| | | The chosen ones: Abhijeet Sawant and Amit Sana at Famous Studios yesterday
Pic: Vijayanand Gupta | Hours before the big night, both Indian Idol finalists Amit Sana and Abhijeet Sawant have had no time to ponder about their fate.
They only long for rest and some sleep. Sawant is extremely unwell and in pain. He has been diagnosed with a kidney in his stone. Popping painkillers, he is determined to flash his now familiar smile.
The treatment is on hold till next week. Sana, on the other hand, is forcing his eyes to stay wide open.
The last few days before the grand finale has been an ardous journey for both —- travelling, round-the-clock rehearsals for the finale besides the music sessions. There is nothing in particular that they are doing.
"Where is the time to do anything?" say both as they spell out their few hours before the coveted Idol corwn… ABHIJEET SAWANT
I have been extremely unwell since the last few days. I have been throwing up and feeling very uneasy. The road shows that took us to Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Delhi have been very tiring.
At Ahmedabad airport, I was in such pain that a doctor had to be summoned. He administered an injection just before I boarded the flight. I had been experiencing this pain in my stomach since the last couple of weeks but never took any notice of it. But after the Ahmedabad incident, I went to Bombay Hospital for a complete check-up.
The doctors have detected a stone in my kidney. Next week, I will take treatment for it. The pain is always there but Idol is top most on my mind.
There is nothing special planned prior to the big moment. The whole of Friday we were at Famous Studios rehearsing for the final episode.
Saturday morning it will be back at Famous. After the episode, post midnight I plan to visit Siddhi Vinayak, Mahalaxmi temple and the Udyan Ganesh at Shivaji Park.
The only thing I would like to say is that my group of friends at Mahim colony whom we call the MCC group have been very helpful to me. Where I am today I am because of them.
They were the ones who told me to go for the contest. They have been SMSing throughout for me.
As for me, believe me I have not sent a single SMS. Where is the time? I am not even thinking of the title. I am happy with whatever I have got. So soon, I have gone so far. It's like I am seeing a dream. AMIT SANA
The last few days have been the most exhausting of the Idol journey. Our travels to Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Delhi have been very tiring. There is this constant battle to keep my eyes open.
They are heavy with sleep. We have been so busy with out schedules that there is nothing on my mind. I will be constantly praying for my success.
My family is coming down from Bhilai for the finale. I know Mumbai is rooting for Abhijeet, but then he is a local boy. It was bound to happen, but then it is only Mumbai, there is the rest of the country left.
So far my voice is not giving me any problem and I am very careful about my diet. I just can't let anything happen at this stage. I came to Mumbai for the first time for the Idol contest.
Now, I love the city, I will definitely make it my home even though I have a year left of my IT technology and management at Informatics, Jamshedpur. I have not seen much of the city. I did go to Haji Ali and Siddhi Vinayak. I have sent a few SMS obviously voting for myself! The rest I leave to God. shaheen@mid-day.com | | What they will sing
Abhijeet Sawant
• Meri khayalon ki mallika
• Har ghadi badal rahi hai
• Sitaron Ki mehfil
Amit Sana
• Kisna title track
• Papa kehte hai
• Chak de chak de Don't miss the grand finale episode of Indian Idol (Sony) tonight at 8 pm | | | | | | Waiting in hope: The Parulekars | If Abhijeet Sawant becomes the Indian Idol on March 5, the Parulekar family from Sahakar Society, Mulund will have a reason to celebrate.
Ever since the show reached the stage where viewers were asked to judge the contestants, the Parulekar family has been vigorously campaigning for Sawant.
That's because the Parulekars are related to Ahibjeet. "Abhijeet is my brother-in-law's nephew. Our ancestors belonged to the Goval village in Sindhudurg," says Vilas Parulekar, Marathi journalist.
In the last few days, Vilas, his wife Vaishnavi and their three kids have voted for Abhijeet around 200 times. "Initially, we thought we would call our close relatives in Dadar, Thane and Chembur ask them to vote for Abhijeet.
But since the response was encouraging, we thought of calling more people," says Vilas, adding "At this stage, we had a target of around 50 to 60 relatives and friends. But soon the numbers started adding up when our children also pooled in with contact numbers of their friends," adds Vilas.
"I have never met Abhijeet but I really like his songs. After seeing my parents' enthusiasm, I joined them in the campaign," says the eldest Parulekar daughterSamiksha. "I gave my parents phone numbers of 20 friends. My parents spoke to their parents and requested them to vote for Sawant," she says.
The younger daughter Pranali and Siddhant, the youngest sibling, have also helped their parents with telephone numbers of their friends. "Some of people we called were really interested.
They also promised to call people they knew to campaign for Abhijeet," says Vilas.
The Parulekars say that apart from being related to Abhijeet, the fact that he is a better singer has inspired them to campaign for Sawant.
"Both Amit Sana and Abhijeet are good singers. But Sawant is better. So, we decided to campaign for him," says Vaishnavi.
KP Babu
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