knows her better than her poor roomies (Vani & I) and Harshi too (she was partly our roomie)!!



Early in the morning she would start off with her Kharaj in Raag Yeman at 5:30-6’ish….”Sa Ni Sa ni Sa Da Sa da Sa pa Sa… Sa Ni Sa ni Sa Da Sa da Sa pa Sa…” and then she would increase her pace and go all the way till upar ka ‘Pa’ and come back and neeche ka “ma’ and go up and so on and so forth!!! Phew one really gets tired (not bored but literally sweating tired) listening to it…wonder how she manages to do this every single day!!!



And then came D-day…when she got her very first song for the very first Piano rounds…”namak Isq ka”…Oh Boy!!!!! She would start practicing this song right after her morning riyaaz…through breakfast (at the table mind you while the rest of us are eating)…back in 308 (while Vani & I are doing our bit of Riyaaz)…through lunch (same place again)…back in 308 (this time Vani & I would be dozing off like pigs…its afternoon rey…and how much can we talk.. we need rest too!!)…through tea…back in 308…through the evening walk…back in 308…through dinner…back in 308…and she wouldn’t stop till she feels every note of the song came out right!! No..what am I saying…the first day was not perfecting the whole song but just the “Maaaaiiinnnn” portion right at the very beginning of the song!!


She would start off “Maaaa..aaaain” and then stop and ask whoever is there at the room at that time (either Vani or me or Harshi..or Pinky), “Sahin tha na…barabar lag raha tha na sur”… initially we politely told her.. “of course yaar.. theek hi to aa raha hai”.. then by the tmie it was a day before the piano’s we went “AISHA…YOU…ARE…GETTING…IT…PERFECTLY…RIGHT…STOP…”maaaaaaaaaaiiinnn’ing” THIS…INSTANT…WE…ARE…GOING…CRAAAAZZZZYYYYYY!!!!ahhhhhhhhh”

And then she would stop to show her teeth and make her eyes small and laugh!!!! God Woman!!!!!


Oh...there was this one time when she really scared the wits out of me. We were all just relaxing in the afternoon…Vani with her cd-player’s headphones on…Me reading or writing…and meimsaab Aishu was for a change lying down on the bed…phew…what a relief. But then all of a sudden she just raises her head and along with hand movements sings just the “maaaaaainnnn...chaaand...nigalll...gayi” and lies back down on the bed! I went “OMG aish!!!! You really got me there!” and wackhed her with the pillow!!! God!!! What fun we had pulling her leg on this song of hers every other time after the first piano!! I remember once Pinky said ki “aaj ke baad har raat Savoy mein ammavasya hoga kyun yeh (Aisha) Chand ko puri nigal chuki hai!!” Heheheh…good one Pinky!!!



That was the singer Aisha…but there’s more to this damsel from Mumbai…her passion for cleanliness and hygiene. This only we roomies knew about! Rather had to go through with I should say.


Any time any our stuff is not arranged in the room she will start… “WHY IS THE ROOM UNTIDY???HUH?HUH?HUH?!!!” and we’ll both “sorry” her and quickly clean up the mess we created. Both of us called her the ‘mom’ of the room and we were her (in Aishu’s terms) “Naalaayak” kids! Hehehe! Of the two of us, Vani was just the opposite of Aisha…her box would always be…well never mind the details… you get the point right! And I was in the middle…I don’t like messy things but when we are not in the room for days like when we go for studio practices, I don’t get to clean up my stuff so that’s when the room looks shabby. But otherwise I’m Aishu’s achi beti! This is to Vani: “Nananapoopoo” *tongue sticking out and palms stretched out with the thumbs on my ears*



Oh and even in the middle of the night when either of us gets stomach aches or gas problems she would jump right out of her bed dig into her box and bring out the famous “Kaali meeri” bottle. She would give it with some salt (the tasty salt…not the normal kinds which we use for cooking), and o’la…our pains vanish. Once Vani had put it in her mouth and she drank water to make it go inside ‘cause it gives burning sensations. And then Aishu took some more…gave it in her hand…put on a small light near the door…made Vani stand right under that…and asked to swallow the whole thing in front of her. “I want to see you eat it!!! Not wash it down to your stomach with water….kya bache mile hain mujhe!!awaara lafange dono…raat ko 11 baje aatein hain son eke liye…ek ko tho 10 baar bathroom jana padtha hai sone se pehle (Vani)…or doosri likhti rehti hai kuch na kuch apne book mein…Hump!! I tell you…I must have done some great sins in my past janam to get kids like you!...aur phir kisi ek ko tho har rooz mujhe kaali meeri dena padtha hai….kya karoge tum dono mere bina huh???” Hehehe you know we love you for this na ‘Ma’!!!!! Muah!



