Dempo Biz Quest

Date: 6th January 2010
Time: Registrations open at 9.30 am. Prelims will begin at 10 am.
QM: Harshvardhan Bhatkuly
Flavour: Business
Venue: SS Dempo College of Commerce, Altinho, Panaji
Participation: College students, both post-graduate and under-graduate, in teams of two. No pre-registration required.
Prizes: 1st - Rs. 10,000/-, 2nd - Rs. 8,000/-, 3rd - Rs. 6,000/-

A Brand New Year

'Tis the season, after all. The hordes of It's Better In Goa T-shirt wearers, the party-hopping wolf-packs, bumper-to-bumper traffic, clogged phone networks, and a season in which it is easier to get laid than find a parking spot for your car in Panjim. Lucky for us, while people around us run about like headless chickens, SEQC continues normal programming, with Navin Pai putting on his blue suede QMing shoes this weekend.

SEQC January '10 Quiz

Date: 3rd January 2010
Time: 5 pm
QM: Navin "Sweety" Pai
Flavour: General
Venue: 2nd Floor, CCP Hall, Opposite Cafe Central, off 18th June Road, Panjim
Participation: Open to all. Even the It's Better In Goa hordes.

SEQC Mastermind Semi-finals: A quiz with a view

It might seem unfair to praise the venue of a quiz over its content, but in this case one would have to reserve the first words for the location. The Divli Lawn at the International Centre Goa (ICG) was the excellent setting for the semi-finals of the SEQC Mastermind event, conducted in partnership with ICG. Our quiz standards are quite high, so good content is no longer a surprise. But the venue, and the arrangements -- including the high-backed black hot seat and the spotlight on the contestant -- added that touch of class that tipped the event into something special.

In that respect, it was a worthy setting for the level of quizzing -- nine of SEQC's best fighting tooth and nail for the three spots in the finals. It was evident that the semi-finalists had come well-prepared. Tough subjects were tackled with elan, and obscure questions shot out of the sky with ease. The specialised subjects chosen by the contestants were quite revelatory, in some cases drawing oohs and aahs of surprise and delight from the audience. Which, by the way, was substantial and for the most part exemplary in its behaviour (the parts that were not will remain unnamed).

Only one of the three semis eventually was a close one, with Harsh Bhatkuly losing out by two points to Abhishek Jha. In the other contests, Amit Shet and Vidyadhar Gadgil got through without too much of a challenge.

The finals will now see these three go up against each other, in the same sublime setting, some time in February. Watch out for that announcement.

The results

SEMI-FINAL 1
Winner: Vidyadhar Gadgil (specialised subject: The Films of Satyajit Ray) -- 16 correct answers in the specialised subject (SS) round + 9 in the general knowledge (GK) round = 25 total
2nd: Adish Talwadker (History of the United Nations) -- 8 (SS) + 7 (GK) = 15 total
3rd: Navin Pai (Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron) -- 6 (SS) + 6 (GK) = 12 total

SEMI-FINAL 2
Winner: Abhishek Jha (The Param Vir Chakra and its Recipients) -- 13 (SS) + 7 (GK) = 20 total
2nd: Harshvardhan Bhatkuly (Fundamental Rights under the Constitution of India) -- 11 (SS) + 7 (GK) = 18 total
3rd: Leroy Veloso (Life and Achievements of Eminent Goans) -- 5 (SS) + 6 (GK) = 11 total

SEMI-FINAL 3
Winner: Amit Shet (The Films of Aamir Khan) -- 13 (SS) + 6 (GK) = 19 total
2nd: Chirag Mutgi (History of the State of Israel) -- 4 (SS) + 10 (GK) = 14 total
3rd: Anjali Sen Gupta (The Life of Che Guevara) -- 6 (SS) + 5 (GK) = 11 total

The three finalists: Abhishek Jha, Amit Shet and Vidyadhar Gadgil

Wait until dark -- and then there was light...

