Suspense Over!

Harish Wadhwa conducting the proceedings, as MC, with aplomb

Winner: Harbans Kaur

Arora presenting the winner's trophy

Anybody who has seen Tian Serrao could not have mistaken his grandmother for any other woman on the planet. And sure enough, out of the 22 entries received in the latest edition of Pehchaan Kaun (post of February 24), as many as 16 were spot-on at identifying Monthi Serrao from her photograph as a 19-year-old – just that there could be only one winner. And she was Harbans Kaur.

Teja Singh presenting the memento

The announcement this morning brought the curtain down on ten days of hectic parleys, animated suspense and wanton speculation – not so much on the identity of the person featured, but on the three supplementary questions to be answered. As master of ceremonies, Harish Wadhwa regaled everyone with the kind of wild guesswork members had got into. Not that Harish was an exception. A double-winner in the past, he saw Sandhya Narang in the pic!

Thank you, Monthi!

And to cover up for his blunder, he broke into a ditty, “Kya khoob lagti ho/ Badi sundar dikhti ho” -- almost serenading Monthi. Before long Nafisa Sayyad joined in with a robust “Phir se kaho, kehte raho /Achchha lagta hai” replete with double action-replay!

Luddoos for all!

Ultimately, Harbans Kaur turned out to be bang on target -- even getting the age of 19 years correct. But since she hadn’t turned up (apparently, she was unaware of having won and besides, there was a train to catch) Monthi collected the crystal trophy on her behalf from Srichand Arora. Monthi was separately presented a personal memento by Teja Singh in appreciation of her cooperation and support at making Pehchaan Kaun 7 a rousing success.
All the others, including those who took part, were treated to a round of luddoos. Thank you everyone, indeed!
Harish Wadhwa:
* Big Laaf has decided to recommend Geeta Sardhana and Arun Patil (who came very close to winning) to the Andheri Police Station's special squad for Gumshuda ki Talaash -- thanks to their acumen at identifying the 'old and lost' from pictures with such precision. Hopefully it will lead to many families finding their mele ke bichchde huey log.
* Assi taan sirf luddoo khand de shaukeen haan, Pehchan Kaun guess karan leyee nahin...
* Hurray! We are about to touch the 200,000 mark of viewership. Balle-Balle... Ek aur celebration banta hai bhailog. Is Badmaash Company listening?
Jagmohan Papneja:
It was very heartening that Harbans Kaur-ji has won the Pehchan Kaun 7 contest. My congratulations to her on winning Crystal Trophy. There was a good gathering in the Garden. But we all missed her in the presentation ceremony.
Renu Babani's PICSPEAK:
* "Now that I have everyone's attention, let me enjoy myself because rarely am I so lucky!"
* "And the trophy goes to..."
* "Sweets all around. Celebration time is any time!"
Bhaswati Bose:
CONGRATULATIONS Mrs Harbans Kaur! It would have been better had you come in person to receive the trophy.
Srichand Arora:
HAVE YOU GUYS OBSERVED THAT VIEWERSHIP OF THE BLOG HAS CROSSED TWO LAKH? CONGRATULATIONS TO THE BLOG MONSTER!