IITian Quits KBC 18 at Rs 12.5 Lakh After ISRO Saree Question
IIT Roorkee graduate Kritagaya Nayar walked away with Rs 12.5 lakh on KBC 18 after choosing not to risk his winnings on a Rs 25 lakh question about an ISRO scientist.
Kritagaya Nayar, an IIT Roorkee graduate from Bengaluru, chose to quit Kaun Banega Crorepati 18 with Rs 12.5 lakh after facing a Rs 25 lakh question about ISRO scientist Nandini Harinath. The decision attracted attention because Nayar correctly guessed the answer moments after walking away from the game.
The question asked which item belonging to Harinath is displayed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The options were a pair of spectacles, a saree, a diary and a handbag. Nayar was unsure of the answer and decided not to risk his Rs 12.5 lakh winnings.
After he quit, host Amitabh Bachchan asked him to make a guess. Nayar selected "a saree" and turned out to be correct. However, because he had already left the game, he retained Rs 12.5 lakh rather than moving ahead for the Rs 25 lakh prize.
Nayar had answered the first 12 questions successfully before reaching the high-stakes question. Despite his academic background, he did not have enough confidence in his answer to risk his accumulated winnings.
The question was linked to an important chapter in India's space programme. Nandini Harinath served as deputy operations director and mission designer for India's Mars Orbiter Mission, popularly known as Mangalyaan.
Harinath was wearing the red-and-blue saree during the crucial trans-Mars injection manoeuvre on November 30, 2013, when the spacecraft left Earth's orbit and began its journey towards Mars. The saree later became part of the Smithsonian's collection.
Harinath donated the saree to the Smithsonian in 2021. It is displayed at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, as part of the museum's Futures in Space exhibition.
Images of women in colourful sarees working in India's Mangalyaan mission control became widely recognised following the mission's success. The photographs came to represent India's space ambitions as well as the contribution of women working in science and engineering.
Nayar's background made the KBC moment even more notable. An IIT Roorkee graduate who works at Adobe, he also creates content with his wife, an AI researcher. Yet the question about an artefact connected to India's Mars mission fell outside his area of certainty.
His experience highlighted the unpredictable nature of general-knowledge quizzes, where specialised academic expertise does not necessarily provide an advantage on every question. In this case, Nayar eventually arrived at the correct answer, but only after choosing the safer option and walking away with Rs 12.5 lakh.
The saree worn during a key moment of India's Mangalyaan mission has therefore gained another unexpected connection with Indian popular culture, becoming the answer to a Rs 25 lakh question on Kaun Banega Crorepati 18.
