Indian Idol: Amit Paul ruling the roost

Mass hysteria is visibly rampant in the otherwise sleepy town of Shillong.

People are out on the streets, rallying for local boy Amit Paul, who has made it to the final of Indian Idol, a singing contest on television.

Amit faces stiff competition from the other finalist, Prashant Tamang.

At Amit's house, friends and relatives are constantly busy with their phones, making calls and casting their vote,to make sure that Amit wins the final on September 23.

While streets are crowded, posters of Amit can be seen at each nook and corner of the town. The finalist says he's humbled.

"Earlier I found it difficult to walk on the crowded streets, now I see people finding it difficult because of me," exclaims Amit Paul.

For a town that occasionally makes news only because of communal clashes, this is something unprecedented. And people have come together to make this Shillong boy the new Indian Idol.

The Chief Minister too is full of praise for Amit.

"Amit Paul looks like a magic prescription which cures the ailments where we have bitterness, bad feelings. This can be wiped out so that we can unitedly stand as one nation," said D D Lapang, Chief Minister, Meghalaya.

The atmosphere here is absolutely charged. For weeks now this town has become a frenzied follower of an Indian Idol finalist, a local boy who seems to have even eased a three decade long communal divide, turning Shillong otherwise synonymous with western music into a bollywood music fan.