Subhra Bandyopadhyay and (right) Ria Banerjee with quizmaster Sourav Ganguly

If Subhra Bandyopadhyay of AH 197 and Riya Banerjee of AA 29 have forged a close relationship they have Sourav Ganguly to thank for bringing them together.

The two residents of Salt Lake featured on the winning team of Zee Bangla’s Dadagiri. The fourth season of the Ganguly-anchored game show came to a close a fortnight back with North 24-Parganas being crowned champions. If 24-year-old Ria was the skipper of the team, 73-year-old Bandyopadhyay scored the winning runs.

Winning the toss

The computer-literate Bandyopadhyay had sent an application online a year ago and had forgotten all about it. “They had asked one to write about the most memorable incident in one’s life. For me, it was going around in a prabhat pheri on August 15, 1947, with a flag stitched by my parents singing patriotic songs,” recalls the lady. She was seven years old then. Yet she remembers how her father had dyed khaddar strips in saffron and green and used her brother’s compass to draw the Ashok Chakra on a white strip.

It was this memory that won her nomination for the Republic Day-special episode.

Riya was among the last to audition for the show at a Howrah resort. “I am not a sports buff as such but for me cricket stood for Sourav. I had wanted to audition for Dadagiri in the earlier seasons too but could not as I was still in college. Now I am free and that day I was at a friend’s place nearby.” The newly-married doctor received a call within a week to shoot for the Lakshmi puja episode. It helped that her dentist-husband Priyadeep is a die-hard Sourav fan and was too ready to shut his chamber for the day and set off with her.

On the crease

Reaching the shooting spot was a challenge for Bandyopadhyay. “My ailing husband (Biresh Kumar, a retired teacher of Bidhannagar College) needs to be administered medication at specific times. So I tried to turn down the offer when they said I had to reach Dum Dum by 8am. But they sent a car over to pick me up.”

So she set off with her brother Gyanendra Nath Bhattacharya, who stays in CL Block. “But Suchitra Sen died that day and on reaching we were told the shooting had been cancelled. Next when they called I was really ill but they would not take no for an answer. They even arranged for a chair for me to sit on in between questions.”

The victorious North 24-Parganas team with Sourav Ganguly on the sets of Dadagiri. Riya Banerjee is at extreme left while Subhra Bandyopadhyay stands third from right

She remembers scoring around 43-44. That was enough for her to win the episode. “North 24-Parganas was at no. 5 on the leader board when I won. They told me episode winners representing the district might have to come back for the finals if it stayed in the top 6,” Bandyopadhyay said.

Riya scored 55. That meant a Rs 50,000 cheque for the “Fastest 50” over and above the winner’s booty.

Second innings

The final was shot on February 18 and telecast four days later. “Luckily we had seven team members, exactly the number of rounds we had to play. So each of us got a chance,” recalls Riya.

She faltered on her own question but breezy batting by a teammate saw them soar to the top of the scoreboard soon after. “As leader, I was deciding the order in which we will take the field. I had kept Mashima back for the last round.”

When Bandyopadhyay missed her direct question, it suddenly became a cliff-hanger. “I was keeping score on a notepad. Malda had progressed to a final tally of 25. We were at 23 with a challenge left. The rest of us were seated behind Mashima. When Sourav asked her if she wanted to challenge Hooghly, she was puzzled for a while. We were all shouting ‘Yes’ but she could not hear us. Luckily, she agreed.”

The option that remained on the list of subjects was mythology. The question was who had said “Bina juddhe nahi dibo suchaagra medini” in The Mahabharat. “From behind her, we could all see she pressed the button for the correct option (Duryadhan) so we started celebrating.” A correct answer on a challenge fetched them 12 marks, making them a clear winner.

“I am so happy that the winning points were scored by me,” Bandyopadhyay beams. She was touched that Sourav wished that she be back next year in good health.

Post-match hurrah

The team won a booty of Rs 15 lakh which would be divided among all the team members. “Whatever be the amount after tax deduction, we plan to go on a vacation with it,” smiles Riya.

But the biggest prize has been the recognition. “A couple of days after the show was telecast, I was sitting in our verandah with my husband when a woman saw me and stopped. She asked if I was the lady on Dadagiri and if she could touch my feet. I was flummoxed,” laughs the retired physics teacher.

“The other day I went to the bank. The manager came out and filled up all my forms, saying they were all proud of me. Even the mason who came the other day for a repair job recognised me. My husband received calls from vendors in AE Market with congratulatory messages.”

Ria was parking her car in Chandni Chowk when a man craned his neck and said: “Yes, yes, this is the lady who won in Dadagiri”. “This is the first thing people at any wedding reception we attend or even patients in our chamber say,” smiles Riya.