Initially during the theatre rounds I thought she was a very reserved person, an introvert basically ‘cause she didn’t interact with anyone much. But after becoming her roomie…we know who she “truly” is!!Hehehe! Apart from an awesome singer…she would make a really good home-maker and a mother trust me!! I only pity her future family and in-laws ‘cause they would have to suffer her…

“Maaaaaiiinnnnn….chhaaaand…nigall…gayi”


Rock on girl!!!!No matter what…you’ll always be a very dear friend of mine…and I miss staying with you...hope this bond of ours would go on for years!!! Best of luck for all your future projects!

ROI 7: Strings+Strumming=Shantanu

All through the theatre round I hadn’t interacted with him much but I was already a fan of his talent of playing the guitar. It was only in Savoy that I learnt, how immensely he knew what he was playing…its history…all the small nuances…every minute detail of the piece he played...now that’s what I call dedication! And I love the way he passionately plays his guitar…I call it his baby…seriously! The way he holds it…no..holds her is like she is soo precious to him. I used to look forward every day to these little sessions we used to have in his room.



The first time we had a sing-along with him was I think the second day at Savoy. I could hear the strummings of guitars coming from the other end of the corridor. I knew it would either be Emon or Shan. And what more treat could my ears have asked for than to hear them both happily jamming! Bhavin, Richa, Harshi and I joined them with the vocals. Man!! That day was beautiful…we sang so many old Hindi numbers. It was a kind of a medly….so many songs… and I thank raimama (my very dear uncle) for having gifted me my Creative Zen last year!!!! I recorded that whole session (audio) in it!! I’ll surely find a way of making you people listen to it.



Shan really gave me a lot of knowledge about his style of playing. It was the classical guitar form. He told us that through Idol he wanted to bring this guitar form to notice to a lot of young budding guitarist in the country. Not many people are aware of this style…and mind you people….it involves the combined movement of all the fingers…your mind…and most importantly your soul to give it a never-felt-before feel!! (I have no idea what I just said…but I’m sure you guys must have guessed by now that I am in awe of this guy’s passion and dedication to what he does!hee!)



He played a lot of Spanish numbers for us and used to always tell us the story behind it before playing. Certain tunes evoked certain moods and he would ask me what I felt after the song…for example when he played Romanza I told him that the piece was so romantic and he went “Precisely!!! It’s meant to be!!”. There was this other tune…can’t recollect the name of the piece…he said that it was a tune that depicted war…and believe me…I could literally see people being shot and killed when I closed my eyes while listening to it!! Other pieces that he played made me choke…and I once even told him he was soo lucky to have something to emote himself…the mood he is in…at any time!!!



The minute his fingers go on that guitar…and the minute he starts strumming one can immediately tell what kind of a mood that song creates…beautiful…simply BEAUTIFUL!!



Shan….whatever you do in life yaar I hope…wish…and pray that a talented, true-to-his-heart, genuine, passionate and dedicated artist like you would go far…and reach all your goals! Love your attitude to life buddy! Rock on!!

ROI 6: Welcome to Sayoy Suites!!

Not blogged for a week……Ahhhhhh… I feel TERRIBLE!!!!!! But kya kare yaar….lot of visits had to be done…relatives place…temples and so on…so it was one week of ‘off-the-comp’ for me!! Sorry for keeping you guys waiting… but since I haven’t written in a week.. I am giving all of my ardent blog readers a bonus…two entries today!!! Now isn’t that a fair deal??!! Hehe!



So…after the theatre rounds all the top 28 contestants could go back to their homes and we were called back in May. Most of us (including mua) could see our first audition rounds on tv before we left for Mumbai. And just the next day after my audition was telelcasted, on the 12th of May 2007, I received a scrap on orkut from my first unknown appreciater from Hyderabad. His name’s Jagminder who also plays the guitar and loves music, he noticed me during the auditions and wished me all the very best for my next rounds. Although we weren’t supposed to disclose to anyone outside our family the fact that we guys were chosen as the top 28 contestants, I still told this newly made friend of mine. I really felt soo good getting those blessings.




