'I can't be a wimp'

The bubbly commentator and actress Mandira Bedi has been stumped. As we all know, she is walking with the help of crutches. But that didn’t dampen the pretty lady’s spirits as she arrived bang on at the Fashion Week in Mumbai recently to cheer for a friend. And all this was done with the same energy with which the entire country saw her host renowned cricket tournaments.

“The accident happened at the press conference held last week for Fear Factor — Khatron Ke Khiladi.

Akshay Kumar was going to jump from a height of 15 feet, so the contestants were asked to do the same,” the lady tells Metrolife. “But it is one thing when a trained person like Akshay makes a jump from such a height and it is a different thing altogether when someone like me jumps from the same height,” she says.

The fatal jump happened during the rehearsals of the conference. She informs that a thin mattress was laid on the ground for the contestants to fall on.

“And none of us were wearing shoes. So I jumped barefeet and during the rehearsal itself, my ankles took a backseat,” she adds.

It was even more unfortunate that in the end, it started raining at the press conference so the jump didn’t happen anyway.

“It was a complete disaster and I ended up fracturing my feet,” she laughs.
Mandira feels that the accident could have happened to any one of the contestants. “A few people even waited for the shoes to arrive but I thought ‘I am a sardar. Let me just do it’,” she smiles. “Besides, I felt after being on Fear Factor, I can’t be a wimp.”

She informs that she has never been on crutches in her life. “I am down and out and low. Even having a bath or walking is such an ordeal.” So why did she choose to make a public appearance if she was in so much pain? “It’s difficult but I am not going to be sitting at home,” she exclaims. Mandira has even been signed to host a programme on a recently launched news channel.

“I am suffering and they want me to host a show,” she jokes. But on a more serious note, she says, “I can move around. It’s just that I cannot be superbly fast.”
Speaking of Fear Factor, the lady describes the show as an “awesome experience”. “The safety levels in South Africa were brilliant. I don’t think a show like this can be shot in India as we are not equipped for it. Our chalta hai attitude will surely lead to an accident, just like the way I landed in trouble by jumping from such a height,” she signs off.