Giri Balasubramaniam quizzes the students at the contest at Kerala Samajam Model School. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, Dec. 12: Do you know why the Indian currency is called rupee? Or, from where the state Bihar derives its name? The questions are interesting and so are the answers.

The 5th India Quiz 2008 organised by the Kerala Samajam Model School (KSMS) on its premises today was gruelling for the participants. But it helped them learn, too.

Questions from history, geography, science, arts and entertainment made the quiz electrifying, exhilarating and exciting — not only for the participating teams but for the audience members as well.

And quiz-master Giri Balasubramaniam promised a lot of fun.

Around 31 city schools participated in the preliminary round of which only six teams reached the finals. The schools that qualified in the finals were Sacred Heart Convent School, Loyola School, Rajendra Vidyalaya, Modern School, Vidya Bharati Chinmaya Vidyalaya and Kerala Samajam Model School.

After a tough competition, Sacred Heart Convent School emerged as the winner followed by Rajendra Vidyalaya and Kerala Samajam Model School.

The India quiz was launched five years ago on the silver jubilee year of KSMS. The quiz aims to make the youngsters more aware about their country.

“We had noticed that youngsters, especially school students, did not know much about their country. This is essential as India is rich in its cultural heritage and the students ought to know about their own country before they learn about other nations,” said Nandini Shukla, the principal of KSMS.

The quiz that comprised five rounds was more of a knowledge-sharing platform than a competition.

“A quiz is a place where one can learn what one doesn’t know. And life is a constant learning process. I hope the students have enjoyed it,” said Balasubramaniam, who gave tips to the audience members, too.

“I hope this tradition continues for years to come and we get to witness a quiz of such standard. It was a learning experience for the audience, too, and this also inspires us to find out more about our country,” said Malaviya Dutta, a student of Little Flower School.

And now for the answers — currency was introduced during the time of Sher Shah Suri. This was in silver, which meant “ rupaiya”. This was later known as Rupee.

Bihar gets its name from “viharas” — resting places for Buddhists in that region.