In 2016, Sachin Kumar Valmiki was voted first runner-up on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, Zee TV’s Hindi reality singing television show which started in 1995, picking up gifted singers from different parts of the country and providing them with a platform to showcase and hone their talent, all with the tantalising possibility of an eventual entry into playback singing. This year, Valmiki is a contestant again on the show, a move that has attracted questions from aspirants on the principles behind selecting a candidate who has already been granted the sought-after opportunity once in a country packed with untapped talent.

“If someone has been given the opportunity a second time around, he must have something that makes him stand out from the rest,” a self-assured Valmiki tells mid-day. But he has accepted this second chance with grace. He has invited those keen to enter the show to send him their song recordings with the promise that he will help bring them in for their moment in the sun if their talent truly warrants it. “I have earned this opportunity,” he insists. “I have also come up the hard way. This recognition is the result of years of hard work.”