Dicky Mody takes a break from his hectic schedule. Picture by Uma Shankar Dubey

?Who was the second husband of Napoleon Bonaparte?s first wife?? The question came completely out of the blue and took this correspondent by surprise. Dinshaw Rustom Mody, popularly known as Dicky Mody, let out a loud guffaw on seeing this reporter?s quizzical expression. Catching unsuspecting people unawares with tricky questions is what this quizmaster revels in the most. ?I love quizzing. But it?s not my only passion. I am also passionate about flying, motor-cycling, reiki, yoga and music.?

?The seeds of quizzing was sowed in my childhood. I was an inquisitive boy. I was always interested in finding how and why a particular thing occurred,? smiled Mody. After participating in countless quiz competitions he graduated to become a quiz master.

In a career spanning 30 years, Mody has conducted several quiz competitions in the steel city. Even though he has established himself as a quiz master, the urge to explore the world of knowledge is still there. A few years ago, he participated in the BBC Master Mind quiz contest. ?I never get tired of either asking or answering questions. Infact, that?s what keeps me going.?

Mody is happy with the interest quizzing has generated in Jamshedpur. ?Schoolchildren these days are well-informed. Conducting quiz contests in schools is a pleasurable experience.? Mody advises that in order to become a good quiz master one should develop a reading habit. ?Nowadays I see young men jot down questions from books and conduct quiz contests. But that?s not the way to go about it. In order to become a quiz master one needs to be well versed with the background of any subject.?

If quizzing is his first love then riding the bike is also close to his heart. Recalling a motorcycle expedition with six friends from Mumbai to Paris, he says, ?It was a great experience. Though we were not able to travel through Pakistan, but the three months spent in the Middle East and Europe was a learning experience.?

Aeroplanes fascinate him and so he learned flying. Mody, who has a number of cross-country flying expeditions in his kitty, was associated with the Jamshedpur Flying Club for 20 years as its is the secretary and vice-president.

The intricacies of the human mind also intrigue him and propelled him to learn Reiki. He is also a believer of the past life regression theory. ?Through this technique one can get to know about his/her past life. I have even organised workshops on this theory in the city. The response was good.?

Having retired from Tata Steel, Mody is today busy with his consultancy firm ?Zar-DI Consultants?, which provides managerial training programmes for executives to different companies. ?I help the participants develop their intra-and-inter-personal communication skills through the emotional intelligence test and neuro linguistic programming. This helps in understanding human psyche through their body language.? But how does he mange to do so many things? Yoga, says Mody, keeps his mind and body fit. He practices yoga for half-an-hour in the morning and goes for a brisk walk during evening.

There is also a musical side to this versatile man. He is fond of western classical and finds today?s music ?too noisy?. ?I used to play the violin, piano and trumpet. But now I am out of practice.?

At home, he is a complete family man. Wife Zarin is a teacher in Loyola School, Jamshedpur and both their children have settled down in Mumbai.

Be it quizzing, biking, reiki or flying, Mody is equally fond of all his hobbies. And for all our readers who are still trying to find an answer to Mody?s question, the answer is Napoleon himself.

Nilanjana Ghosh Choudhury