Coming back…both Vani & I reached Mumbai on 13th May, at 10 pm. We were greeted by Sheenu (a new face among the crew for us), who is another one of the associate producers along with Samrat and another cameraman too. Oh.. and Harshi was there too…she had stayed back in Mumbai to get some training, while all of us left for home. So they brought her there to the aiport to shoot an entry shot …to make it look like she just came from London and all three of us were asked all sorts of questions like how it feels to be back…and what our plans are…and bla and bla…




By the time we reached our hotel (we were now going to be at Savoy Suites) it was about 11-12’ish. After all the entering-the-hotel shots, and taking-the-keys shots..we were free to go to our rooms. That’s when Aisha came down and told us that we (Vani & I) were going to be her roomies. Boy!! Were we excited and thankful or what!! We also met Alphreda urf Alfy , our second contestant manager (apart from Samrat). She too, like sheenu and Thomas was a Mallu! We then took our keys and went off to our room, the corridor was pretty silent…everyone else seemed to be in bed already. The room was… WOW…pretty neat and spacious…and wide…and ….just perfect man!!! Once Aisha also came in after her interview shots, the three of us decided where each one would sleep. There was a double bed and a mattress on the floor too. First we thought of taking turns every day to sleep on the floor bed, but then Aisha was like she doesn’t mind and infact prefers sleeping on the floor as it would be easy for her prayers too. So that was that, Vani & I on top, and Aish on the floor. The next thing we did was…what? Sleep ….duh!!! Hehehe!!



Aisha was the first one to wake up at around 5:30. She borrowed my electronic tanpura and began her riyaaz. I thought ‘my God!! There’s tough competition here man…I have never in my life so far ever done early morning riyaaz..and here I have a roomie who’s bound to make me feel guilty every single day man!!!Damn!’ But the reason I don’t do my riyaaz early in the morning is cause I sound like a freg at that time. Seriously…I croak!! My throat opens up only after my morning chores and a good breakfast. Yea.. that’s me! And I was glad to find out that Vani also did the same!! Phew!



Alfy had asked us to be at the breakfast table by 7 and I was the first one from 308 (my room) to reach there at…7:30. Alfy gave me the glare and asked me why I was late…and second where my roomies were…both for which I answered with a HUGE smile…it always works in my favour…Hee Hee!! Everyone else was also there, I hadn’t seen them the previous night so it was a very nice warm welcome I got down there that morning from all my top 25 (excluding aish, vani and mua) Idol frends!!



After B-fast (too lazy to type out the whole word!) we were told to be at the conference room on the 1st floor at 8:45 sharp, for a session with our vocal trainer. It was one of the most fun sessions we had with him, Mr. Hridaynath Merchant. He had such a pleasing nature, so full of energy and he must be well over 50!! I was impressed with his teaching style from day 1…he told so many things that echoed my dad’s and my Shiva sir’s thoughts!! If you think I’m gonna share all those secret-to-success tips with all of you…DREAM ON!!!!!!!!!! Hehehehe…no the actually fact is…I have no bharosa on this net connection of mine…every time I sit to blog the damn thing starts acting weird…so I’d rather not diverge into the details of my training!!



After Merchant sir’s session we had another session with the music director of II3, Ram Shanker ji. We got our very first songs for the first piano round and we all had to individually go and check out our scales for the song with Ram Shanker ji , along with Swapnali di too (the music manager). I had got Pyaar ki yeh Kahaani from Honeymoon travels. It was chosen from my list of songs and I was happy to get that song, so were both of them (Shaker ji & Swapnali di) happy to see such a song on my list!


The following two weeks this was our daily routine:

7:00-7:30: B’fast

8:30-9:30: Session with Hridaynath Ji (sometimes we used to swap our session with the guys session at 10)

10-11:00: Session for the guys

11:30 onwards: Individual sessions with the M.D (music director)

12:30-1:00/2:00: Lunch session (and M.D sessions continue for those who haven’t finished yet)

Around 5:30-6:00: Tea time

6:30-8:00: Here’s where sometimes we used to walk outside in the parking lot, the guys would play football, or some days Aish, Vani and I used to be in Shantanu’s and Parleen’s room to hear Shan play his guitar….man he is plain awesome!!!!! And those one or two hours used to be heavenly for me!!! Shan you’re the best yaar!!!

8:30-10:00: Dinner


In between we used to spend time in interview shoots, bytes and VT shoots all done by our very dear and loving Idol crew!! Miss all of you!!! After dinner it was up-to us when we wanted to be in bed…although we were supposed to sleep immediately…hehehe!!!!



