Chhinderpal, a Class 12 pass carpenter, won Rs 50 lakh on the Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) show last week. Due to circumstances, he was unable to study beyond Class 12 and had to take up carpentry work like his father and grandfather from an early age.
Despite this, he never gave up on his dream to succeed and finally achieved it on the national platform.
Hailing from Hussainpur village near Lambra, Chhinderpal said he had been watching the show since its inception 25 years ago. “I had always dreamt of sitting in front of Big B, answering his questions and winning a big amount to take home. During the Covid period, when my carpentry work suddenly came to a halt, I had a lot of time for myself. I started making notes of general knowledge questions in my pocket booklet, which I usually used to keep measurements for furniture. I studied so much that I filled up many notebooks of that kind. I kept buying bigger notebooks and worked hard to improve my general knowledge,” he explained the start of his journey.
Chhinderpal said he felt ready to take auditions for the show. “During Covid, auditions were held online. I applied and got a call. My audition was taken, but I was not selected. I followed the same procedure the next year and again faced rejection. In 2023, there was a ground audition for which I got a call to reach Mumbai within 10 days. I tried booking a train ticket, but no slots were available. The only option was to travel by air, which I couldn’t afford. I borrowed Rs 15,000 from a friend, flew to Mumbai, appeared in the audition but sadly missed the final call.”
He praised his wife, Renu Bala, for always supporting his passion to be on KBC. “More than me, it was my wife who felt disappointed at that time. She knew how relentlessly I had been trying to make it to the show. The year 2024 was even worse; I did not get any call for auditions. This year, when I tried again, I got a call on August 10. The venue was New Delhi. I reached there on August 31, but due to the huge rush of contestants, I could not get in. Finally, on September 1, I took a general knowledge test and and got 19 out of 20 questions correct. This was followed by an interview. God was on my side as I got the call this time,” he narrated.
“With all roads to the show now clear, the next big step was to quickly brush up my notes and strategise the game. The moment I sat before the biggest Bollywood star, I was so excited that I had to gather a lot of courage,” he recalled.
During the quiz, Chhinderpal answered all questions without lifelines until the Rs 12.5 lakh level. For the next two questions, he used two lifelines. He answered the Rs 50 lakh question without help but could not proceed further. Following Amitabh Bachchan’s advice, he quit at that stage and walked away with Rs 50 lakh.
When asked about his plans for the money, he said he would fulfill the dreams of his two sons – elder son Virat, who wants to join a cricket academy and Aarav, who wants to be a footballer.
“I shall spend this money wisely, helping groom my sons and ensuring that there is no financial hurdle in their career paths,” he said, looking around at the cemented verandah of his ordinary house.