Akansh Naik, Thomas Abraham, Mukund P.G. and B. Guruvayurappan are all avid quizzers. It was in Santiniketan that the four middle-school students bonded while hitting the heritage trail, going on nature walks and feasting on food and books. Every evening, they would quiz each other and help brush up their general knowledge. But once the camera was on, they became arch-rivals fighting it out for the Bournvita Quiz Contest 2015-16, being shot for the first time in Tagore land.
Akansh and Thomas of Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram, Chennai, locked horns with Mukund and Guruvayurappan of PSBB Millennium School, Coimbatore, in the south zone finals of the quiz. One team reached the national semi-final while the other had to go back, but there were only winners here. “This is like little India. I gained so many friends. I learnt so much about Tagore and most importantly we became more empathetic towards each other,” said Mukund, a Class VIII student.
“This contest proved a learning experience for both the students as well as the teachers,” said Jayashree Ravi, a teacher of Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram.
The latest edition of the quiz contest saw nearly 4,500 schools from 100 cities participating in the preliminary written round. Hundred schools made it to the second round and a video test finally saw 16 teams from four zones (north, south, east and west) vie for the coveted crown at the old Mela grounds of the Visva-Bharati campus on Wednesday.
The Santiniketan episodes will go online from mid-February and can also be downloaded as a mobile app. “Since its start in 1972, the quiz has gone everywhere from Sri Lanka, Singapore to the backwaters of Kerala. This time, I wondered why not shoot the final rounds on my home turf.... The quiz provided a lovely occasion to present the beauty of Bengal and the magic of Santiniketan to all the participants,” said Derek O’Brien, the quizmaster now synonymous with the show. The rigorous shooting schedule played out on January 13 and 14.
National English School, Baguiati, the only Calcutta school to make it to the top 16, found the questions a mixed bag of easy and tough. “But we loved the experience of staying in Santiniketan and meeting so many like-minded boys from all over the nation. It’s a memory that will stay on,” said Rupankar Basak, who had teamed up with classmate Abhishek Jaiswal, both students of Class VIII.
If the practice sessions were laced with fun, jokes and digs, there was occasion for laughter in front of the camera too. “I feel like Rajnikanth (when facing the camera),” laughed Guruvayurappan, a Class VIII student, while teammate fancied himself as Salman Khan!
Retakes made Chethana R. Nair, a Class VII student, giggle. “I realised how some retakes were caused by such small mistakes,” she said. “But I wish there were more girls. Quizzing is still very male-dominated,” said the student of Bhavan’s Vidya Mandir, Kochi, the only girl competing in the south zone.
O’Brien sees a vast difference between quizzers of today and those a decade ago. “Earlier they only had books to prepare from, but now the Internet has exposed students to a whole lot of information. So in response we try to challenge the students as much as possible,” he smiled.
Chandreyee Ghose
Pictures: B. Halder
Quizzing is male-dominated because.... Tell t2@abp.in
