Till the last few minutes before Prashant Tamang was declared the third Indian Idol, Amit Paul and him, the best of friends, kept holding hands. And when Prashant won the title, the happiness and joy was noticeable on Amit’s face too. I am really happy that my best friend has won the title, so what if I did not win, it has gone to the same house as he is my family, Amit told. To me both of us are winners and I would have been happy even if Amit would have won it, he has been with me since the beginning, added Prashant. Now, the doors are open, the birds are flying and the world is colourful for both of them after this dream-come-true event. While Prashant got a one-year contract with contest organisers Sony, Amit is confident that he will also get a number of opportunities. Now there is no looking back, I want to win the hearts of millions of people with the help of my talent and I hope this will happen, Amit maintained. But for Prashant there is a matter of concern: he has to take permission from his Kolkota police employers to make his passion a profession. I will go back to Kolkota and take the permission of my seniors to go on singing, he said. Prashant, a 24-year-old Kolkata constable of Nepali origin, hails from Darjeeling, while Amit, also 24, is from Shillong.The two singers have different expectations from Indian Idol-4 next year. One says it’s the best as it is and the other feels changes are required. I don’t think any change is required. Indian Idol is best as it is, said Amit. Prashant felt the contest should go to small towns too as there is a lot of talent there. Till the time they explore this they won’t find the true talent. Prashant attributed the bulk of his 70 million SMSs to his friends in the Kolkota police and to Mayor TB Rai of Mirik town in West Bengal. I am really thankful to my Kolkota police friends who encouraged me to participate in the show, he said.
