Singing dreams turn a nightmare for MP sisters

A PASSION for singing in the ?Sa Re Ga Ma Pa? show telecast by Zee TV made two sisters run away from their humble home at Chechai village in Madhya Pradesh?s Anup Pur district and come to Mumbai. Their dream soon turned sour on the metro city?s harsh streets. Frustrated, they tried ending their lives by jumping into the sea off the Fisherman?s Warf at Mazgaon on Sunday evening.

A PASSION for singing in the ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’ show telecast by Zee TV made two sisters run away from their humble home at Chechai village in Madhya Pradesh’s Anup Pur district and come to Mumbai. Their dream soon turned sour on the metro city’s harsh streets. Frustrated, they tried ending their lives by jumping into the sea off the Fisherman’s Warf at Mazgaon on Sunday evening. 

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The two young girls, who came to Mumbai with only Rs 800 between them and loads of starry dreams, were rescued after some passers-by alerted the police. Both are recuperating in the ICU of the St. George Hospital and one was reportedly very critical.

“We thought that with the money we carried we would rent a house, get a makeover done and then audition for the programme, and stay here for three months till the competition gets over. But we had extremely bad experience in the city. For three hours we just walked trying to get some help but nobody was chipping in. When we asked people for the way to apply for the competition, they looked at us with bad intentions and even try to touch us, “ said Ankita Chourasia (16), the younger sister, from her hospital bed. In the opposite bed lies her sister, Archana (18), who lies unconscious.

The duo which passed the SSC and HSC board exams ran out of money and could not go back home. So in sheer desperation, they decided to end their lives. Fans of the musical show, Ankita and Archana were not aware at all of its rules and regulations. What makes the story more poignant was that the two had not received any formal training in singing.

 

 

“We used to watch Sa Re Ga Ma Pa on Zee TV and thought that we can give an audition and take part in the programme,” said Ankita.

Without telling their parents or their elder brother, working in Jabalpur, they took a train from Amlai station in Shahdol district on Thursday to Jaipur. From there, they boarded the Jaipur Superfast Express on Saturday night to Mumbai.
When they alighted at Mumbai on Sunday, the first thing that hit them was the crowd. They went around asking people the way to the Zee studio. But since they did not have a specific address, nobody was able to help them.

 

 

   “On Sunday, till noon, we went to small hotels and saloons in search of a job. We had had no lunch. But we met with no success in finding a hotel. Our money was over and we did not have any left to return home. Out of frustration my sister in the evening told me that there was no other way besides committing suicide and so we jumped into the sea.”

With inputs from Jabalpur, Shahdol