So that is that…from now on my entries would be random days at Savoy and extracts from my memory of some of the truly enjoyable moments I had there with my new pals!! So enjoy reading folks! And…although I can’t guarantee this statement…I’ll try to be more regular!!! Hehehe!….Cheers!!!

ROI 5: Finale of all the Theatrical Performances...

Hey guys!



Lissen….I’m extremely sorry about this delayed posting up of my entries. I can’t help it. I don’t get the time to access the net as frequent as I could back in Dubai. And moreover the network her is…wel…I’d rather not lose my cool speaking about it! J



Well… my third set of roomies were Vanita (yeaaaaaayy!!) and Priyanka (not Mukherjee…another Priyanka from Delhi). Vani tho I already knew from Dubai and Priyanka …well it’s sad that I didn’t get much time to interact with her, seemed like a nice girl to me! We reached Sahil at around 10:00 and believe in those three days…no actually in my entire college life…that night was the first time I slept before 12 o’clock…at 10:15 !!! Wow…now that is something for a nocturnal being like moi!!Hehe!



The next day as usual we left at 7, reached NCPA at 8 and well as usual…waited…and waited…and waited for hours till my turn!! (Why am I always so lucky to go LAST??? Hmph!) No actually before the wait we had rehearsals with the band, that was fun. (we had rehearsals even for the duo/trio rounds but that wasn’t as fun as this). The song that I chose, 8 other girls also chose that, and trust me all of us sounded heavenly when we sang together! All the other 8 were singing the mukhda and the 1st anthra, while I chose the 2nd anthra…yea..that’s me…I’m always Different! ;-)




Oh before that let me tell you something interesting about Aisha. While all of us were on our way to NCPA that day, there was hardly any place for all of us to sit in the bus. I sat next to Vartika Vani was adjacent to me on the other two seats, while Aisha was standing. Before we the bus started off she began humming her song and Vani over-heard her hum an interesting tune which was not there in the original and by the way Aisha and Vani were roomies for the previous night. Vani was like “Hey Aisha, just sing that portion again na…sounded like a really nice improvisation for the song..” and then Aisha goes, “ Umm…actually…no.. I don’t want to sing it to again…don’t mind…”. Vani understood why and told her, “look rey..I won’t copy your tune or anything, I am anyway singing Aawaara Bhanware…”, a very flushed Aisha said, “ Sorry rey Vanita…didn’t meant to be rude but my previous roommate also said the same thing and she turned out to be a cheeky and copied my improvisations, while I conveniently forgot to do it on stage…so that’s why..i am.. a little…well no hassles.. here goes..” and she sang it again for Vani. Later when Vani had problems with the pitching of the song, Swapnali Di (the music manager) told her to change the song and she got to sing Sajna ji Vaari itself. And at that time Aisha’s face was worth taking a look at!!! Hehe. But Vani is not the kind who would copy other’s ideas…and again Aisha forgot to do the improvisation on stage…so there goes all the effort in vain! Hehe!!



Now back to the long wait…what all happened while that time now let me think..hmmm.. oh yea it was Vartika’s Bdya that day. One of the crew members kept her busy talking, while the other one told us to all gather around her quietly and sing and wish her. She was so deep in conversation with Thomas (another Associate Producer) that she didn’t see all of us creep up behind her and all of a sudden jolt her with our pretty loud, and harmonious “Happy B’day To You!!!” …after every one finished their versions, I sang for her in Arabic too and it goes “Sana Haaluaa Yajamee”! Everyone was behind my life after that asking me if that really was a genuine song or whether I just made it up!! Heheh!! Especially Jatin from Kanpur…as it is that guy was soooo funny, on top of it he kept asking me the right way of saying those words in that song! “Sana…halwa…allergy?....Sahin gaya na maine?” Hehehe!!!



My turn came and went, sang …umm…OK! The rhythm of the song went much slower than the original and that kinda lost the spakr of the song. But I somehow managed and yea came out of the hall pretty satisfied with my performance.


Oh …miss Richa again cried that day..this time for not being able to remember the lyrics for her song. And again she was caught by the cams and was being comforted by her two Delhi ‘Bhaiyas’, Amit Sharma, and Parleen Gill. Never Mind!! Hehe


Parleen’s fav pastime was going around clicking weird pics of all the contestants either sleeping or in deep conversation with others…God!! Seriously…he was irritating all the crew members when they were trying to shoot our video diaries, by making all of laugh showing us those pics!! Stupid Fellow..I told him I’ll catch him once when he’s asleep!!



