Samirah Ahmed on being evicted

T he shy, submissive Samirah Ahmed, who was eliminat- ed this week, raves about how the show had changed her life and personality. In her words: No strategy here I never had a strategy except when our teams were given certain tasks. My only plan was to lose weight. I've lost 14.8 kilos but have lots more to go. I was sure I wouldn't be a finalist but I thought I'd last another week. Come to think of it, a girl has never won a reality contest, has she? We're mere showpieces. Only Natasha Grover and Sharmila Joshi may survive till the very end. I agreed to be a part of this show to help regain the confidence I'd lost after gaining too much weight. I've now learnt the importance of three things in life - training, diet and recovery. Andrew Leipus, Yusef Khan, Deepika Mehta, Varun Shiv- dasani and Dr Ajit Desai were my support sys tem. Living with 16 indi- viduals, who share the same con- cerns as me, has only given me the strength to get back in to shape. On a high I remember the time when I cried, looking at team- mate Robin Soloman bend over to tie his shoelaces - he hadn't done that in ages. I know the struggle and pain he went through to get there. In the first week, I fell off the treadmill since I'd never been to a gym in my life. But now I can run 14 to 20 km at one go. I know our team was called overconfident. But why? Because our strategies worked and we won more tasks? I wish the others would come to terms with their shortcomings before pointing a finger at us. .. And the winner? Of the survivors, I think Sandeep and Sachdev Ajay Nagrath have great endurance levels. Nirmal Soni and Neer- aj Paul are the dark horses. As for the win- ner, I'm sure it will be Hiren Bhawsar.