Out of the 14 initial contestants, only four remain -- Rex D'Souza, Qazi Tauqeer, Ruprekha Banerjee and Arpita Mukherjee.

In a reflection of the coming of age of reality television in India, the contestants have virtually become an extended family to the viewers who tune in every weekday.

I had visited the Gurukul sets in July, when the serial was just taking off. When I revisited the sets this time, the atmosphere was very different.

The contestants seemed more confident. And busier with makeup and costumes. They also seemed very attached to each other. They seemed upset that Sandeep Batra had to quit the show, but after saying their goodbyes, they were busy with the day's episode again.

Text: Patcy N
Photographs: Jewella C Miranda
Design: Uday Kuckian