The July Quiz is available as two DOC files -- one with only the questions, and one with both questions and answers -- on the SEQC Google Group. Images and audios were, unfortunately, too large to upload on the listserve, so you'll have to imagine those.
To access the files, just go to:
http://groups.google.com/group/seqc-goa/files
and locate the relevant links (two DOC files uploaded July 7).
Several of the other quizzes are also available at the same location.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
SEQC Quiz 7 – Straight, No Chaser
Last Sunday, Vidyadhar pulled one out of the Old School - no PowerPoint, no audio-visuals, no workoutables - quizzing straight and neat like the shots of ouzo that we downed at the drinks break. Proof, if ever one was needed, that content is king and the frills are secondary.
The turnout was good. Three new faces (Amit, Salil & Yashodhara) joined us, even though a couple of regulars missed out (Hash & Ameya).
Vidyadhar began with a disclaimer that he had never hosted a quiz in his life, and then went on to prove that that didn't matter. The rounds included some classic ones – History, Literature, Mythology & Religion, Geography, Cinema – and some Vidyadhar specials – Revolution and Stuff You Won’t Get Asked in a Business Quiz. It was tough, rack-your-brains stuff, many questions beat everybody, and many had us slapping our heads after narrowly eluding us. I think it’s fair to say everybody got off to a slow start, but once Annie had got his eye in, Team 4 (Annie, Amit & Renuka) began to pull away leaving the rest of us chasing second spot. Some great answers from Salil kept Team 1 (Salil, Anjali, Janice) in the hunt, while Team 5 (PD, Soraya, Mariette) came up with some good ones too, delivered in PD’s inimitable style – with a long Preamble to The Answer. At the halfway mark, which at SEQC has come to mean not the stage when half the quiz is done, but the point at which the drinks break is taken, Team 4 had a healthy lead.
The Break is now a tradition at SEQC, and it’s funny to see the battle-lines being redrawn during the break – Team Smoking (Salil, PD, Gadgil) hovered about in the balcao discussing politics. Team Drinking (Annie, Savio, Rajiv, Anjali, Nitash) milled about the dining table, guffaws getting louder with every passing shot. Team Eating (everybody else) was the first to call time on the break and remind us that the quiz must go on.
It is often said that a drinks break in cricket tends to upset the concentration of the set batsman, not so in quizzing, apparently. Annie’s team continued where they left off, coming up with some great ones to complete an Obama-esque landslide. All in all a very enjoyable day of quizzing, thanks to great content from Vidyadhar and our hospitality sponsor, the Carona Marriott (No relation of the JW).
The final scores:
1st: Aniruddha Sen Gupta, Amit Bandekar, Renuka Figueiredo (185 pts)
Joint 2nd: P. D. Mukherjee, Soraya Mukherjee, Mariette Correa & Salil Chaturvedi, Anjali Sen Gupta, Janice Figueiredo (65 pts)
3rd: Rajiv D'Silva, Yashodhara, Deepika Figueiredo (55 pts)
4th: Savio Figueiredo, Tallulah D’Silva (50 pts)
5th: Luis Dias, C. G. Nitash, C. G. Niyati (35 pts)
The last quiz of 2008 has left the championship table looking interestinger than ever, with quite a dead heat at the top. 2009 promises to be a good year!
The next quiz will be conducted by Savio Figueiredo at his place in Aldona on the 11th of January 2009. Watch this space for details.
The turnout was good. Three new faces (Amit, Salil & Yashodhara) joined us, even though a couple of regulars missed out (Hash & Ameya).
Vidyadhar began with a disclaimer that he had never hosted a quiz in his life, and then went on to prove that that didn't matter. The rounds included some classic ones – History, Literature, Mythology & Religion, Geography, Cinema – and some Vidyadhar specials – Revolution and Stuff You Won’t Get Asked in a Business Quiz. It was tough, rack-your-brains stuff, many questions beat everybody, and many had us slapping our heads after narrowly eluding us. I think it’s fair to say everybody got off to a slow start, but once Annie had got his eye in, Team 4 (Annie, Amit & Renuka) began to pull away leaving the rest of us chasing second spot. Some great answers from Salil kept Team 1 (Salil, Anjali, Janice) in the hunt, while Team 5 (PD, Soraya, Mariette) came up with some good ones too, delivered in PD’s inimitable style – with a long Preamble to The Answer. At the halfway mark, which at SEQC has come to mean not the stage when half the quiz is done, but the point at which the drinks break is taken, Team 4 had a healthy lead.
The Break is now a tradition at SEQC, and it’s funny to see the battle-lines being redrawn during the break – Team Smoking (Salil, PD, Gadgil) hovered about in the balcao discussing politics. Team Drinking (Annie, Savio, Rajiv, Anjali, Nitash) milled about the dining table, guffaws getting louder with every passing shot. Team Eating (everybody else) was the first to call time on the break and remind us that the quiz must go on.
It is often said that a drinks break in cricket tends to upset the concentration of the set batsman, not so in quizzing, apparently. Annie’s team continued where they left off, coming up with some great ones to complete an Obama-esque landslide. All in all a very enjoyable day of quizzing, thanks to great content from Vidyadhar and our hospitality sponsor, the Carona Marriott (No relation of the JW).
The final scores:
1st: Aniruddha Sen Gupta, Amit Bandekar, Renuka Figueiredo (185 pts)
Joint 2nd: P. D. Mukherjee, Soraya Mukherjee, Mariette Correa & Salil Chaturvedi, Anjali Sen Gupta, Janice Figueiredo (65 pts)
3rd: Rajiv D'Silva, Yashodhara, Deepika Figueiredo (55 pts)
4th: Savio Figueiredo, Tallulah D’Silva (50 pts)
5th: Luis Dias, C. G. Nitash, C. G. Niyati (35 pts)
The last quiz of 2008 has left the championship table looking interestinger than ever, with quite a dead heat at the top. 2009 promises to be a good year!
The next quiz will be conducted by Savio Figueiredo at his place in Aldona on the 11th of January 2009. Watch this space for details.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Quiz 7 beckons
The SEQC returns this Sunday to familiar territory in terms of venue but uncharted waters as far as the quizmaster goes. Vidyadhar Gadgil, by his own admission, hasn't QMed in decades - all the more reason to expect a cracker!
SEQC Quiz 7
Date: Sunday, 30th November 2008
Time: 6.00 pm
QM: Vidyadhar Gadgil
Flavour: One rank below Field Marshall
Who can join: Anybody. Everybody who lands up has to participate, though. There are no seats in the audience.
Place: At the Gadgil-Correa's , Carona
How to get there: (From a previous post) "...come to Aldona via the Mapusa bypass. That is, instead of going into Mapusa, you turn right at Hotel Green Park (about 9 kms from Panaji).
Once you get to Aldona junction, you get onto the road to Carona-Calvim. About a km and a half from the Aldona junction, you will come to a small junction where there are a few shops. Call me when you get there. OR ask for Gadgil's house or Niyati's house (husband and daughter respectively).
Alternatively, once you get to the Aldona junction, you will see RENDEEP cybercafe. That's Savio's cafe/house. You can coordinate with him to meet up there and come along with him."
Or call Marriette on 9423889397/2293766. Or follow the Wikimapia link.