Annie, as expected, provided a rare quizzing treat on the evening of 18 December 2009 at the Goa Open Quiz. Meant for teams of two members, it was truly an ‘open’ quiz – age, sex, caste, creed, religion no bar.
The quiz itself was a cracker (see for yourself), and the lawns of the International Centre in Dona Paula provided a pleasant setting. There was a glitch about the schedule – due to being held in the open air, the quiz could not start till the sun went down, due to projection problems. So we actually began only at 6pm. But after that it was two hours of pure fun, with Annie shedding light on some interesting nuggets of information, presented in an innovative manner.
Sixteen teams took part, a rather small number, but these teams really battled it out in the prelims, leaving six teams to go through to the finals.
The finals had five rounds – straight questions, buzzer rounds (which would pass if no buzz or wrong answer), a theme round, etc. All very exciting fare. One problem though was that since the quiz was done by the ‘infinite bounds’ system, the buzzer rounds passed a little chaotically. But then Annie always experiments, and sometimes the experiments don’t go perfectly, but there’s always something new...
The winners were, inevitably, Rajiv D’Silva & Harshavardhan Bhatkuly – by the inevitable wide margin. Drastic measures will have to be taken if this team is ever to be defeated. I have procured some voodoo dolls and am busy sticking pins in them – everybody is invited to contribute their mite.
In second and third place were two young teams – Joshua Fernandes & Nathan Fernandez in second and Amit Shet & Suraj Kamat in third. Let’s hope this trend continues and middle-aged fogies are knocked into the dustbin of history, where they rightfully belong.
Nandini Sahai, Director of ICG, was a gracious host, and kindly offered ICG as a venue for other SEQC quizzing events in future, an offer that will certainly be taken up, with the Mastermind semi-finals slated to be held there. Broadway Bookstore generously provided the prizes.

SEQC Mastermind: On to the semis

About two months have passed since the original 27 contestants battled it out in the opening matches of the SEQC Mastermind competition. Now, it's time for the nine winners of those matches to fight it out for the three places in the finals.

There is much excitement in store for the semis. The biggest revelation is that the semi-final matches will be held in the exquisite setting of the Divli lawns at the International Centre Goa (ICG). The ICG has kindly offered the venue for us to use, at no expense to the club. And it's a beautiful location -- the Goa Open Quiz was held there, and was quite a hit, not least because of the setting.

To recapitulate, the nine contestants who won their first-round matches are Abhishek Jha, Adish Talwadker, Amit Shet, Anjali Sen Gupta, Chirag Mutgi, Leroy Veloso, Navin Pai, Vidyadhar Gadgil and Vivek Krishnan. In case any of these nine are unable to attend, their place(s) will be filled by the non-qualifying contestant(s) who had the highest total scores in the opening-round matches.

There will be three semi-finals, all to be held on Sunday December 27, the first one starting at 6pm. All three contests should be done by about 8pm at the latest.

The first-round matches were exciting enough. The semis should take things up quite a notch. This is not an evening you should miss. Be there!

Goa Open Quiz questions and answers

The Prelims




The Finals

Goa Open Results

QM: Aniruddha Sen Gupta

1st: Harshvardhan Bhatkuly & Rajiv D'Silva - 115
2nd: Joshua Fernandes & Nathan Fernandez - 50
3rd: Amit Shet & Suraj Kamat - 30
4th: Balakrishnan S. & Kamal Rathi - 25
5th: Adish Talwadker & Vidyadhar Gadgil - 15
6th: Paola Mambro & Paul Gatward - 10

Mega-Whats 2009 - Goa Results

Organized by: Karnataka Quiz Association
Conducted by: Siby Kuriakose

Complete scores (School category in blue):

