The Call That Proved a Dream Was Real

The Most Beautiful Thing That Happened Unexpectedly.

Pinterest.

Non-members link.

Some moments in life do not change your destination. Yet they change your belief in the journey. For me, one such moment arrived in the form of a phone call. A very unexpected phone call.

It was the year 2023.

Like millions of Indians, I had been watching Kaun Banega Crorepati for years. Every new season began with excitement. Every registration round brought a fresh wave of hope. And every year, after answering the questions, life continued as usual. This time was no different. Or so I thought.

When Amitabh Bachchan appeared on television with the registration questions, I participated again. Not with great expectations. In fact, somewhere deep inside, I had already prepared myself for the familiar outcome. Nothing would happen. That had become a routine belief.

You try. You hope. You move on. Then one day, my phone rang. The voice on the other end introduced itself as a member of the KBC team. For a few seconds, my mind refused to process what I had just heard. KBC? Calling me? Was it a fraud? How shall I believe it?

The same KBC whose registration questions I had been answering for years? The conversation felt unreal. They asked me three questions. I answered them carefully, trying to remain calm while my heart was conducting its own rapid-fire round.

When the call ended, I sat there smiling. Not because I had reached the hot seat. Not because I had won any prize. But because something I had always wondered about had suddenly become real. The call had arrived. For the next few days, I waited for another call. The one that would invite me to the audition round.

Like every hopeful participant, I imagined what might happen next. Days passed. Then weeks. The second call never came. And strangely, I wasn’t disappointed. Of course, reaching the next stage would have been wonderful. But that first call had already given me something valuable. It had replaced doubt with belief. For years, KBC had felt like a distant dream playing on a television screen. After that phone call, it felt real.

I realized that behind every contestant sitting across from Amitabh Bachchan was a person who had once waited exactly like I did. A person who had answered those questions. A person whose phone had rung one day. And that realization stayed with me.

People often measure success by the final result. I think there is another kind of success. The kind that arrives quietly. The kind that tells you that your effort was not invisible. That your attempt reached somewhere. That your name entered the story, even if only for a chapter. I never received that second call. At least not yet. But whenever a new season of KBC begins, I remember that day in 2023.

The day an ordinary phone call carried an extraordinary message. Not that I had won. Not that I had qualified. But something equally meaningful. Those ki KBC ke calls sach mein aate hain. And sometimes, that little confirmation is enough to keep a dream alive.

Monika Mahadev, Diya Nagarkoti, here is my submission for this beautiful challenge.

📖 This story is published under The Innovative Corner. Have a story to share? Join our community and let your words be heard:

[embed]The Innovative Corner- A Publication Welcome to ‘THE INNOVATIVE CORNER’.medium.com