The look that was on the Roadies face was really a once in a lifetime experience, for them seeing Rajiv and Me together really meant double trouble, but the way I see it there was no particular reason behind us landing up in Gandhinagar just like that. It is just that the sequence of experiences and situations that we have constructed for the roadies was designed to slowly and steadily turn up the pressure on the group of intrepid adventurers and also, along the way, give ourselves and the viewers opportunities to observe and examine the behavior of this bunch in these situations. For me, they are metaphors for real life and the real world we live in today. For us the Roadies, the cast members, as well as the viewers expect certain things from us, they try to anticipate our thought process. This is why I find it particularly challenging and interesting to be at least one step ahead of them in this mind-game. The roadies knew that this outing could not be as simple and innocent as we were making it seem. Their imagination went wild as they tried to anticipate what we really had in store for them. But not even in their wildest dreams did anyone even suspect that they would come face to face with the twins.
Just like I said before their expressions were priceless! I t was a mixture of amazement and the feeling of their hearts sinking... But if people this it was the sight of Rajiv and me that scared them, they are wrong, when they saw the coffins for the next task you could sense the fear from their trembling bodies, not every task on roadies is a physically challenging and personally, even in the physical tasks, I am more interested in the mental aspect of it. For example, the underwater pool task had its physical difficulties. Roop has aqua-phobia (not "hydrophobia", as people mistakenly refer to the fear of water), and kept telling herself that she would overcome it. But she couldn't. I was confused till she told the camera after the task that she was sure she wouldn't be able to do the task before she went in. I believe half the battle is won or lost in your mind even before the battle begins. The coffin task, more than a task for the roadies, was a situation thrown at them, to see how they would behave in it. and, depending on their behavior, they would face the consequences. The task didn't end with the Roadies coming out. For me, it went on till the vote-out.
This was a real simple task compared to the previous ones, the only difference was that, a lot of mental strength was required to perform it, the task was as simple as it gets. Put one of your gang members in the coffin and come out before the other gang to win immunity. The brats got it. So did the om-blues gang, except Devarshi. He, as usual didn't know if he was coming or going. He did understand the task, but he thought he was too smart for the masterminds of roadies and thought he would turn the tables on them by volunteering. He was sure that there would be a twist where the guy who went into the coffin would, instead of getting eliminated, win immunity, and he would also become a hero for his gang by "sacrificing" himself, poor guy... I’m really sad that he's not on the roadies journey anymore. I loved watching him! He is such a space cadet, he can't help being totally entertaining. But no matter how much we like or dislike a roadie, we cannot interfere in the elimination process to protect someone. Devarshi dug his own grave and literally laid down in his own coffin.
To be honest there were a couple of reasons for our losing our cool at him. By trying to act smart, anticipating the twists and volunteering to lie down in the coffin, he robbed us of the opportunity of observing the group dynamics that this task was designed to bring out. but more importantly, he had displayed outstanding stupidity. And that is something we are not tolerant towards, and Oh my God the lies! To cover one lie, he kept on lying again and again. He kept tossing and turning between "I’m here only to win the game" and "I sacrificed myself so that my gang could benefit". Beyond a point, even stupidity is no excuse for this crap…
The Roadies think they are real smart, just because they have observed the previous seasons, its not only them who have done their homework, but so have the other thousands who came in for the auditions, its just that we keep changing each game from season to season, to keep the cast and the viewers on their toes, people may think that they are predictable, but no, they are not. And neither is the story that is unfolding in front of the world.
The “Coffin Task” was the only task that I felt that there was no point trying out before the roadies did, because the Roadies crew is like an army, with a hierarchical structure, and are too used to work as a cohesive team, rather than work at cross-purposes. But we did need to know if the coffin was not too small and claustrophobia-inducing, and that there was enough oxygen for the roadies. This, I confirmed by lying down in the coffin for 15 minutes. Given a choice, I would love to bury danger Debby in the coffin! I have my reasons, believe me...
