“My father is a farmer. It is not about giving money to him. It is his money,” Sanoj said, “He couldn’t finish his studies due to our family’s condition. We concentrated on our studies so that we don’t have to face that situation.” Sanoj’s mother is a homemaker and stays in a joint family along with his grandparents, uncle, aunt, brothers and a sister.

Sanoj was accompanied to the show by his father and uncle. After winning a crore, he called up his mother, who said his struggles had borne fruit. The question that made Sanoj a crorepati was: “The father of which Chief Justice of India was once chief minister of an Indian state?”

“I found it very hard. The game’s rules barred me from using a lifeline, so I used my final lifeline for the Rs 1-crore question,” he added.

His journey as a contestant on KBC was a good one, he avers. “There were 10 of us as contestants, who were put up in a hotel. We became friends. One thing I found irritating was the clothes. I have always given importance to comfort while dressing up but on the show, fitting and colours were more important. So much effort went into choosing our clothes,” said Sanoj.

However, Sanoj does not want to be on cloud nine, for as he has bigger dreams and higher aims to achieve. “I am focussing on my civil services exams right now,” said the 25-year-old, who was earlier working at Tata Consultancy Services in Delhi.

What would he like to as an IAS officer? “I would like to do something I have an interest in, which is interacting with people and solving their problems. These are more important than money”.