A quizzing team and (right) Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi at DI

From beer bottles and live ducks to jeans and shoes to laptops and foreign holidays? The bag of bounty for guessing it right has really grown over the years. What hasn?t changed, though, is the special chemistry Dalhousie Institute (DI) shares with quizzing in Calcutta.

The basketball court and the lawns at DI?s 42, Jhowtala Road campus still constitute the Wimbledon of open quizzing in town, almost a pilgrimage site for die-hard quizzers. The clock actually started ticking in a different arena back in 1967, when up the road, Christ The King Church?s Parish Club hosted the open quiz for the Eddie Hyde Trophy, named after the club president.

Neil O?Brien went to the UK on holiday the year before and discovered the joys of radio quiz shows. Back home, the entertainment committee of Christ The King Church?s Parish Club was looking for novelty on the platter and quizzing fitted the bill. So the ball was set rolling with five Parish teams and winners were treated to ducks and beers.

The knowledge game gathered real momentum after the scene shifted to DI in 1970 and open quizzing offered competition to the Sayani brothers? iconic radio show, the Bournvita Quiz Contest. On the DI campus, the JS Lipton Quiz, presented by Sadhan Banerjee and Jug Suraiya, and the All-India Bata North Star Quiz, which kicked off in 1978-79, kept the DI Open company, while Alban Scolt?s Round Table Quiz also started.

?When Dalhousie Institute was founded, it was modelled as a meeting place for academicians and intellectuals, and the environment has always been conducive to knowledge-building. Over the years, the institution has nurtured the art of quizzing with compassion, and I very much look forward to it even today,? says Neil, Calcutta?s original quizmaster.

Son Derek, who has carried forward the tradition at the city?s seat of quizzing, feels it was the North Star Quiz (he took over in 1988), which provided the real push. ?A successful quiz contest is about making knowledge interesting to help people grow. We must understand we are competing against parallel attractions like one-day cricket, satellite television and new-age lounging,? reminds Derek, now DI president.

So, from being three-day events, all open quiz contests have now been whittled down to one-day affairs. While the Summer Invitation Quiz (SIQ) by Francis Groser and the Argus Quiz by R.M. Sen are also in the fray along with the Eddie Hyde meet at Christ The King, the DI Open (on May 28 with Neil O?Brien as quizmaster) remains the red-dot event on the club?s calendar.

?In the late 90s, the momentum had slipped away for a while and Bangalore became bigger. But there has been a resurgence over the past two years, with TOPS (The Telegraph Open Quiz Show), needing a bigger venue, Science City, to accommodate the 800-plus teams,? says Derek.

And over the years, DI has had its own share of characters who have made the Open. Three ladies, Philis McMahon, Renee D?Santos and Saranaya Jaykumar, had been die-hard regulars till ill-health struck the first two. McMahon, a Sunday school teacher, was afflicted with Alzheimer?s after she went to Australia, while D ?Santos, also a schoolteacher, lost her eyesight.

The likes of IT commissioner Souvik Guha, regarded by Neil as one of the ?finest quizzers the city has seen?, continue to keep the flag flying, and DI is keen to remain the Q&A capital. ?To celebrate 40 years of open quizzing in Calcutta and reaffirm our commitment to the cause, we will host a three-day bonanza at the club in 2007,? declares Derek.