SEQC Quiz 7
Date: Sunday, 30th November 2008
Time: 6.00 pm
QM: Vidyadhar Gadgil
Flavour: One rank below Field Marshall
Who can join: Anybody. Everybody who lands up has to participate, though. There are no seats in the audience.
Place: At the Gadgil-Correa's , Carona
How to get there: (From a previous post) "...come to Aldona via the Mapusa bypass. That is, instead of going into Mapusa, you turn right at Hotel Green Park (about 9 kms from Panaji).
Once you get to Aldona junction, you get onto the road to Carona-Calvim. About a km and a half from the Aldona junction, you will come to a small junction where there are a few shops. Call me when you get there. OR ask for Gadgil's house or Niyati's house (husband and daughter respectively).
Alternatively, once you get to the Aldona junction, you will see RENDEEP cybercafe. That's Savio's cafe/house. You can coordinate with him to meet up there and come along with him."
Or call Marriette on 9423889397/2293766. Or follow the Wikimapia link.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
SEQC Quiz 6 Review: Mixed Doubles
Harsh's birthday celebrations must have spilled over to the next day -- November 9, which is when the SEQC quiz was scheduled -- as an SMS warned people that the quiz would start an hour later than originally planned. With various constituents not having received / read the SMS in time, the lane outside Savoir Faire was teeming with enthusiasts by the time the event was ready to get going.
The turnout, this time, was the poorest since SEQC sallied forth in June. There were just eight people besides Quizmaster #B (my mind is playing a disco theme song even as I write). It did make the team divisions simple, though. Tallulah arrived some distance into the proceedings to skew the perfect balance, but in an attractive way, of course (sorry, Rajiv, piling on is like an involuntary response with me)!
Team 1, consisting of Rajiv, Anjali and a host of doubles, began steaming ahead right from the start. Inside a couple of rounds, they had established a significant lead over the other teams, with Gadgil-Soraya in second spot, and some hard battling for bottom place between Annie-Nitash and Ameya-PD-Tallulah. Later, it came to light that some of the lower-order positioning was, like media portrayals of more or less anything these days, not quite what it seemed. Rajiv, who besides being part of the winning team was also keeping score (now isn't that a loaded statement?) had been generous with some teams' earnings, and the class struggle had, as should be expected, benefitted the followers of Marx. This redistribution of wealth was addressed at the end of the quiz, but didn't make any difference in the long run to the standings.
While the entire quiz had the excitement and quality that the SEQC quizzes have happily managed to achieve, the 'Then and Now' round was a special treat. Q#B (the theme song in my mind has now metamorphosed to a resounding Star Wars-style John Williams composition) had dug into some deep reserves and come up with some astonishing pictures of people removed from their temporal milieu. The contemporary picture of Manjunath, the actor who played Swami in the TV version of R.K. Narayan's Swami and Friends, in particular, was received with exclamations and expostulations. Not having seen the show myself -- it was in my salad days, before I turned into a couch potato -- I jumped up and down with everyone else, in order to fit in.
The final monster round of 36 questions had Rajiv-Anjali continue their mixed doubles supremacy, and they finished with an astonishing 260 points, easily the most racked up by any team in any of the SEQC sessions. Vidyadhar-Soraya finished second, well behind on what would on any other day have been a commendable score of 165 points, followed by Ameya-PD-Tallulah with 100 and Annie-Nitash with 90. This turn of events has ended up creating an interesting situation at the top of the cumulative points table, with four or five quizzers all bunched together.
The programme ended with a speech that was thrust upon PD, who got a standing ovation -- essentially, everyone stood up to leave while he was still collecting his thoughts out loud. A raucous chai-and-samosas session at Hotel Rai nearby rounded off a satisfying evening for all.
The turnout, this time, was the poorest since SEQC sallied forth in June. There were just eight people besides Quizmaster #B (my mind is playing a disco theme song even as I write). It did make the team divisions simple, though. Tallulah arrived some distance into the proceedings to skew the perfect balance, but in an attractive way, of course (sorry, Rajiv, piling on is like an involuntary response with me)!
Team 1, consisting of Rajiv, Anjali and a host of doubles, began steaming ahead right from the start. Inside a couple of rounds, they had established a significant lead over the other teams, with Gadgil-Soraya in second spot, and some hard battling for bottom place between Annie-Nitash and Ameya-PD-Tallulah. Later, it came to light that some of the lower-order positioning was, like media portrayals of more or less anything these days, not quite what it seemed. Rajiv, who besides being part of the winning team was also keeping score (now isn't that a loaded statement?) had been generous with some teams' earnings, and the class struggle had, as should be expected, benefitted the followers of Marx. This redistribution of wealth was addressed at the end of the quiz, but didn't make any difference in the long run to the standings.
While the entire quiz had the excitement and quality that the SEQC quizzes have happily managed to achieve, the 'Then and Now' round was a special treat. Q#B (the theme song in my mind has now metamorphosed to a resounding Star Wars-style John Williams composition) had dug into some deep reserves and come up with some astonishing pictures of people removed from their temporal milieu. The contemporary picture of Manjunath, the actor who played Swami in the TV version of R.K. Narayan's Swami and Friends, in particular, was received with exclamations and expostulations. Not having seen the show myself -- it was in my salad days, before I turned into a couch potato -- I jumped up and down with everyone else, in order to fit in.
The final monster round of 36 questions had Rajiv-Anjali continue their mixed doubles supremacy, and they finished with an astonishing 260 points, easily the most racked up by any team in any of the SEQC sessions. Vidyadhar-Soraya finished second, well behind on what would on any other day have been a commendable score of 165 points, followed by Ameya-PD-Tallulah with 100 and Annie-Nitash with 90. This turn of events has ended up creating an interesting situation at the top of the cumulative points table, with four or five quizzers all bunched together.
The programme ended with a speech that was thrust upon PD, who got a standing ovation -- essentially, everyone stood up to leave while he was still collecting his thoughts out loud. A raucous chai-and-samosas session at Hotel Rai nearby rounded off a satisfying evening for all.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Monginis Quiz 2008
Announcing the kick-off of the Monginis Quiz 2008. Most details are in the poster. More details here.
Quiz 6 Results
Blame it on the global economic meltdown or the post-election hangover, but Quiz 6 saw a lowish turnout. Which was a pity, because those that missed it missed a good one. Anjali's review will follow in due course, but here are the results:
1st: Anjali Sen Gupta & Rajiv D'Silva (260 pts)
2nd: Soraya Mukherjee & Vidyadhar Gadgil (165)
3rd: Tallulah D'Silva, Ameya Mardolkar, P. D. Mukherjee (100)
4th: C. G. Nitash & Aniruddha Sen Gupta (90)
Which leaves the league table looking like this, yours truly in the strangely unfamiliar position of league leader, helped no doubt by Annie being rather distracted by his book launch. Well, it doesn't matter how they come....
1st: Anjali Sen Gupta & Rajiv D'Silva (260 pts)
2nd: Soraya Mukherjee & Vidyadhar Gadgil (165)
3rd: Tallulah D'Silva, Ameya Mardolkar, P. D. Mukherjee (100)
4th: C. G. Nitash & Aniruddha Sen Gupta (90)
Which leaves the league table looking like this, yours truly in the strangely unfamiliar position of league leader, helped no doubt by Annie being rather distracted by his book launch. Well, it doesn't matter how they come....
