After weeks of hell — in India and Down Under — 21-year-old Bangalore boy Nauman Sait is the winner of this year’s Roadies. Edging past first Palak and then Kiri, Nauman won what was seen as the toughest season of the popular MTV reality show. We caught up Nauman to find out how difficult the journey really was...

Looking back, how would you describe the entire Roadies journey?

Roadies was a great experience! It was like a holiday at times, hell at times, pleasure at times, torture at times... But overall a great time... memory for life.

What did you set out to achieve when you auditioned for Roadies?

Roadies happened by chance for me. A few weeks before the audition, my friends and I checked out last year’s auditions on Youtube. We were pretty fascinated with the whole audition process and the way Raghu treated the contestants. I was like, this was interesting and fun and I want to give it a shot. When I went there, that’s when I found out how big Roadies was and the kind of craze it generated. And I decided then and there that I have to become a Roadie.

Once on the show, were you ready for the politics that was to follow?

See, when the show started, it was interesting because everything was new. But none of the contestants were real. They were all faking, they all posed as friends even though they had other intentions in mind. What do you do in such a scenario? I trusted people blindly. I was playing a blind game. Yes, I was a fool in the beginning.

Did you develop a strategy thereafter?

Different people already had different strategies. I tried to be honest. If I made a friend, I wanted to stick by him or her. Dosti kiya hai toh nibhana hai... I made quite a few solid friends on the show and I chose the right people, those who will be there for me, in good times and bad. The other contestants made friends too but only for their own benefits. I made friends because I liked those people. I was very clear — if I didn’t like someone, I didn’t speak to that person. I believed in being clear and straightforward. That was a strategy, which worked for me.

Do you want to name the real friends you earned on the show?

That’s what makes me... apart from winning Roadies, I have won quite a few friends on the show. Tamanna, of course, is my best friend on the show. Apart from her, Sufi, Varisha and Dev were my friends and I am sure, we will keep in touch outside the show.

Who did you think had it in him or her to win the show?

I always thought Sufi was a very good competitor for me. In fact, our strategy was that both of us should make it to the finals and then whoever wins, it doesn’t matter. It would have been nice if Sufi was there in the final. But it didn’t happen.

In that important episode where you had to choose between Palak and Poulomi as your other finalist, why did you go for Palak? Wouldn’t Poulomi had been an easier competitor to beat?

I wanted to play fair. Between Poulomi and Palak, Palak was a much better competitor. Everyone could see that. I wanted to win by beating someone who was tough, someone who was worthy. I didn’t want a cakewalk victory. Also, I knew, beating Palak would be more pleasurable for me. To see her lose. Also, if the other Roadies had to vote for someone, they wouldn’t have voted for Palak. So it was a bit of being honest and a bit of being smart.

What was the Raghu Ram experience? How would you like to remember him?

He is the only guy in the world who can give gaalis in an interesting way! Sometimes you feel like listening to what he comes up with. He is very authoritative... you cannot go against him. Whatever he says makes a lot of sense. To some extent, he is my role model!

What are your future plans? Do you want to be a reality show star like last year’s winner Ashutosh Kaushik?

If I do something now, it has to be as good or bigger than Roadies. Any offer that comes my way, whether it’s a reality show or movie or television or ad, I will be most happy to take it up.