1. Feni, Vidi, Vici, VG (Aniruddha Sen Gupta, G. Sundar, Rajiv D'Silva, Vidyadhar Gadgil) - 37
2. Desi Dhamaka (Anjali Sen Gupta, Tallulah D'Silva, Venita Coelho, Vivek Krishnan) - 35
3. Numero Uno (Anil Rodrigues, Luis Dias, Sachin Chatte, Srikant Subramaniam) - 20
4. The Magnificent Four (Mahesh Prabhu, Paul Gatward, Sacheen Pai Raikar) - 17
5. Pandora's Boxers (Aditya, Ajachi, Joshan, Shridhar) - 14
6. 4 Aces (Adish Talwadker, Ameya Mardolkar, Amit Shet, Anant) - 14
7. Meteora (Joel, Paola Mambro, Srijit, Vernon Fernandes) - 13
8. Fantastic Four (Anisha, Kanchan Gatward, Lucy, Viola Rodrigues) - 11
9. JANK (Armann, Joshua, Krish, Nathan) - 10
10. CIRT (Conrad Fernandes, Ira D'Costa, Rajiv Singbal, Terrence D'Costa) - 10
11. Rapid Fire (Gauri Kenkre, Raj Kunkolienkar, Shantanu Kulkarni, Shaswat Salgaonkar) - 10
12. Four Square (Ashray Adappa, Jayant Karn, Vibhas Prabhdesai, Prathamesh Naik) - 9
    
13. Team Spirit (Shelton, Siddhesh, Suraj, Yogesh) - 8
14. Kendriya Vidyalaya (Atharv, Mangesh, Samyak, Varun) - 7
    
15. Dhempe & Dragons (Jyoti, Malcolm, Siddhesh, Tulsidas) - 7
16. New Goa (Aisha, Nidhi, Pranav, Shriyash) -7
17. VOLKS (Akash, Nihar, Saideep, Shubham) - 6
18. Phantoms (Bryan, Malcolm, Nikhil Arolkar, Reuben Rodrigues) - 5
19. Young Quizzers (Ari Pereira, Chantal D'Costa, Julian D'Costa) - 5
20. Trippers (Atmaram, Jatan Rodrigues, Pankaj, Rahul) - 5
21. Blue Bubbles (Joel, Nitish, Reshaan, Shubhankar) - 4
    
22. Red Devils (Rohit Pagi, Rovan Vaz) - 2

The questions (and answers) of the quiz can be found here. The nationwide results will be posted on the KQA website in a few days' time.

Times of India Big Quiz - Results

QM: Rajiv D'Silva

1st: Raj Kunkolienkar & Shaswat Salgaonkar (Mushtifund High School, Panaji) - 180
2nd: Daniel Ferreira & Julian D'Costa (Vidya Vikas Academy, Margao) - 90
3rd: Adrian Fernandes & Shardul Kulkarni (Regina Mundi High School, Vasco) - 65
4th: Saideep Bhosle & Shubham Tiwari (People's High School, Panaji) - 40

Indo-German Cultural Week Quiz

Date: December 13, 2009
Time: 7pm
QM: Sachin Chatte
Flavour: General
Venue: Aguada Anchorage, Sinquerim
Participation: Open to all

Results of SEQC December Quiz

QM: Amit Shet

1st: [Monica Chaturvedi, Rajiv D'Silva, Rajiv Singbal, Sunil Sardessai, Vernon Fernandes] & [Brendan Peroz, Christine Peroz, G. S. Banerjee, Reuben Rodrigues, Srikant Subramaniam, Vidyadhar Gadgil] - 120
3rd: Ajay Parasuraman, Anand Shankar, C. G. Niyati, Kanchan Desai, Salil Chaturvedi, Vivek Krishnan - 110
4th: [Adish Talwadker, Conrad Fernandes, Jayant Karn, Mahesh Prabhu, Sachin Chatte] & [Abhishek Jha, Aditya Kelekar, Ameya Mardolkar, Leroy Veloso, Raj Kunkolienkar, Tallulah D'Silva] - 80
6th: Aniruddha Sen Gupta, Anjali Sen Gupta, Doris Rao, Mariette Correa, Nikhil Arolkar - 70

The next monthly quiz will be held on the 3rd of January 2010, to be hosted by Navin Pai.