The next quiz will be held on the 14th of December, Vidyadhar to QM and host us at his Aldona home. More details in the first week of December.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Back to Square 3
This weekend, the SEQC returns to the scene of Quiz 3, with Hash promising to play the graceful host and exacting quizmaster in equal measure. It seems like a lot of water has flowed past the floating casinos since the last one, so here's a chance to pick things up after a lull of sorts.
SEQC Quiz 6
Date: Sunday, 9th November 2008.
Time: 5 pm, "sharpish".
QM: Harshvardhan Bhatkuly
Flavour: Everything under the Sun.
Who can participate: Everyone under the Sun. If you haven't participated before and need to be convinced, call me on 9890141715.
Venue: Savoir Faire office, Mala.
How to get there: If you're driving on Rua de Ourem from the Panaji side, turn right after People's High School and then take the second right that goes up to the High Court. About halfway up a steepish slope, on the right side is a double-storied building with a spiral staircase in the front, almost on the road. A short climb up that staircase should, allowing for any slight disorientation that spiral staircases are wont to produce, land you at the main door of Savoir Faire.
Here is the wikimapia link. For the geographically-challenged, call Hash on 9890983826.
SEQC Quiz 6
Date: Sunday, 9th November 2008.
Time: 5 pm, "sharpish".
QM: Harshvardhan Bhatkuly
Flavour: Everything under the Sun.
Who can participate: Everyone under the Sun. If you haven't participated before and need to be convinced, call me on 9890141715.
Venue: Savoir Faire office, Mala.
How to get there: If you're driving on Rua de Ourem from the Panaji side, turn right after People's High School and then take the second right that goes up to the High Court. About halfway up a steepish slope, on the right side is a double-storied building with a spiral staircase in the front, almost on the road. A short climb up that staircase should, allowing for any slight disorientation that spiral staircases are wont to produce, land you at the main door of Savoir Faire.
Here is the wikimapia link. For the geographically-challenged, call Hash on 9890983826.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Savio's Report on Quiz 5
I am loath to compare the 5 episodes of the SEQ, but I can honestly and happily say that each quiz has been unique and special. I am sure that it takes a lot of effort and preparation though I noted that Ameya is organized in that he was ready early and did not keep up late the last night at least ( didn’t seem to me ).
For 10 out of the 14 quizzers the quiz started en route with Nitash playing the role of quiz master using a 2002 edition of a Quiz book .
The warming up round was a good idea and the entire quiz well thought out and prepared. The modification of Russian Roulette definitely added to the excitement. Well done Ameya! Vikram too had a chance to participate. Renuka has not yet stopped drooling over the Mallya scion.
Hats off to the Figureheads. Shows that a good quizzing brain with a level head( double!) makes for a winner. Good show by the others considering that the quiz was “EASY”
Our thanks to Ameya’s family especially your Dad for the great Goan hospitality. The snacks were great and it took a conscious effort not to make a meal of it.
If I may make one suggestion it would that if the laptop could be connected to the TV whenever possible , it would make things a bit less chaotic.
The return journey included an ANTAKSHARI with the gals against the guys. I think the guys won and proved that DADA can sing pretty well. Me feels that we have to try out the joint travel sometime and its gonna be fun
For 10 out of the 14 quizzers the quiz started en route with Nitash playing the role of quiz master using a 2002 edition of a Quiz book .
The warming up round was a good idea and the entire quiz well thought out and prepared. The modification of Russian Roulette definitely added to the excitement. Well done Ameya! Vikram too had a chance to participate. Renuka has not yet stopped drooling over the Mallya scion.
Hats off to the Figureheads. Shows that a good quizzing brain with a level head( double!) makes for a winner. Good show by the others considering that the quiz was “EASY”
Our thanks to Ameya’s family especially your Dad for the great Goan hospitality. The snacks were great and it took a conscious effort not to make a meal of it.
If I may make one suggestion it would that if the laptop could be connected to the TV whenever possible , it would make things a bit less chaotic.
The return journey included an ANTAKSHARI with the gals against the guys. I think the guys won and proved that DADA can sing pretty well. Me feels that we have to try out the joint travel sometime and its gonna be fun
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
SEQC Quiz 5 results
Quiz 5 was another enjoyable one, with Ameya laying out a spread of delectable posers that kept everybody on their toes till the very end. That, and an equally delectable spread of 'Made in Mardol' snacks more than made up for the fact that this was the first 'dry' SEQC quiz (and I'm not talking about the questions).
The complete results:
1st - Rajiv D'Silva & Janice Figueiredo (140 pts)
2nd - Anniruddha Sen Gupta & Deepika Figueiredo (125)
3rd - Harshvardhan Bhatkuly & Tallulah D'Silva (80)
4th - Vidhyadhar Gadgil & Renuka Figueiredo (75)
5th - Anjali Sen Gupta, C. G. Nitash & C. G. Niyati (70)
6th - Savio Figueiredo & Mariette Correa (15)
Annie's second-place finish sees him open up a narrow lead at the top of the table, but Nitash, Vidyadhar, Anjali & yours truly are hot on his heels like a pack of hounds...
The complete results:
1st - Rajiv D'Silva & Janice Figueiredo (140 pts)
2nd - Anniruddha Sen Gupta & Deepika Figueiredo (125)
3rd - Harshvardhan Bhatkuly & Tallulah D'Silva (80)
4th - Vidhyadhar Gadgil & Renuka Figueiredo (75)
5th - Anjali Sen Gupta, C. G. Nitash & C. G. Niyati (70)
6th - Savio Figueiredo & Mariette Correa (15)
Annie's second-place finish sees him open up a narrow lead at the top of the table, but Nitash, Vidyadhar, Anjali & yours truly are hot on his heels like a pack of hounds...
Hash has volunteered to host the next quiz on the 9th of November at the Savoir Faire office. Details will follow in due course.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
SEQC Quiz 5
This weekend, the SEQC jamboree moves to the Novas Conquistas for the first time, with Quiz 5 being held in the sleepy temple village of Mardol. Those Mardolkars not used to their Sunday evening peace and quiet being shattered by a score or so of loud-mouthed quizzers will just have to grin and bear it, one fears.
Date: 5th October 2008.
Time: 5.00 pm.
QM: Ameya Mardolkar.
Flavour: General, as usual.
Who can participate: Everybody and his uncle.
Venue: Ameya's place, Mardol.
How to get there in six easy steps:
1) Start car/bike/preferred mode of transport.
2) Get on NH 4A to Ponda. (Assuming you're driving from the Panjim side)
3) After the Kundaim plateau, take the road that forks off to the right towards Mardol/Mangeshi.
4) Drive straight to the famed Mahalsa Temple.
5) Take the next right that goes to Madkai.
6) 200 mts later look out for the familiar figure of Ameya waiting on the road.
Alternatively, check it out on wikimapia and work it out yourself.
If all else fails, call Ameya on 9823171842.
If anybody needs a ride from Panjim/Porvorim, call me on 9890141715 or Anjali on 9860089733. If there are enough takers we can even hire a bus, with the added incentive of Annie putting up a 'One for the Road' quiz en route. What can be more tempting?
Date: 5th October 2008.
Time: 5.00 pm.
QM: Ameya Mardolkar.
Flavour: General, as usual.
Who can participate: Everybody and his uncle.
Venue: Ameya's place, Mardol.
How to get there in six easy steps:
1) Start car/bike/preferred mode of transport.
