Date:01/09/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/09/01/stories/2007090160680400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Right questions, right answers

Correspondent

— Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

All smiles: Quiz master Giri Balasubramaniam (left) greeting Samarth Hegde (centre) and Srikanth V., winners of the inter-school Exquizite quiz competition in Bangalore on Friday.

BANGALORE: The team of Samarth Hegde and Srikanth V. from Sri Kumaran Children’s Home (CBSE) held their nerves till the end and emerged champion of champions in the fourth edition of Exquizite, an inter-school quiz competition hosted by Bishop Cotton Boys’ School here on Friday.

The team beat the host team of Shashank Lodha and Vijay Kamath by scoring three points in the final round and received a cash prize of Rs. 30,000 and merit certificates. Their school was given the Cottonian Challenge Cup.

Shashank and Vijay became richer by Rs. 20,000 and also received merit certificates. Even before the quiz master announced the name of the winners, Shashank and Vijay shook hands with Samarth and Srikanth and that reflected the true spirit of the competition.

To celebrate the spirit of the 60th year of India’s independence, the last round was aptly named “Midnight’s Children” and all the ten questions measured the knowledge of finalists on our country’s culture, heritage and personalities. Who wrote Bookless in Baghdad (answer: Shashi Taroor) and according to mythology, who was the first man to die (Yama), were couple of questions posed in this round. The boys from Sri Kumaran gave right answers and built up the lead. “Our strength was India and when we heard that the last round questions will be based on our country, we were sure of winning the competition,” said a beaming Samarth. However, for Shashank and Vijay, the lack of knowledge on Bharat proved costly. “We were nervous in the last round and though we knew answers for couple of questions, we were bit apprehensive of pressing the buzzer,” said Vijay.

After the written preliminary round, top eight teams qualified for the final round on stage. The final comprised multiple round of quizzing ranging from oral questions, audio, visual to rapid-fire rounds. Quizmaster Giri “Pickbrain” Balasubramaniam hosted the show and posed many a tough ones and some “googlies”. Principal John Ellis gave away the prizes to the winners.