Goa Open : The quiz for everyone

Date: December 18, 2009
Time: 4.30pm
QM: Annie Sen Gupta
Flavour: General
Venue: International Centre Goa, Dona Paula
Participation: Open to all, in teams of two.

To register, e-mail team details -- team name and names of team members -- to seqcgoa (at) gmail (dot) com.

Times of India Big Quiz

Event schedule:
South Goa Preliminaries - 4th December, 1.30 pm, Chowgule College, Margao
North Goa Preliminaries - 5th December, 1.30 pm, Don Bosco School, Panaji
South Goa Semi-finals - 7th December, 10.00 am & 2.30 pm, Ravindra Bhavan, Margao
North Goa Semi-finals - 9th & 10th December, 10.00 am, Hotel Fidalgo, Panaji
Grand Finale - 14th December, 1.30 pm, National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula
QM: Rajiv D'Silva
Content: QuizCo
Flavour: General
Prizes: Laptops for the winners, Handycams for the runners-up. Loads of other prizes as well.
Participation: Students of Std. X and under, in teams of two.

SEQC December Quiz

Vivek and Srikant began it, and this week the young brigade of QM's continue their reign at SEQC, with Amit Shet all set to question the hell out of everybody. With Navin Pai booking January in advance, looks like it will be a while before anybody with greying hair or a pot belly gets a question in edgeways. Ah well, who's complaining? Let there be reign...

Date: 6th December 2009
Time: 5.00 pm
QM: Amit Shet
Flavour: General, with good deal of sports.
Venue: CCP Hall, 2nd Floor, CCP Building, Opp. Cafe Central, Panaji
Participation: Open

Register for Mega-Whats 2009 -- do it NOW!

Mega-Whats 2009, the National Open Quizzing Championships, is the next major event on our club calendar. This is going to be an event like the Mahaquizzer, except that this one is for teams of four. SEQC has already put Goa on the quizzing map of the country (if not the world; or why stop there, the universe?). This is our chance to burn a hole in that map, by having teams finish high up in the national rankings.

So get together with family, friends and, if necessary, foes, and put your best team forward. More details are in the MWhat-flier.PDF file, which you can download from the Files section of the SEQC mailgroup (click here to go to that Web page).

Also, please spread the good word -- mail the PDF or a link to this blog post to anyone who might care.

Quiz Quest 2

Date: November 26, 2009
Time: 9.30am
QM: Savio Figueiredo
Flavour: General
Venue: St Britto's Boys' School, Mapusa
Participation: School students from classes VIII to X, in teams of three.

The quiz is the second edition of an all-Goa inter-school competition organised by the Britto's Old Boys Association.

Three reasons why I like Srikant Subramaniam

A report on the SEQC November 2009 quiz

Three reasons why I like Srikant Subramaniam:
1. He's got gumption. It isn't easy to jump into setting and conducting a quiz in a closed group like our quiz club when you barely know the nature and level of participants. Many of our own quizzers hesitate to do so even after having been with the club for a year or more. Yet Srikant put his hand up (cricketers and commentators have really ruined this phrase, like many others) after attending just one quiz. Even a bout of instruction from the club conscience didn't faze him.
2. He's got a grin. Everything Srikant does, he does with a smile. I can just imagine him listening to aforementioned club conscience with the same big grin plastered across his face. Must have driven CC quite up the wall.
3. He's got game. Once the quiz got going (it took its time, owing to technical difficulties), it was really enjoyable. The questions were in a classical quiz mould, which most of us have a preference for (I do, at least). And Srikant really wanted them all answered. So much so that he was often willing to send questions round for a second spin, with additional information thrown in, if people didn't get them the first time around.