2) Get on NH 4A to Ponda. (Assuming you're driving from the Panjim side)
3) After the Kundaim plateau, take the road that forks off to the right towards Mardol/Mangeshi.
4) Drive straight to the famed Mahalsa Temple.
5) Take the next right that goes to Madkai.
6) 200 mts later look out for the familiar figure of Ameya waiting on the road.
Alternatively, check it out on wikimapia and work it out yourself.
If all else fails, call Ameya on 9823171842.
If anybody needs a ride from Panjim/Porvorim, call me on 9890141715 or Anjali on 9860089733. If there are enough takers we can even hire a bus, with the added incentive of Annie putting up a 'One for the Road' quiz en route. What can be more tempting?
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
"Goa mein quizzing bhi hota hai kya?"
Herald, 10 September 2008
by Vidyadhar Gadgil
Big-ticket quizzing finally arrived in Goa with a regional round of the renowned Tata Crucible Quiz being held at the NIO auditorium on a wet monsoon evening on 10 August 2008. Over 20 teams participated in the preliminary round, with six – Savoir Faire, HLL, Betts India, Splash Communications, Cajetan Vaz Consulting and Synapse – qualifying for the final round on stage. Savoir Faire won, by a wide margin, bagging the first prize of Rs 75,000 and qualifying for the national finals. Synapse came in second and took home the prize of Rs 35,000.
The victory of the Savoir Faire team of Harshavardhan Bhatkuly and Rajiv D’Silva came as no surprise, given their enviable record at the national level. They won the regional finals of the Brand Equity Quiz at Pune in 2006 and 2007, as well as the regional finals of the Tata Crucible Quiz in 2007. In the 2007 national finals of both these quizzes, they came a narrow second to the team from Deutsche Bank.
Harsh and Rajiv are an unassuming pair and wear their success lightly, though they could be pardoned for blushing a pretty red when the quizmaster at the Tata Crucible Quiz, Giri Balasubramaniam aka ‘Pickbrain’, said that it was the track record of Savoir Faire that prompted Tata Crucible to include Goa in its list of venues for regional rounds this year. He went on to say that the reason that teams from other parts of the country did not venture to try their luck in Goa (which is permitted by the rules of the contest) was probably that they did not want to pit their wits against this formidable team!
“I’ve been actively involved in quizzing since my college days,” says Harsh “but it was participation in the Wiz Biz quiz organised by the Goa Institute of Management that got me seriously hooked. Some time later, I met Rajiv and we became partners in a media firm that we set up. He’s another quizzing brain, and we were able to notch up a long winning spree at Wiz Biz.”
Rajiv continues, “By then, we got ambitious – nay, audacious – and decided to take a leap at the national scene. We went to Pune to participate at the Brand Equity quiz in 2004. Among the seasoned quizzers of TCS, Infosys, Thermax, Renaissance and a host of 40 other teams, an unlikely Goan duo qualified on stage.”
Though they only came in third that time, and the next, 2006 was the breakthrough year, when they won the regional finals in Pune. In 2007 their reputation was established when they won the Pune regional finals of both the Brand Equity Quiz and the Tata Crucible Quiz. In both these quizzes they came a narrow second to the team from Deutsche Bank in the national finals.
Are they going to win the nationals this time? “Let’s see,” says Harsh, “we’re keeping our fingers crossed.” So are we, and maybe this year will see a Goan team winning the national finals of one of these prestigious quizzes. “It’s been a long journey since the time quizmaster Derek O’Brien mockingly asked, ‘Goa mein quizzing bhi hota hai kya?’ in Pune in 2004,” reminisces Rajiv. Well, that is certainly a thing of the past due to the efforts of Savoir Faire.
What about the overall quizzing scenario in Goa? “Quizzing interest in Goa is sporadic,” says Harsh, “with quizzes conducted by the Rotary, Lions Club, etc. Then there are the various quizzes organised by colleges and schools. But quizzing is a 365-day affair and can’t be viewed in isolation. Consequently there is an utter lack of quizzing culture in Goa.” Rajiv adds, “We also want to inculcate a quizzing culture, especially among students with the Monginis Quiz. There is a lot of enthusiasm at the school level but this wanes by the college level.”
One initiative on which the duo are pinning much hope is the Sunday Evening Quiz Club (SEQC) started a few months ago. “We got together with a few other quizzing enthusiasts and started this once-a-month Sunday evening quizzing event. Basically it’s a mix of people seriously involved in quizzing along with some enthusiastic newcomers and with this we hope to take quizzing in Goa to a new level.”
According to Harsh, what has made things easier for quizzing enthusiasts is the advent of popular shows like Kaun Banega Karodpati? and Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Se Tez Hain? “These shows have brought quizzing into people’s drawing rooms, which is a good thing. Quizzing is no longer seen as an esoteric pastime. One problem, though, is that the prizes are given too much importance. Of course, money is great, I love it too, but that is hardly the primary purpose of quizzing. Mastermind India, the most prestigious quiz of all, had a negligible amount as prize money, but I’d much rather have their trophy adorning my mantelpiece than all the money from more popular shows!”
One of the members of SEQC is Aniruddha Sen Gupta, who had been a semi-finalist in Mastermind India. “There is a totally intellectual, nerdy tag that is attached to quizzes, which is misplaced. It probably dates from the time when most quizzes took place on radio, like the grandfather of them all, the Bournvita Quiz Contest. But now technology has made it possible to have more innovative quizzes, with use of audio, video and graphics. Also, good quizmasters devise quizzes where you work out the answers. Due to corporate sponsorship there has been a proliferation of business quizzes. This is a good thing,” says Aniruddha, “but corporates need to be more open about sponsoring general quizzes.” Aniruddha, along with some friends, has a group called Quizvaddo, which has organised quizzes for schools and clubs in Goa.
With Savoir Faire having made a splash on the national scene, and a variety of initiatives planned for Goa by various enthusiasts, quizzing in Goa is set to look up, and it will not be long before some other teams from Goa are rubbing shoulders with Savoir Faire at the national level, making Goa a name to reckon with in quizzing.
by Vidyadhar Gadgil
Big-ticket quizzing finally arrived in Goa with a regional round of the renowned Tata Crucible Quiz being held at the NIO auditorium on a wet monsoon evening on 10 August 2008. Over 20 teams participated in the preliminary round, with six – Savoir Faire, HLL, Betts India, Splash Communications, Cajetan Vaz Consulting and Synapse – qualifying for the final round on stage. Savoir Faire won, by a wide margin, bagging the first prize of Rs 75,000 and qualifying for the national finals. Synapse came in second and took home the prize of Rs 35,000.
The victory of the Savoir Faire team of Harshavardhan Bhatkuly and Rajiv D’Silva came as no surprise, given their enviable record at the national level. They won the regional finals of the Brand Equity Quiz at Pune in 2006 and 2007, as well as the regional finals of the Tata Crucible Quiz in 2007. In the 2007 national finals of both these quizzes, they came a narrow second to the team from Deutsche Bank.
Harsh and Rajiv are an unassuming pair and wear their success lightly, though they could be pardoned for blushing a pretty red when the quizmaster at the Tata Crucible Quiz, Giri Balasubramaniam aka ‘Pickbrain’, said that it was the track record of Savoir Faire that prompted Tata Crucible to include Goa in its list of venues for regional rounds this year. He went on to say that the reason that teams from other parts of the country did not venture to try their luck in Goa (which is permitted by the rules of the contest) was probably that they did not want to pit their wits against this formidable team!
