When Delhi-based graphic designer Richa Verma stepped into a pair of jeans a size too big for her last Monday, she says, she found herself humming "Thodi si toh tight karade". At 45, Verma has lost nearly eight kg of weight, and the subtly reworded song, she chuckles, was a tribute to the man who got her to do so. That's right!

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure, please meet Adnan Sami — pianist, singer, actor, television show host and, in his latest avatar —  charming poster boy for individuals who are finding in him new inspiration to fight the battle of the bulge. Sami may not know it yet, but every time he appears on MTV he is inspiring people to drop the kilos more than he is inspiring them to buy his musical albums. In common parlance, it's called "doing an Adnan" which means, losing weight that had been refusing to go for a long time.

Another unlikely Adnan fan is management student Neetu Sandhu with the kohl rimmed eyes, who has recently spent a lot of pocket money getting herself professionally photographed at one of the most expensive studios in town. "Not for anything else but the fact that my weight loss makes me look good," she smiles.

Sandhu lost nearly 11 kg simply by regular two-hour walks, exercising self control in the face of food and humming tunes that reminded her of a baritonous man who had lost 100 kg. "I had put on a lot of weight after coming to the hostel which I was just not being able to lose. But then I decided, if Adnan could lose 100 kg, I could lose at least 10," she says. And she has done it. "Somehow, looking at the weight he has lost didn't make losing 10 kg such a big thing," she says happily flaunting a flatter stomach and a lean look.

The baritonous singer, who made news by losing nearly 110 kg in 10 months while on a stint in the US, and was candid enough to talk about it, has made quite a few new fans. And these are not necessarily people who like the way he sings and composes. In our weight-obsessed country, his remarkable before and after weight loss pictures have generated buzz.

Inspiring no-nos!

He is inspiring uncles, aunties, youngsters and oldies alike to slurp their dal without tadka, chomp on boiled veggie salads and say a firm no to oil, bread and sugar. It is to Adnan's credit that he is one of the very few celebs who has spoken so frankly about his seven-year struggle to lose weight.

He has said in interviews that he had reached a point when he couldn't lie down flat on a bed because " the fat would push against my lungs and I'd start feeling choked" and doctors had given him just six months to live.

So under the surveillance of doctors and nutrition experts, he put his 200 kg body to a grind and managed to lose 110 kg. Lt Col Ajay Kumar had none of these experts at his disposal. But this infantry soldier has also managed to lose nearly 20 kg within a year. It was just a matter of dropping the fat, drinks and potatoes and exercising some solid determinations, he says. Though he does not claim to be an Adnan fan, he does admit that when he spots the now-svelte singer in newspapers he has a warm feeling of kinship. Sort of "Buddy, we've both done it!"

Making a roly-poly figure at 5 feet and 60 kg, housewife and grandmother to five growing kids,  60-year-old Aditi Singh has bought a pair of shoes and started going to the gym, for the first time in her life. The shoes bite, she says, because she is not used to wearing them but what drove her to the shoe shop and the gym was a simple observation. "Ham Adnan Sami ko dekhe, phir Madhuri (Dixit) ko dekhe. Phir soche, do bacche ke bad bhi Madhuri ladki bani huyi hai, toh ham bhi patle ho sakte hain". Amen, or should we say, Adnan to that!