By then I had become familiar with a lot more people, Amit Paul (the guy who had a cd full of different south Indian songs, and he just learnt them blankly without knowing which one is what language. He kept singing Telugu , thinking it was Tamil and vice-versa…I told him I’ll help him recognize the languages if he gets me the cd…if he got thru that was! J ), then. Jatin ( funny guy from Kanpur) , Abhiskek (another one from Dhanbaad..always wearing an ulti topi!), Rajsee (Vani’s and Bhavin’s Trio partner) , Shahid (Oh this dude from Mumbai was the funniest of the lot…he used to tell jokes with such a straight face…that I just laughed looking at his face! Hehe!), then Amit from Delhi (man.. all the guys I kept meeting turn out to be damn funny yaar!!), Shantanu (te amazing guitarist), Vartika (the sweet little girl!), and others like, Harshi, Aisha, Bhavin & Vani..whom I don’t have to specially mention!


You people must be wondering why I have more guys in the list than girls yea? One simple reason, theses guys were carefree and bindaas and not chui-muee and bitchy like some other girls…other wise also I hate gossip mongrels! And as this journey of mine kept advancing, I could only confirm the fact that I mingle better with guys, than girls…no wonder why my parents keep telling me I am tom-boyish! Hehe!



Hmm after all this…all 46 of us were made to sit on neatly arranged sofas, and Mini and Hussain told us about how our results would be announced. They said that since there were a lot of good singers among us, for the first time in Idol history they were going to select 14 girls and guys each instead of 12…so that’s how it became 28 from 24!



We were to walk a loooong walkway , through a long corridor, up the stairs and through another passage to reach were the judges were seated with one single chair placed in front of them , our judgment chair..or whatever they called it! This looong walkway was termed… “Faisle ka safar”


I kinda knew what it would be like, ‘cause I had seen a similar thing being done with the American Idol contestants and there it was called…well.. I don’t really remember the term..ah.. forget it! Back to all of us being seated…


One by one we were shown the way…and all of us had to go alone to the judges. First one to be selected was Chang and we knew it the minute we heard him howl!!! Even here my turn came towards the end. I went up…smiling at all the cameras that kept following me and then when I finally saw the 4 judges at the end of the ‘safar’, my heart slowly started pounding….lub-dub….lub-dub…..


Sat on that chair…looked at all four of them…Annu ji said “ Javed ji ne hi aapko chune the Dubai se..so Javed Ji…please …do the honours” (with a very glum face!)

‘Rashmi…be ready to face the worst..’ I thought to myself…


Javed Ji began…”Aapko humne Dubai se…saw logon mein se chuna…yeh badi baat thi…uske baad phir aap theatre rounds me ab taka age pahunchti gayee..yeh bhi badi baat hai…lekin…aage agar…yahan…aapko phir selection mil jaayega tho yeh sabse badhi baat hai…”… pause…and he smiles…!


“aap Piano rounds ke liye selected hain!!”


I actually let out a sigh of relief and screamed “lightly” according to Annu Ji. I got up and before I left I shook all of their hands, and while I was leaving Annu ji said “you didn’t scream al lthat much…” and I told him..i wanted to surprise my friends waiting downstairs..and don’t want to let them know whether I am in or out with my scream! And to that Annu ji was like..”aah.. you want to something different and unique..as always!”. .and I agreed…



I walked back down…quietly…no reaction at all..and when I reached the waiting arena…they were not ready for me..infact Hussain was shooting a byte with ..Amit (the next one to go after me) I think…He saw me coming with a glum face…I was sooo serious…and Mini goes “Nahin yaar…yeh nahin ho sakta….it’s not possible.. how can you not be.. damn!!” ..I still continue looking serious…then even Pinky comes in front and begins “Your joking na Rashu….yeh sach nahin ho sakta.. your joking na…”.. and then till I was sure all of them had a shock. .I looked at my watch and said” theek hai yaar..april 1st nahin hai aaj.. main select ho gayee hoon!!!! Hussain was like..”waah Rashmi…singing ke saath saath tum acting bhi achi tarah karthi ho huh!! You really had us fooled for a minute there!!” Hehehe…that’s me !!!