“I’ve been actively involved in quizzing since my college days,” says Harsh “but it was participation in the Wiz Biz quiz organised by the Goa Institute of Management that got me seriously hooked. Some time later, I met Rajiv and we became partners in a media firm that we set up. He’s another quizzing brain, and we were able to notch up a long winning spree at Wiz Biz.”
Rajiv continues, “By then, we got ambitious – nay, audacious – and decided to take a leap at the national scene. We went to Pune to participate at the Brand Equity quiz in 2004. Among the seasoned quizzers of TCS, Infosys, Thermax, Renaissance and a host of 40 other teams, an unlikely Goan duo qualified on stage.”
Though they only came in third that time, and the next, 2006 was the breakthrough year, when they won the regional finals in Pune. In 2007 their reputation was established when they won the Pune regional finals of both the Brand Equity Quiz and the Tata Crucible Quiz. In both these quizzes they came a narrow second to the team from Deutsche Bank in the national finals.
Are they going to win the nationals this time? “Let’s see,” says Harsh, “we’re keeping our fingers crossed.” So are we, and maybe this year will see a Goan team winning the national finals of one of these prestigious quizzes. “It’s been a long journey since the time quizmaster Derek O’Brien mockingly asked, ‘Goa mein quizzing bhi hota hai kya?’ in Pune in 2004,” reminisces Rajiv. Well, that is certainly a thing of the past due to the efforts of Savoir Faire.
What about the overall quizzing scenario in Goa? “Quizzing interest in Goa is sporadic,” says Harsh, “with quizzes conducted by the Rotary, Lions Club, etc. Then there are the various quizzes organised by colleges and schools. But quizzing is a 365-day affair and can’t be viewed in isolation. Consequently there is an utter lack of quizzing culture in Goa.” Rajiv adds, “We also want to inculcate a quizzing culture, especially among students with the Monginis Quiz. There is a lot of enthusiasm at the school level but this wanes by the college level.”
One initiative on which the duo are pinning much hope is the Sunday Evening Quiz Club (SEQC) started a few months ago. “We got together with a few other quizzing enthusiasts and started this once-a-month Sunday evening quizzing event. Basically it’s a mix of people seriously involved in quizzing along with some enthusiastic newcomers and with this we hope to take quizzing in Goa to a new level.”
According to Harsh, what has made things easier for quizzing enthusiasts is the advent of popular shows like Kaun Banega Karodpati? and Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Se Tez Hain? “These shows have brought quizzing into people’s drawing rooms, which is a good thing. Quizzing is no longer seen as an esoteric pastime. One problem, though, is that the prizes are given too much importance. Of course, money is great, I love it too, but that is hardly the primary purpose of quizzing. Mastermind India, the most prestigious quiz of all, had a negligible amount as prize money, but I’d much rather have their trophy adorning my mantelpiece than all the money from more popular shows!”
One of the members of SEQC is Aniruddha Sen Gupta, who had been a semi-finalist in Mastermind India. “There is a totally intellectual, nerdy tag that is attached to quizzes, which is misplaced. It probably dates from the time when most quizzes took place on radio, like the grandfather of them all, the Bournvita Quiz Contest. But now technology has made it possible to have more innovative quizzes, with use of audio, video and graphics. Also, good quizmasters devise quizzes where you work out the answers. Due to corporate sponsorship there has been a proliferation of business quizzes. This is a good thing,” says Aniruddha, “but corporates need to be more open about sponsoring general quizzes.” Aniruddha, along with some friends, has a group called Quizvaddo, which has organised quizzes for schools and clubs in Goa.
With Savoir Faire having made a splash on the national scene, and a variety of initiatives planned for Goa by various enthusiasts, quizzing in Goa is set to look up, and it will not be long before some other teams from Goa are rubbing shoulders with Savoir Faire at the national level, making Goa a name to reckon with in quizzing.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Chirag lights up SEQC (with more than a little help from some newcomers)
A hugely enjoyable evening once again, thanks to some grand hospitality from Tallulah and Rajiv, and an extremely innovative quiz devised by Rajiv. SEQC Quiz no. 4 saw the largest participation ever, with 23 participants matching their wits against Rajiv and each other. It was great to see a large number of new members and here's a big welcome to them all! We missed Maneesha, who probably had something else to do or forgot that she had promised to turn up with some people from Synapse.
Chirag Mutgi, long-standing SEQC member, mounted a quick smash-and-grab raid from Bangalore, and along with his team members Pravin, Renuka and Luis waltzed away with the honours in his first live appearance. This team pulled ahead in the 'Six Degrees of Separation' round and never looked back.
Kudos to Rajiv for devising a quiz that had something for everybody, from the newbies to the veterans. It worked perfectly to maintain the interest of all the participants and tested their imaginations. Chirag showed here that a hyperactive imagination (okay, let's call it creative thinking) can be a great plus in quizzing. Or maybe that team was more QUI than the others, showing that 'influences' are a great help in helping one to connect things and see things in a holistic light...
Apart from the 'influence' which everybody quizzed under, Tallulah and Rajiv provided some great snacks and a groovy ambience. There was plenty of fun and laughter and out-of-the-box thinking. A little discipline among the participants next time may be a good idea though. How about double negative points for answering out of turn?
Rajiv quizmastered brilliantly, controlling an unruly group that often questioned his decisions. Everybody remember, the decision of the quizmaster is final! Ve haf vays of making you stop talking!
This brings me to a proposal that I tentatively mentioned yesterday: given that the quizmaster puts in a lot of effort, shouldn't we be awarding the quizmasters 4 points (with retrospective effect) rather than the meagre 2 points we are giving them now?
Okay, now for some 'dogging': the questions varied tremendously in difficulty level, making the quiz a little patchy, and bringing in a rather large slice of luck. The 'Six Degrees of Separation' in which we were asked to make six connects between two people/organisations ranged from the blindingly obvious to the extremely tenuous/far-fetched. Also, there seemed to be a little too much of Western pop culture in the questions.
Let's see what Ameya has for us in Ponda on 5th October, which is the date for SEQC Quiz 5. If Ameya's One-for-the-Day samples (which we had over 20 of before work pressures forced him to quit sending them out) are any indication, we should be in for a treat.
A thought here: seeing the quizzes we've had till now, when it's my turn to be quizmaster, I'm going to come out with a traditional quiz – a series of questions to be answered within a strict time frame. No video, audio or graphics. After all, it was the Bournvita Quiz Contest which first introduced me to quizzing in the 1970s. Every Sunday at 1 pm we would put on Vividh Bharati and have a barrage of questions to answer. So how about one like that? Nerds of the world unite! Be warned, don't ask me to be quizmaster!
And, finally, here's wishing Harsh and Rajiv luck in the Tata Crucible national finals. Are they going to be telecast live? We're all rooting for you. SEQC ka naam roshan karo!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
SEQC Quiz 4 Results
A record 23 quizzers participated in Quiz 4, including one who came all the way from Bangalore just for the quiz! As it turned out, Chirag found the travel well worth his while as he and his teammates Pravin, Luis & Renuka stormed their way to an emphatic win.
The next quiz will be conducted by Ameya Mardolkar on the 5th of October. Watch this space for details.
