/> Barely five minutes after being declared the new Indian Idol by Amitabh Bachchan over and above the two other finalists Bhoomi Trivedi and Rakesh Maini, Sreeram Chandra from Hyderabad could barely speak with excitement.

"I feel I am walking on the clouds, " Sreeram screamed amidst roars of triumph from the judges. "It hasn't even begun to sunk in that I've really won. My father and mother are here with me. And it seems I'm in a dream."

Sreeram who was one of the shyest contestants during this season of Indian Idol blossomed into a potential winner as the weeks went by.

Says the incredulous winner, "Indian Idol has helped me grow as a humanbeing and as a singer. I feel far more confident now than I did when I came into the show. I feel like I am a different person. This victory means the world to me."

The Hyderabad boy now hopes to establish a foothold in both Bollywood and the Tamil film industry. "I've already sung in Telugu and yes, I hope to make a career in both Hindi and Telugu cinema... actually it is all too unreal right now. I don't know what I will do. It's a moment that I am still trying to absorb."

Sreeram did take a second out of his euphoria to think about the other finalists. "We had all become like one big family. It didn't really matter who won and who lost."