I was taken immediately back into the auditorium where all of us were asked to wait for some shoots, we were made to dance individually on the stage (to shoot sign’s of happiness on winning the top 28 title) and yea.. if any of you have seen that really horrible picture of mine on sify, the one where I look like I have been possessed…yea.. that’s precisely when I was full into the dancing groove! Whoever put that embarrassing pic up there!! Sheesh!!!



Well after this we had a brief interaction with Annu ji, who made us right the lyrics down for Janne ke Jaane na.. to sing as a group. And believe me it was the most funniest sight ever to see him sing!!!! In that typical nasal tone of his!! Hehe… all of us went up back on the stage…and the now top 28 contestants of Indian Idol had a teeny-weeny sing & dance session to celebrate their victory!


Here’s presenting to you the then top 28:

Vani.. (yeaaa…both the Dubai Damsels were selected!!!!)

Parleen (Cool…my first friend on Idol also got in…!!!)

Vartika (Yeaayy!!!)

Bhavin (Awesome!!!)

Pinky (…umm….welll..ok…no hassels…she’s a good singer..and that’s all I care!)

Roshan (that quite guy, who was Bhavin’s roomie if I am not mistaken…didn’t know much about him..so.. yeay!!)

Aisha (hey..cool!!)

Bharat (didn’t even know he existed….so mean of me na!! tsk..tsk…)

Deepali (hmm…ok..Yea..Vani’s no-hassles roomie…nice!)

Padhmanabh (rolly polly..cuite..from Assam..I was really glad when he appreciated me for the long lecute I gave to all the contestans on the mic , the very first day of the theares…he said even he was one of the dejected contestants who re-gained their confidence only after hearing my ‘speech’!! ahem ..ahem!!! *raising collars* hehe)

Smita (seemed to be a sweet lady…nice!)

Anish (umm…oh yea..the guy who didn’t like it when Shantanu played his guitar to relax…hmm…didn’t like his attitude then!)

Shifa (ahh… one of the other sweet little girls..nice!)

Prashant ( oh.. yea. .that ‘paavum’ guy who had to suffer Richa’s torture! Great job buddy!)

Richa ( aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh WHT THE…..NAhinnnnnnnnn!!!)

Amit Paul (I could araam se help him sort those songs in that CD of his! Hehe!)

Priyanka Mukherjee ( hmm…seemed like a nice gal…didn’t know her!)

Chang ( oh.. that…HOTT…CUTE….chinese guy!!!! Cool!!!)

Charu (hmm.. the one who fought with Suhith…hmm.. ok…)

Suhith (not bad..I liked the guys attitude ..this is then… things changed later.. *wink* )

Pooja ( oh.. that girl who claimed that she deserves to be the Idol since she had done 24 hours of Riyaaz for almost a week before she came for the theatres…ok….seemed to be a girl with loads of “head-weight” )

Shantanu (Yes!!!!! I intended to make him play a lot for me!!! The guitar I meant!!)

Ankita ( ah…I liked this girls Kanpur auditions…liked her attitude…smart girl!)

Abhishek ( hey cool…topi wala joker!!)

Harshida (heyyyyyy awesome… two of my ex-roomies are in!! Vani & Harshi to refresh your memories!)

Rehan (ahh.. didn’t know much about him except that he was polio affected)

Rashmi ( ah…. Wonder who this female is!1 :P)

And last but not the least.. Emon (that cute little. .guy. .who also plays the guitar…sings damn well.. and yea.. that’s all I knew about him!)

All the above statements were ofcourse based on my first hand knowledge on meeting al of them for the first time, with not much interaction….my later entires will slowly let all of you take a peek at the wonderful..emotional…relaxing…and fun-filled moments I had with all 27 of them at our next Stop Hotel Savoy!!!


Oh and by the way…that night (and the night after that ‘cause it was a Sunday) Pooja became my roomie, she was a pretty bubbly girl I must say!! Not bad…


Then I got talking with Emon and Chang too… I finally got to know that Chang was 24!!!! And that he was a Dentist!!! Man!!!! Cool…I told him about the regular pain I kept having with my lower gum for the past 3 days…he took one look at it and said that when I go back to Dubai I have to get my tooth Surgically removed!!! OMG!!! I hate dentist visits…(ok..not if they are as cute and sweet as chang!!hehe!)


All this and more…..on my next entry!!! (wondering why this abrupt end??? Being called for dinner.. like a zillion times now!!!! Gotta go folks!!!! Ciao!!!)