Here are the complete results:
1st - Chirag Mutgi, Pravin Sabnis, Luis Dias & Renuka Figueiredo (130 pts)
2nd - Anjali Sen Gupta, Sunil Sardessai & Vidyadhar Gadgil (110 pts)
3rd - Chryselle Dias, Tallulah D'Silva, C. G. Nitash & Janice Figueiredo (100 pts)
4th - Anniruddha Sen Gupta, Mariette Correa, C. G. Niyati & Deepika Figueiredo (80 pts)
5th - Ameya Mardolkar, Savio Figueiredo, P. D. Mukherjee & Subbu Nayak (70 pts)
6th - Harshvardhan Bhatkuly, Soraya Mukherjee & Susheela Mendonca(60 pts)
The league table after four quizzes looks like this, with Annie, Nitash & Gadgil all tied for top spot...
The next quiz will be conducted by Ameya Mardolkar on the 5th of October. Watch this space for details.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Coming soon - SEQC Quiz 4
Barring any major natural disasters or terrorist attacks, the next meeting of the SEQC will take place this weekend. I must warn everyone that this one has all the makings of a LONG one, so please get there on time.
Date: 31st August 2008
Time: 5.00 pm. (The quiz will start at 5.30 sharp, allowing for 30 mins to form teams and engage in idle conversation)
QM: Rajiv D'Silva
Flavour: General
Venue: Rajiv & Tallulah's place - 4T4, Dukle Residency, St. Inez - Panaji
How to get there: If you're driving from the Panaji side, come to the high-mast lamp in front of Madhuban Building, and go straight at the Y-junction. About 500 mts. after the junction, just at the s-turn is a beige-ish building on the left-hand side called Dukle Residency. Come up the 4th staircase to the third floor. If you're not the first to arrive, you'll probably hear some raucous laughing. That means the 'idle conversation' part is underway.
Alternatively, ask for where 'Branco Restaurant' is - its a minor landmark in the area. Our building is bang opposite it.
If you're driving from the Taleigao side, take 'Jennifer Monserrate Road' - the new road that connects the Taleigao Church to St.Inez - and the building is the first one on the right hand side after the fields stop.
Here's a wikimapia link as well.
If you still manage to get lost, call me on 9890141715.
Date: 31st August 2008
Time: 5.00 pm. (The quiz will start at 5.30 sharp, allowing for 30 mins to form teams and engage in idle conversation)
QM: Rajiv D'Silva
Flavour: General
Venue: Rajiv & Tallulah's place - 4T4, Dukle Residency, St. Inez - Panaji
How to get there: If you're driving from the Panaji side, come to the high-mast lamp in front of Madhuban Building, and go straight at the Y-junction. About 500 mts. after the junction, just at the s-turn is a beige-ish building on the left-hand side called Dukle Residency. Come up the 4th staircase to the third floor. If you're not the first to arrive, you'll probably hear some raucous laughing. That means the 'idle conversation' part is underway.
Alternatively, ask for where 'Branco Restaurant' is - its a minor landmark in the area. Our building is bang opposite it.
If you're driving from the Taleigao side, take 'Jennifer Monserrate Road' - the new road that connects the Taleigao Church to St.Inez - and the building is the first one on the right hand side after the fields stop.
Here's a wikimapia link as well.
If you still manage to get lost, call me on 9890141715.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Tata Crucible Goa - Pictures
The scene at the NIO Auditorium - Goa's first big-ticket quiz! 
Annie & Anjali make a Splash! 
Rajiv & Harsh pick up the winner's moolah 
Sirish & Maneesha of Synapse receive the Runner-up prize
The audience that braved the wettest day of the year to turn up. (Including a nattily-dressed Gadgil, seen if you zoom in real close) Monday, August 11, 2008
Rajiv and Hash provide some savvy fare
SEQC put up a super showing at Goa's inaugural Tata Crucible quiz, with Rajiv D'Silva and Harshvardhan 'Hash' Bhatkuly making mincemeat of the competition to win the Regional Finals. Representing Savoir Faire, Rajiv and Hash, who were last year's national runners-up, finished with 85 points, while the second-placed team (from Synapse) ended on 30 points.
One other team from SEQC -the husband-wife team of Anjali and Aniruddha 'Annie' Sen Gupta, representing Splash! Communications -made it to the last six, while a third SEQC pair -that of Ameya Mardolkar and Vidyadhar Gadgil, also purportedly from Splash! Communications -lost out by a whisker.
The event, possibly Goa's first big national-level quizzing episode, was heralded by torrential rains. Some 20-25 teams braved the monsoon storms to troop wetly but hopefully into the beautiful shell-shaped auditorium at the National Institute of Oceanography. The 25 questions which made up the prelims were of a reasonably general nature, and gave the less business-inclined quizzers some hope of doing well.
Besides the SEQC two, the four other teams who made it to the final stage were from Synapse, HLL, Betts and Cajetan Vaz. The first round, one of general quizzing, saw some even competition, with several of the teams managing to get on the scoreboard. At the end of it, Rajiv and Hash were behind for the only time in the contest, not yet having scored. Annie and Anjali were fortunate to have an answer more or less thrust down their throat by the quizmaster, which got them their solitary points for the evening.
The second round -a buzzer-driven one on questions related to the Tatas -was where Savoir Faire really got going, with Hash and Rajiv gobbling up four of the five posers to get their team ahead. From there on, it was a one-team show, as the two of them steadily increased their lead, while the rest of the teams more or less joined the audience and watched in appreciation of this quizzing masterclass.
There were four other rounds -including one of audio-visual connections; one of code-busting, which involved identifying logos and people photos and then doing some word gymnastics; and one of multiple-clue questions, none of which progressed beyond the first clue.
At the end of the quiz, quizmaster Giri Balasubramaniam acknowledged the role of Rajiv and Hash in bringing the Tata Crucible to Goa, saying that it was largely the result of their excellent showing in previous editions -which they had to go to Pune to participate in -that drove the organisers to choose Panjim as one of the new venues this year.
So Savoir Faire, already richer by Rs 75,000, besides the DVD players and other bric-a-brac, is off to the National Finals, whose date and venue are yet to be announced. Wherever and whenever it happens, here's hoping they end this year's edition on a truly SEQC note.
One other team from SEQC -the husband-wife team of Anjali and Aniruddha 'Annie' Sen Gupta, representing Splash! Communications -made it to the last six, while a third SEQC pair -that of Ameya Mardolkar and Vidyadhar Gadgil, also purportedly from Splash! Communications -lost out by a whisker.
The event, possibly Goa's first big national-level quizzing episode, was heralded by torrential rains. Some 20-25 teams braved the monsoon storms to troop wetly but hopefully into the beautiful shell-shaped auditorium at the National Institute of Oceanography. The 25 questions which made up the prelims were of a reasonably general nature, and gave the less business-inclined quizzers some hope of doing well.
Besides the SEQC two, the four other teams who made it to the final stage were from Synapse, HLL, Betts and Cajetan Vaz. The first round, one of general quizzing, saw some even competition, with several of the teams managing to get on the scoreboard. At the end of it, Rajiv and Hash were behind for the only time in the contest, not yet having scored. Annie and Anjali were fortunate to have an answer more or less thrust down their throat by the quizmaster, which got them their solitary points for the evening.
The second round -a buzzer-driven one on questions related to the Tatas -was where Savoir Faire really got going, with Hash and Rajiv gobbling up four of the five posers to get their team ahead. From there on, it was a one-team show, as the two of them steadily increased their lead, while the rest of the teams more or less joined the audience and watched in appreciation of this quizzing masterclass.
