P’kula woman wins ₹1.6 lakh in KBC, says will help fulfil hubby’s dream of scaling Everest

A Panchkula woman’s entry to the grand Indian TV game show Kaun Banega Crorepati (Who will be a millionaire) is a perfect testimonial to the maxim that goes ‘try, try, try until you succeed’.

29-year-old Ankeeta Kaul Ahlawat, a technical analyst at a multi-national company and resident of Sector 11, Panchkula, reached the hot seat of KBC on Wednesday, and came away with ₹1.6 lakh in prize money on the game show that was aired on Thursday night. She quit the game on the question for ₹3.20 lakh.

Hailing from Jammu and Kashmir, Ankeeta married Pankaj Ahlawat of Haryana’s Panchkula, who is also a technical analyst. She recently joined a company in Gurugram.

“It was an out of the world feeling for me to be seated before Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan. I was thrilled. For an instance I was wondering if it was for real that I was sitting next to Bachchan ji,” recalls Ankeeta.

Speaking about the game show, Ankeeta said her husband Pankaj had been trying for an entry to the show for a decade but did not succeed. “This time, I thought I should try it and I got a chance in the very first attempt. The journey to the hot seat takes about five to six months as one needs to go through many rounds,” she said.

It was in June when Ankeeta was selected in a lucky draw and received a SMS. Later, she got a call from representatives in which she was asked three questions to qualify in the next round. “I was then called to Amritsar for a written test and an audition in which contestant must go through a video test. I was shortlisted and went to Mumbai to be part of the show,” she said.

Ankeeta recalled that it was the fourth attempt in the fastest finger first which she won and reached the hot seat. “It is a matter of few seconds only. Things are different when you are sitting there instead of watching at home. After failing in the first three attempts, I resolved to focus calmly on the right answers,” she said.

LIVING HER HUSBAND’S DREAM
Ankeeta, who was accompanied by her husband and in-laws at the game show, said she was living her husband’s dream to be in the show and would use the prize money to fulfil his wish of scaling Mount Everest. “My husband loves taking part in sports events and adventures, and the motive of winning was to fulfil his dream to scale Mount Everest. It was a good experience to be on such a big platform. To be on the hot seat with Bachchan is a big deal,” she said.

Ankeeta said she prepared for the game show by reading newspapers regularly and going through current affairs and related books.

It is not the first time that people from the tricity have won in this season of KBC. The first was Abhishek Jha, an insurance company employee in Sector 8, Chandigarh, who had won ₹25 lakh. Then, a student from PEC, Akash Garg won ₹12.50 lakh. Later, a senior dentist a at government dispensary in Sector 22, Dr Ashu Sethi won ₹3.20 lakh.