Some days ago, I went for a television game show shoot…

….it was my second experience of being on the set of a television game show, the first being as audience (family of participant-my sister in law Chanda Bisht, who had qualified for KBC). This time too, I was supporting role. I was Suitcase No 3 in Deal Ya No Deal in support of Sabbah Haji’s Haji Public School in Breswana, Doda, and it was a most fun experience. I first met Sabbah on twitter, as one tends to meet a lot of wonderful people these days. She was a rarity. Quicksilver wit, strong opinions, someone who chose, voluntarily, to give up the charms of city living to set up a school for children in a region so out of bounds that to reach there is a long hike or trek up on a horse.

Here’s a bit about the episode. It airs tomorrow at 8 pm on & Channel. Watch it. And you can donate to Haji Public School here: http://www.hajipublicschool.org/donations.html

Actor Amir Bashir, Twitter India Head Raheel Khursheed and renowned author Kiran Manral support Sabbah Haji of Kashmir’s Haji Pu



Sabbah Haji has been called the ‘rural rockstar’ and known for her untiring work for the school kids of her hometown Breswana in Kashmir. So it was a special moment when she came on &TV’s family game show Deal or No Deal. What makes her so special is the fact that she is the founder of Haji Public School in Kashmir, Breswana, which she also runs and is currently educating 200 children. Sabbah contributes 1/3rd of the school fees for those students who cannot afford to pay. The young woman participated in DoND to win the money and use it to improve the infrastructure of her school.

Among the 25 contestants that constituted her family on the show were Kashmiri folk actor and director Amir Bashir and Raheel Khursheed- Twitter India Head, and renowned author of The Reluctant Detective and Once upon a Crush – Kiran Manral. The episode had a series of fun and teary moments. While Sabbah, her sister Nida, Amir Bashir and Sabbah’s volunteer danced like Anil Kapoor to ‘My name is Lakhan’, Sabbah broke down into tears when she heard the banker offer. Other than the gameplay, host Ronit Roy made an appeal to the viewers to help the cause of Haji Public School.