There were four other rounds -including one of audio-visual connections; one of code-busting, which involved identifying logos and people photos and then doing some word gymnastics; and one of multiple-clue questions, none of which progressed beyond the first clue.
At the end of the quiz, quizmaster Giri Balasubramaniam acknowledged the role of Rajiv and Hash in bringing the Tata Crucible to Goa, saying that it was largely the result of their excellent showing in previous editions -which they had to go to Pune to participate in -that drove the organisers to choose Panjim as one of the new venues this year.
So Savoir Faire, already richer by Rs 75,000, besides the DVD players and other bric-a-brac, is off to the National Finals, whose date and venue are yet to be announced. Wherever and whenever it happens, here's hoping they end this year's edition on a truly SEQC note.
Monday, August 4, 2008
SEQC Season 1, Quiz 3
That was another enjoyable evening! Many thanks to Hash for a great quiz which was right up there in terms of quality and also parity, I must say. Also great to note that the alcohol content of the quiz was right up there too, the poisons this time being led by some great Coorgi pineapple wine. Cheers to that!
The results:
1st: "Sensex" (Annie) - 13 pts.
2nd: "Gadgil Formula" (Vidyadhar & Niyati) - 10 pts
3rd: "The Silva Lining" (Rajiv) - 9 pts
Joint 4th: "Savio Faire" (Savio & P.D.) and "Goa Mariott" (Mariette & Ameya) - 8 pts
6th: "Nitash ke patte" (Nitash & Anjali) - 6 pts
Which means that Annie has re-taken the lead at the the top of the league table, with the Correa-Gadgils hot on his heels...(For those who came in late, league points are awarded as follows: 5 pts for a 1st place, 4 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd and 1 for participating. 2 pts are awarded to the quizmaster)
The next quiz will be conducted by yours truly on the 31st August 2008. Be there!
The results:
1st: "Sensex" (Annie) - 13 pts.
2nd: "Gadgil Formula" (Vidyadhar & Niyati) - 10 pts
3rd: "The Silva Lining" (Rajiv) - 9 pts
Joint 4th: "Savio Faire" (Savio & P.D.) and "Goa Mariott" (Mariette & Ameya) - 8 pts
6th: "Nitash ke patte" (Nitash & Anjali) - 6 pts
Which means that Annie has re-taken the lead at the the top of the league table, with the Correa-Gadgils hot on his heels...(For those who came in late, league points are awarded as follows: 5 pts for a 1st place, 4 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd and 1 for participating. 2 pts are awarded to the quizmaster)
The next quiz will be conducted by yours truly on the 31st August 2008. Be there!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Searching for answers, in an Aldona home
Article by Sujay Gupta on SEQC's second quiz
Herald, 13 July 2008
The still of the afternoon was broken by the sporadic wind bursts as it flirted with the trees. The leaves winked, jumped and dozed off. There wasn’t time for energy. Or thought.
Goa was a baby. It lunched and slept as some restless wanderers pottered around. I was on one of my usual Sunday gallivanting expeditions, hunting for unusual answers, in an unusual setting amongst a group of motley folks who love life and do things differently.
In the evening quiet, I headed off through the pathway that takes you from Calangute to Mapusa and then cuts across and heads to the junction that finally takes you to Moira and Aldona. Goa’s genteel spots, relatively devoid of ugly warts of building blocks, resorts and the orgy of tourism. Yet.
Moira, Aldona, with its chapels, taverns, roads that bend and embrace, few patches of paddy fields and the rain teasing the palm trees . The meadows and streams were, as Wordsworth would have said, ‘appareled in celestial light”
I drove through this ballad of beauty, looking for a home near the Aldona church. The home of Mariette Corriea and her deeply intense husband with a brilliant mind Vidyadhar Gadgil.
It is a little away from the main Aldona centre, in the adjoining sub village of Corona, further into the beautiful crevices of the land. The Gadgil-Correia home is tucked in the woods, an old, spacious Goan bungalow, gorgeously frayed a bit on the edges, with gracious warmth leaking through its tiles.
This wasn’t really a setting for what I encountered. A group of six teams solemnly seated, like in a class. In front was a short man with a half flowing beard, straight out of a chemistry lab, with a set of questions. Behind him a laptop, with files of visuals and audio.
Goa’s, first and only, Sunday Evening Quiz Club (SEQC), had begun proceedings, under the watchful eye of Quizmaster Aniruddha Sengupta, (Annie for all practical and linguistic purposes).
Annie, who is writing many books has moved here from Chennai and lives in Porvorim with his four dogs Chipko, Jaya, Baloo and Hero, and wife Anjali, another member of the SEQC, who answered many many more questions than I did.
The quizzers included adman Harshvardhan Batkuly, whose agency Saviofaire, has come close to winning the national Brand Equity quiz twice, then the hosts Vidyadhar and wife Mariette, architect Rajiv D Silva and others. I, a newcomer was teamed with three girl kids in the “Sujay and the girls” team. We promptly came last. But that’s not the story.
It was revelation that Goa has a quiz scene, a club, a group which takes time off every first Sunday of the month, to take part in one of the healthiest mind and friendship sports. Annies questions (and the time he took to put it all together) could match any national quiz show, and having attended quite a few, I dare say the questions, here at Gadgil house, were several notches higher than the big branded televised quizzes.
Some of my favorite question picks:
Q: While studying at Oxford in the 1960s, this person made a name for himself raising money for the then little-known charity Oxfam, famously managing to obtain the support of The Beatles in a charity fundraising drive.Who is he?
Answer: Jeffrey Archer
Q: Its roots were in an ad in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal which said, “Young men with unlimited capital looking for interesting, legitimate investment opportunities and business propositions.” What was this now very famous event?
Answer: The Woodstock music festival
And then this one. I wish we knew this when the cheerleaders controversy was on during the IPL:
Q:What feature of their student lives do George W. Bush and former US Presidents Ronald Reagan and Dwight Eisenhower share with actors Reese Witherspoon, Haile Berry and Cameron Diaz?
Answer: They were all cheerleaders in school or college
Bush, a cheer leader?!!..wait till the democrats get wind of this!
The SEQC, was not telecast live, the winners did not drive away with luxury cars, and there were no models as arm candy, on the arm (where else?) of the quiz master.
Just rounds of soft beef sandwiches and other snacks and some super Aldona feni during a break.
Yet another Sunday, and this big answer to a big question.
Why do we come to Goa? Because, my Goa, still is, the place to be.
The still of the afternoon was broken by the sporadic wind bursts as it flirted with the trees. The leaves winked, jumped and dozed off. There wasn’t time for energy. Or thought.
Goa was a baby. It lunched and slept as some restless wanderers pottered around. I was on one of my usual Sunday gallivanting expeditions, hunting for unusual answers, in an unusual setting amongst a group of motley folks who love life and do things differently.
In the evening quiet, I headed off through the pathway that takes you from Calangute to Mapusa and then cuts across and heads to the junction that finally takes you to Moira and Aldona. Goa’s genteel spots, relatively devoid of ugly warts of building blocks, resorts and the orgy of tourism. Yet.