For me, personally, the quiz began very pleasantly, as Anjali was picked for the first time in the same team as I. The pleasure was, however, short-lived, as the need to even things out saw her despatched to another team almost right away. Up till the end of the first round of 30 questions, things continued to be personally satisfying, with Anjali-Adish's team tied for top place with ours. But then Rajiv's team started pulling away, and taking Gadgil's with him. Eventually, that's the order in which we finished. This win extends Rajiv's lead at the top of the SEQC leaderboard. Will be difficult to catch up with him, but there's still half the SEQC year left. To use another phrase which has had its face systematically squashed into the dust by the cricket bandwagon, anything's possible.

SEQC November Quiz - Results

QM: Srikant Subramaniam

1st: Kanchan Desai, Neville Monteiro, Rajiv D'Silva, Sachin Chatte - 215
2nd: Anurag Panicker, Paula Mambro, Navin Pai, Vidyadhar Gadgil - 170
3rd: Aniruddha Sen Gupta, Conrad Fernandes, Jatan Rodrigues, Julian Fernandes - 155
4th: Adish Talwadker, Anjali Sen Gupta, Vaughan Fernandes, Vernon Fernandes - 110
5th: Anagha Panicker, Anil Rodrigues, Luis Dias, Sunil Sardessai - 90
6th: Amit Shet, C. G. Niyati, Rajesh Panicker, Sanchita Rodrigues, Vinita Panicker - 45

The next monthly quiz will be held at the same time, same place on the 6th of December 2009, to be conducted by Amit Shet.

Casa da Moeda Quiz - Results

QM: Aniruddha Sen Gupta

1st: [Chryselle D'Silva-Dias, Elvira Dias, Luis Dias, Pankaj Kurtarkar, Prajal Sakhardande, Sneha Puri] & [P. D. Mukherjee, Rajiv D'Silva, Tallulah D'Silva, Timothy, Tulna Patel] - 5
3rd: Anjali Sen Gupta, Cecil Pinto, Sanjeev Sardessai, Soraya Mukherjee, Valerie - 2.5
4th: Isabel Vaz, Neville Monteiro, Paula Mambro, Preshita Shah, Sachin Chatte - 2
5th: Anil Rodrigues, Jatan Rodrigues, Mahesh Prabhu - 1.5
6th: Alisha Colaco, Christine, Helene Derkins, Noel, Sanchita Rodrigues - 0

Around the World in 80 Minutes - Results

QM: Annie Sen Gupta

1st: Eden Jacques, Julian D'Costa, Lyse Ann Fernandes, Shorya Fernandes
2nd: Daniel Ferreira, Ninoshka Naik, Nishika Manira, Raul De Gouveia Pinto
3rd: Karthika Pai Vernekar, Sachi Angle, Sybil Santimano, Tarun Mascarenhas
4th: Apurva Virgincar, Chetan Assoldekar, Nikhil Rao, Sairaj Phaldessai
5th: Aditya Phaldessai, Eric Mesquita, Kritika Javali, Sairaj Kamat
6th: Ayesha Pereira, Kareen Moraes, Nigel Menezes, Winthrop Pereira

Young Buzz Quiz

Date: 18th November 2009
Time: 12 pm
QM: Harshvardhan Bhatkuly
Flavour: General
Venue: Don Bosco Oratory, Panaji
Participation: Students uptil class X, in teams of two.

For more details call Vishal Rane on 9822299952.

SEQC November Quiz

SEQC's Monthly Quiz, pushed to the third Sunday of the month instead of the usual first, will take place this weekend. Be there.

Date: 15th November 2009
Time: 5.00 pm
QM: Srikant Subramaniam
Flavour: General
Venue: CCP Hall, 2nd Floor, CCP Building, Opp. Cafe Central, Panaji
Participation: Open

Casa da Moeda quiz

Date: November 10, 2009
Time: 7.30 pm
QM: Annie Sen Gupta
Flavour: General, with a focus on coins and houses
Venue: Casa da Moeda (Luis's house), near Main Post Office, Panjim
Participation: Open to all

Luis and his family are celebrating 175 years of their house, which once used to be Goa's Mint House (Casa da Moeda). The quiz is the wind-up event of the Festival.

