Quizmaster and educationist Neil O’Brien’s wife Joyce and three grandchildren (left to right) Aanya, Nadia and Raisa release The Calcutta Quiz Book by Neil O’Brien at the Dalhousie Institute on Wednesday, May 10, which marked his 83rd birthday. Friends and family of the ‘Father of Quizzing’ in India gathered to celebrate the day. Veteran quizzers like Partha Datta, Sanjoy Mukherjee, Abhijit Banerjee and Atri Bhattacharya spoke about their memories of quizzing with or being quizzed by Neil O’Brien, who passed away on June 24 last year.

Their conversations with Barry O’Brien brought out the different sides of the man, from the stern quizmaster to the kind mentor and the strategic quizzer. Barry and Derek O’Brien also shared some memories of their father, whose legacy they’ve carried on. And in true Neil O’Brien-style there was a lot of quizzing involved. From the written open quiz at the start of the evening, prizes for which were given away later, to audience questions and audio rounds, questions and answers peppered the programme. Derek also announced that The Secret Quiz Diaries of Neil O’Brien, the diaries which were integral to his 3 R formula — read, record, recall, would be published as a couple of volumes in 2018.

Picture by B. Halder