When 2016 Miss India finalist Niharika Anand signed up for the reality TV show Beg Borrow Steal ­ Riches to Rags, little did she know that the seven-day shoot would prove to be a life-changing experience. From sleeping for three-four hours a night to making cow-dung cakes, interacting with shoemakers and mending her shoes herself, living without her phone and begging for lifts to find her way from Delhi to Dharamshala, the tasks have been nothing short of an adventure for the former pageant queen.

Currently in the last leg of the Bindaas show's schedule, Niharika has so far filmed in real time across small towns and countryside in Karnal, Patiala, Bhawanigarh, Moga, Kangra and Palampur, among many other places. For one shot, Niharika had to run up a 500-metre path at the famous Wah Tea Estate in Himachal Pradesh when her arrival shot had to be repeated over five times due to technical reasons. “I'd never travelled by public transport before. During the first round of auditions, I prepared tea for the first time in my life,“ says the self-confessed Delhi brat whose father pushed her to give the show, directed by Anshuman Saikia, a try. “My first task was to wrestle at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose sports complex. There were women athletes training for the Olympics. I was put in a ring with one of them and all she was allowed to do was defend. My task was to survive in the ring for a given period of time. The crew and the 'evil taskmaster' (played by Sandeep Ved) were sure I wouldn't be able to make it and already had a punishment for me in mind. I was scared but I stayed in the ring and proved everybody wrong,“ Niharika beams, adding that she's learnt the true value of people who do things organically in daily life. "I've learnt how to crack a joke with a conductor, and sold what I thought were prized possessions in order to travel to the next destination. I took my first tractor ride, interacting with a farmer, and realised that there is so much more to life than what we endure in the cities,“ she signs off with a smile.