KBC 13's Gyaan Raj says 'the prize money is not enough to fulfil my dreams, but it will be of some help'

Kaun Banega Crorepati contestant Gyaan Raj talks about his journey, from his childhood to now meeting Amitabh Bachchan on Kaun Banega Crorepati and more.

Gyaan Raj is a teacher in a remote village in Jharkhand, and now, fans of Amitabh Bachchan's quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati know him as the season's first contestant to reach the hot seat. He won ₹3.20 lakh. In an interview with Hindustan Times, the young scientist talked about his inspiration, Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots and more.

KBC 13's first contestant Gyaan Raj on how he plans to use the prize money.

Gyaan Raj revealed that he was very nervous he may not be able to speak properly in front of Amitabh Bachchan. However, he added that the Bollywood star put him at much ease with his down-to-earth behaviour.

Talking about how he plans to use the prize money, Gyaan Raj told Hindustan Times, "The prize money is not enough to fulfil my dreams. But it will be of some help. We have been postponing my mother's eye surgery for long, due to financial stress. I will use the money to get mom’s eye surgery done. There are so many things that I want to do, I am trying my best. My school needs so many facilities, we could fund some of those as well."

Talking about his childhood, Gyaan Raj said, "My mom is a teacher and I had an environment which was all about studies, at home. When I was in Class 2, my father bought me a computer. That was a unique thing because no one around me had a computer, in fact no one in a radius of 10-12 kms had a computer back then. This was in 2004. People used to visit us and see how a computer looks, there would be people who needed some work to be done on the computer. It felt very nice. Even political leaders used to visit us to send emails. It all felt very nice and I wanted to be a computer engineer."

Gyaan Raj also said he was inspired by Aamir Khan iconic character of Rancho from 3 Idiots. "When I was in Class 10, Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots came out and I watched. Aamir's character in the film, Rancho impressed me a lot. I thought I should become an engineer, but also go back to my village. I thought of doing something so that the world comes searching for me, not the other way around. I did not want to run after jobs. You should do such things that success runs after you."

He also shared details of his education and said, "I first did my matriculation examinations and fared well. Then, I got admission in Ranchi St Xavier’s college and that was also a dream come true for me. Later, I had good offers but opted for BIT Mesra because it was in Ranchi."

He added, "My mother had a brain surgery and I took care of her over weekend. My mom’s saying inspired me. She used to say, if you want you can have a simple life, with an MNC job but if you train students in the village, it will pave way for much better things. That inspired me a lot, she said I was an engineer and if I teach students in the village there will be so many others."