'Around the World' quiz at Vidya Vikas Academy, Margao

Date: November 7, 2009
Time: 11 am
QM:Annie Sen Gupta
Flavour: 'Around the World in 80 Minutes' quiz game
Venue: Vidya Vikas Academy, Margao
Participation: Open to the students of the school

Architecture Quiz - Results

Here are the results of the quiz on architecture held on the 21st of October 2009 at the Goa College of Architecture.

QM: Rajiv D'Silva

1st: 5th Year (Shawn, Ezra, Oriana) - 115
2nd: 3rd Year (Eureka, Noah, Sagar) - 90
3rd: 2nd Year (Aditya, Nikhil, Alan) - 70
4th: 2nd Year (Vinti, Raghav, Donovan) - 55
5th: 1st Year (Shamina, Balchandra, Snehal) - 20

SEQC Goa October Quiz

The monthly SEQC quiz, conducted by Vivek Krishnan.

SEQC Goa October Quiz

View more presentations from vivek572.

Through to the Mastermind semis

Another series of exciting quarterfinal group contests brought the opening stage of the SEQC Mastermind to a close on Sunday, October 25. Though none of the contests had the close finish of the first day, this set did bring another upset. Rajiv D'Silva's partner in quizzing, Harsh Bhatkuly lost out to Amit Shet, who blitzed his specialised subject round on 'Cricketing Career of Sachin Tendulkar'.

Perhaps there's a jinx on all those who have been involved in setting questions for this Mastermind series -- Annie wasn't participating anyway, and the other two (Rajiv and Harsh) have been eliminated. Doesn't bode well for Vidyadhar Gadgil, who made the mistake of setting a couple of specialised rounds for the second day. He may be through to the semis, but is he going to make the finals?

This time around, too, one of our young guns deserves a special mention. Jatan Rodrigues, our second youngest contestant, scored a remarkable 12 points in his specialised subject round on James Bond Films, and must have given the fancied Vivek Krishnan quite a scare for a while.

What a diverse, and sometimes esoteric, range of specialised subjects have been tackled in the opening rounds. 'Architectural Heritage of Goa', 'Violins and Violinists', 'Nobel Prizes in Physiology and Medicine', 'Advertising Agencies in India', 'Life and Times of Metallica' ... It goes to show what an eclectic group our club is, and yet there's so much harmony and camaraderie. Let's see what outre topics the semi-finals throw up.

The nine semi-finalists have been identified. They will now be divided -- by some arcane system to which only Annie is privy -- into three groups of three, and do battle some time in December for the three spots in the finals. There are plans to ramp up the hoopla surrounding SEQC Mastermind in the next stages. Keep your eyes peeled.

The results

GROUP D
Winner: Anjali Sen Gupta (specialised subject: Tintin Comics) -- 14 correct answers in the specialised subject (SS) round + 3 in the general knowledge (GK) round = 17 total
2nd: Nitash CG (Snooker) -- 11 (SS) + 2 (GK) = 13 total
3rd: Luis Dias (Violins and Violinists) -- 4 (SS) + 2 (GK) = 6 total

GROUP E
Winner: Abhishek Jha (Life and Times of Metallica) -- 10 (SS) + 7 (GK) = 17 total
2nd: Jayant Karn (Astronomy) -- 9 (SS) + 2 (GK) = 11 total*
3rd: Sunil Sardessai (Hindu Mythology) -- 7 (SS) + 4 (GK) = 11 total*
* Jayant and Sunil finished with the same number of correct answers and the same number of passes (7), but Jayant had fewer incorrect answers (8 to Sunil's 10)

