Etawah: Reality show `Bigg Boss` is proving to be a boon for contestant Seema Parihar`s family in finding a foothold and some respect, which they were waiting for since the former bandit queen put her guns down in 2003.
While Parihar is far away locked in the Bigg Boss house, her family in Dibiyapur area of Auraiya district near here in UP are gradually coming to terms with the new identity and adulation.
"There is a marked change in the attitude of the extended family members and neighbours who now are respectful to us after Seema has started appearing on Bigg Boss," her elder sister Manju Parihar said.
"People are getting to know the real Seema, not the one whose identity had been distorted by the past deeds and have started recognising her as a normal and friendly human being," Manju said, adding that this is also reflected in the behaviour of their acquaintances.
For Seema`s 12-year-old son Sagar, the change, though welcome, has not been so good as it cannot compensate for his mother`s long absence.
"It feels good when the teachers and other students discuss about Bigg Boss and my mother in school," Sagar said, though regretting that he gets to see his mother only on TV.
Girija Shankar, a neighbour who has known the family for a long time now, is also of the same opinion. "Not just the neighbours but also the local police have started behaving with them more respectfully and the credit should go to the TV show," he said.
This new experience has also given them hope of a better life than the days the family is currently spending in a dilapidated house.
Sagar and the family are also looking forward to the gifts Seema has promised to bring them on returning from Bigg Boss.
Seema entered the Colors reality show last month alongwith 13 other contestants and has spent about 55 days locked away from the world.
Before participating in the show, Seema had had a chance to tell her life story through a feature film `Wounded` in 2006.
Once leading a reign of terror in the ravines, Seema had surrendered in 2003. She had some 29 criminal cases of which she was acquitted in 15. She faced charges of 70 killings and over 200 abductions.
PTI
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