Rajiv laxman on Episode 14

Hell Down Under draws to an end.

While I couldn’t wait to see the explosive finale, I also can’t help feeling a little sentimental.

This is the season where I came on the air as part of the Roadies casting panel with Raghu. A whole lot of appreciation came my way. Lots of people gave me credit for the show.

Here, I’d like to say two things — firstly, Roadies has been Raghu’s baby for six years now, though I have supported him; secondly, the show would not be possible without the crack team behind the scenes, never compromising on content no matter what. To quote a wise man, “I stand tall on the shoulders of giants.” I’ll give you some dope on this bunch of intrepid adventurers led by a guy called ‘Bumpy’, whom we all love as ‘Nature Baba’.

In our first project together, I had hired Bumpy to edit the audition episodes of Roadies 2.

This thin guy with wild hair and a goatee was sent to some godforsaken edit room in the seedier parts of Mumbai suburbs.

I’ll never forget the first time I went to check on the edit, four days after Bumpy started. I entered the dimly lit room, and the first thing I saw was an old underwear, hanging on a wall! It was a pair of blood red boxers with big patches of yellow and green!!! Bumpy explained: he had worn it one day, reversed it the next day, and that’s why it was now on the wall.

That day, I learned two things about Bumpy — that he is a committed professional who values deadlines more than his sleep; that he has terrible taste in underwear.

Since then, we have worked on many projects, including international reality shows. Always, he has been a trusty lieutenant and a true friend.

Now, he is the captain of the Roadies army.

My heart swelled with pride when I saw the ‘making of’ the first episode of this season.

There was Bumpy, trying out the obstacle course task. I don’t think he was scared. He was terrified. I know. I’ve seen that look on his face… on the night that we spent alone in a haunted village in the jungles of Rajasthan. We saw and felt things that I will not write here, but there, in the midst of the panic, Bumpy crapped his pants. Literally. And so, for everyone, he’s ‘Nature Baba’, but for me, he’s ‘Call-of-Nature Baba’.