Moira, Aldona, with its chapels, taverns, roads that bend and embrace, few patches of paddy fields and the rain teasing the palm trees . The meadows and streams were, as Wordsworth would have said, ‘appareled in celestial light”
I drove through this ballad of beauty, looking for a home near the Aldona church. The home of Mariette Corriea and her deeply intense husband with a brilliant mind Vidyadhar Gadgil.
It is a little away from the main Aldona centre, in the adjoining sub village of Corona, further into the beautiful crevices of the land. The Gadgil-Correia home is tucked in the woods, an old, spacious Goan bungalow, gorgeously frayed a bit on the edges, with gracious warmth leaking through its tiles.
This wasn’t really a setting for what I encountered. A group of six teams solemnly seated, like in a class. In front was a short man with a half flowing beard, straight out of a chemistry lab, with a set of questions. Behind him a laptop, with files of visuals and audio.
Goa’s, first and only, Sunday Evening Quiz Club (SEQC), had begun proceedings, under the watchful eye of Quizmaster Aniruddha Sengupta, (Annie for all practical and linguistic purposes).
Annie, who is writing many books has moved here from Chennai and lives in Porvorim with his four dogs Chipko, Jaya, Baloo and Hero, and wife Anjali, another member of the SEQC, who answered many many more questions than I did.
The quizzers included adman Harshvardhan Batkuly, whose agency Saviofaire, has come close to winning the national Brand Equity quiz twice, then the hosts Vidyadhar and wife Mariette, architect Rajiv D Silva and others. I, a newcomer was teamed with three girl kids in the “Sujay and the girls” team. We promptly came last. But that’s not the story.
It was revelation that Goa has a quiz scene, a club, a group which takes time off every first Sunday of the month, to take part in one of the healthiest mind and friendship sports. Annies questions (and the time he took to put it all together) could match any national quiz show, and having attended quite a few, I dare say the questions, here at Gadgil house, were several notches higher than the big branded televised quizzes.
Some of my favorite question picks:
Q: While studying at Oxford in the 1960s, this person made a name for himself raising money for the then little-known charity Oxfam, famously managing to obtain the support of The Beatles in a charity fundraising drive.Who is he?
Answer: Jeffrey Archer
Q: Its roots were in an ad in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal which said, “Young men with unlimited capital looking for interesting, legitimate investment opportunities and business propositions.” What was this now very famous event?
Answer: The Woodstock music festival
And then this one. I wish we knew this when the cheerleaders controversy was on during the IPL:
Q:What feature of their student lives do George W. Bush and former US Presidents Ronald Reagan and Dwight Eisenhower share with actors Reese Witherspoon, Haile Berry and Cameron Diaz?
Answer: They were all cheerleaders in school or college
Bush, a cheer leader?!!..wait till the democrats get wind of this!
The SEQC, was not telecast live, the winners did not drive away with luxury cars, and there were no models as arm candy, on the arm (where else?) of the quiz master.
Just rounds of soft beef sandwiches and other snacks and some super Aldona feni during a break.
Yet another Sunday, and this big answer to a big question.
Why do we come to Goa? Because, my Goa, still is, the place to be.
Monday, July 7, 2008
The second SEQC quiz on 6 July
(from a post by Rajiv)
Another enjoyable evening of quizzing, thanks to a wonderful quiz by Annie and the hospitality of our hosts Vidyadhar & Mariette. In fact, in the last couple of rounds we were actually QUI (you're all quizzers, you can work that out) and I for one seemed to perform better. Not good enough, though, to thwart the father & son duo from winning handsomely. For those of you who weren't there, I'm sure Annie will have the quiz up on the group site soon.
Results:
1st place - Vidyadhar & Nitash (22 pts.)
2nd place - Ameya & Anjali (14)
3rd place - Mariette & Rajiv (11)
4th place - Tallulah & Harsh (6)
5th place - Savio & Janice (4)
6th place - Sujay, Niyati, Deepika & Renuka (3)
The league table after two quizzes looks like this, with the Correa-Gadgils showing signs of doing a Ferrari on us. Well, we've a long way to go, the fat lady hasn't even begun clearing her throat yet ;)
The next SEQC quiz will be held on the 3rd August 2008. Harsh has volunteered to be the QM and host us at the Savoir Faire office in Panjim. Detailed directions will come eventually from the man himself.
Results:
1st place - Vidyadhar & Nitash (22 pts.)
2nd place - Ameya & Anjali (14)
3rd place - Mariette & Rajiv (11)
4th place - Tallulah & Harsh (6)
5th place - Savio & Janice (4)
6th place - Sujay, Niyati, Deepika & Renuka (3)
The league table after two quizzes looks like this, with the Correa-Gadgils showing signs of doing a Ferrari on us. Well, we've a long way to go, the fat lady hasn't even begun clearing her throat yet ;)
The next SEQC quiz will be held on the 3rd August 2008. Harsh has volunteered to be the QM and host us at the Savoir Faire office in Panjim. Detailed directions will come eventually from the man himself.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
The first SEQC quiz on 1st June
(from a post by Rajiv)
Hi all,
For the record, here is the points tally of last Sunday's quiz:
1st place - Aniruddha Sen Gupta & Mariette Correa with 140 pts.
2nd place - Harshvardhan Bhatkuly & C. G. Nitash with 95 pts.
3rd place - Anjali Sen Gupta & Ameya Mardolkar with 80 pts.
4th place - Jimmy Devasia, Tallulah D'Silva & Janice Figueiredo with 75 pts.
5th place - Savio Figueiredo, Pakhi Sen, Renuka Figueiredo, C. G. Niyati & Deepika Figueiredo with 35 pts.
The next SEQC quiz will be conducted by Aniruddha on July the 6th. Mariette has kindly consented to host us, little knowing what she has got herself and her unsuspecting family into. Going by the turnout for the first quiz and subsequent enquiries from several quarters, her mob control skills may well be called into action. Details about both the quiz and the venue will be posted in due course.
One of the little details I forgot to mention the other day, is the idea of maintaining a league table based on individual performances at each of our quizzes.
For the record, here is the points tally of last Sunday's quiz:
1st place - Aniruddha Sen Gupta & Mariette Correa with 140 pts.
2nd place - Harshvardhan Bhatkuly & C. G. Nitash with 95 pts.
3rd place - Anjali Sen Gupta & Ameya Mardolkar with 80 pts.
4th place - Jimmy Devasia, Tallulah D'Silva & Janice Figueiredo with 75 pts.
5th place - Savio Figueiredo, Pakhi Sen, Renuka Figueiredo, C. G. Niyati & Deepika Figueiredo with 35 pts.
The next SEQC quiz will be conducted by Aniruddha on July the 6th. Mariette has kindly consented to host us, little knowing what she has got herself and her unsuspecting family into. Going by the turnout for the first quiz and subsequent enquiries from several quarters, her mob control skills may well be called into action. Details about both the quiz and the venue will be posted in due course.
One of the little details I forgot to mention the other day, is the idea of maintaining a league table based on individual performances at each of our quizzes.
Here's how it will work -
Points will be awarded as follows:
1st place - 5 pts
2nd place - 4 pts
3rd place - 3 pts
Points will be awarded as follows:
1st place - 5 pts
2nd place - 4 pts
3rd place - 3 pts
1 point will be awarded to everybody who participated but didn't make the podium.
This way we can crown one deserving quizzer the 'SEQC quizzer of the year' at a glittering awards function in june next year..
This way we can crown one deserving quizzer the 'SEQC quizzer of the year' at a glittering awards function in june next year..
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