Simran Ahuja By Express News Service BENGALURU: Sai Tejas VR had been mulling over a performance idea for a while now. The freelance freestyle artiste has been wanting to recreate the solar system, spinning eight different footballs as part of his act. Now with social distancing, Tejas finally got the chance, and time, to do this, a feat that also earned him a spot in the top 20 of the Living Room’s Got Talent challenge. Presented by Yes Theory, a team of content creators with over five million subscribers on YouTube, the challenge was an attempt at spreading awareness about social distancing in a fun way. “It was a global challenge where people from UK, Canada, Lebanon, Colombia and USA took part. There are only two Indians who made it to the top 20, of which I was the only one from Bengaluru,” beams the 24-year-old. The challenge called for participants to showcase their talent of any kind. The only rules? Videos were to not exceed a minute and had to be shot indoors. Tejas’s submission was one of the 20 shortlisted among more than 1,000 applications. The city lad is now vying for a spot in the top seven, which would earn him the winning title and a chance to win $10,000. “All seven winners get the prize amount but each gets only half. The balance $5,000 would go towards that country’s food bank. Being able to help my country at this point would be a big deal for me,” says Tejas, who is also a big fan of the team behind Yes Theory. “I just wanted them to see my video. So even if I don’t win, getting into the top 20 is good enough for me,” he says, adding that the results will be declared based on a public voting system, taking place at livingroomsgottalent. com The original idea for the stunt required Tejas to head outdoors and create the backdrop of a galaxy to showcase his solar system. “But I never got around to doing this. So in a way, the quarantine helped,” he says. Uploaded on his Instagram (@manwiththeballz), the video has already garnered more than 24,000 views in just one week. If he wins, Tejas is looking forward to using the money to creating more such content, while donating the rest to a social cause. Currently indoors, the artiste is now spending his time learning more skills. Taking us back to where it all began, he talks about how an ad of Ronaldinho balancing a football on his head kickstarted his love for this art style. “After practising for many days, I cracked it. And I soon learned that learning a new skill has an addictive feel to it,” he says. But it wasn’t until five years ago that he considered being a football artiste seriously. “I still worry about my future sometimes. But right now, I care most about putting in the hard work and being happy that I get to do what I love.”

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