#WhereAreThey Series: I wasn’t prepared for the win or what would follow, says Harshvardhan Nawathe

Quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati season 1 winner, Harshvardhan Nawathe looks back at his journey and talks about how life changed post win.

It’s been 21 years since Harshvardhan Nawathe won the quiz reality show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC). And he says life has been good.

Harshvardhan Nawathe says, “During the initial few months, I lived a life of a rock star. There would people waiting for autographs in my building complex.”

“Post the show, I got recognition and financial security. Obviously, the popularity changes the way people look at you. Meeting people and being recognised at various platforms has been wonderful.” He admits that he was aware that the euphoria would die down as well and things would become normal.

Nawathe explains, “One has to be clear about the direction you want to take in life to be successful in life. During the initial few months, I lived a life of a rock star. There would people waiting for autographs in my building complex. One couldn’t move around easily and needed some security. So for a long time, I got police protection.”

He won the show at the age of 27.

Recalling the day he won the show, and the euphoric atmosphere, the 48-year-old says, “I had answered the questions in 20 odd minutes. I entered the set at 12 noon and by 12.30 I had won. There was not much time to react (laughs). I took time to digest and let the feeling sink in. For me, it was just a quiz show and I never allowed the money part to come between the questions. I wasn’t prepared for the win or what would follow thereafter. A reality show win is for some time what you do next is upto you. What KBC win gave me was a net to build my life. I was financial independent at a young age.”

The reality show winner went on to attend many school and college events talking about his experiences. As he was not a sportstar or a filmstar, and his my achievement was related to education, youngsters and their parents would often meet him. “I attended all sorts of parties invited by known and unknown people, big names etc. Then came a lull and everything stopped. I was mentally prepared that the high would die down. I wanted to get into the civil services but post KBC win, I had contractual obligations to fulfil and even partied hard and eventually one year was lost. I did everything including modelling, did TV ads, walked the ramp, was offered TV shows and film offers and even offers to join politics. Then I went to the UK, did an MBA and returned to start my corporate life. If this was a sad story, people would still talk about me. That was just one day, albeit great, in my life and that can’t be my entire life,” he says.

Through civil services, Nawathe wanted to help people and being in the corporate world, he is doing the same. “I am leading corporate social responsibilities for various organisations that I work with. I remain connected to my dream of working for and with people,” he says, adding, “Till the time I am alive, I will always be known as the first winner of KBC. When my name is mentioned, people recognise me though my hair has greyed a bit. It is heartwarming, fills me with pride and a sense of achievement when people say they saw me on TV and look upto me.”