GROUP F
Winner: Adish Talwadker (Nobel Prizes in Physiology and Medicine) -- 10 (SS) + 6 (GK) = 16 total
2nd: Mahesh Prabhu (India in Text Cricket since the 1990s) -- 5 (SS) + 1 (GK) = 6 total
3rd: Raunaq Rao (Movies of Ramgopal Verma) -- 4 (SS) + 0 (GK) = 4 total

GROUP G
Winner: Navin Pai (Google and its Products) -- 6 (SS) + 3 (GK) = 9 total
2nd: Gaurav Kenkre (Indian Film Music since the 1990s) -- 3 (SS) + 4 (GK) = 7 total
3rd: Viola Rodrigues (Booker Prize Winners 1988-2008) -- absent = 0 total

GROUP H
Winner: Amit Shet (Cricketing Career of Sachin Tendulkar) -- 13 (SS) + 7 (GK) = 20 total
2nd: Harshvardhan Bhatkuly (Advertising Agencies in India) -- 11 (SS) + 6 (GK) = 17 total
3rd: Ashray Adappa (Greek Mythology) -- 7 (SS) + 4 (GK) = 11 total

GROUP I
Winner: Vivek Krishnan (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Series Books) -- 12 (SS) + 11 (GK) = 23 total
2nd: Jatan Rodrigues (James Bond Films) -- 11 (SS) + 0 (GK) = 11 total
3rd: Ameya Mardolkar (Logos) -- 5 (SS) + 4 (GK) = 9 total

Through to the semis (the full list):
Abhishek Jha, Adish Talwadker, Amit Shet, Anjali Sen Gupta, Chirag Mutgi, Leroy Veloso, Navin Pai, Vidyadhar Gadgil, Vivek Krishnan

SEQC Mastermind Quarterfinal Match-ups (Groups D through I)

Date: 25th October 2009
Time: 4 pm (please note new timing)
QM: Annie Sen Gupta
Flavour: General
Venue: CCP Hall, 2nd Floor, CCP Building, off 18 June Road, Panaji
Participation: Open to pre-registered SEQC participants. Audience presence solicited.
Please be at the venue by 3.45 pm, as we need absolute peace and quiet once the quizzing begins (which it will at 4 pm sharp).

About the SEQC Mastermind logo

The SEQC Mastermind logo design is meant to reflect several key aspects of the contest. The main visual symbol used is that of a pyramid. A pyramid means several things that connect up with the idea behind our Mastermind. One, it is a shape which represents 'perfection', a quality our contestants should aspire to. Its structure mimics the structure of the competition itself, with the different stages eliminating the numbers of participants until only the one at the pinnacle is left. The letters of SEQC have been given a typography and form which can be seen to be giving the top of the pyramid a 'glow' -- the glow of achievement. In classical symbology, the pyramid with the eye, or rays of light, is a symbol of omniscience -- usually associated with a divine providence, but in our case taken to represent the all-knowing Mastermind. Finally, the pyramid has been done in black, which is a colour that absorbs all frequencies it receives, much like a master quizzer has to absorb all forms of knowledge to be the very best.

Leaving the best for last

A report on the SEQC Mastermind rounds held on October 18

What a finish it was! Leroy Veloso was in a position to pull of a huge upset in his round. When he came to the hot seat for his General Knowledge round, the whole thing seemed to be done and dusted. All he needed was a single correct answer. Just one!

The first two questions he passed. Then something seemed to strike him -- he started providing an answer to every question that was posed to him (perhaps he had just recalled that, in the unlikely event of a tie, the number of passes would determine whether he won or not). But astonishingly, unbelievably, answer after answer was met with the response, "That's incorrect; the correct answer is..." As the wrong answers mounted, so did the tension in the room. Could it be possible that Leroy, who had seemed so close to pulling off the unexpected, would somehow manage to reverse it and extract the most astounding defeat from the jaws of victory? When the bell went at the end of his two minutes of questioning, Leroy had still not got an answer right, and the entire room let out a loud and collective, "Oooohhh!" Then quizmaster Annie Sen Gupta, in traditional Mastermind style, said, "I've started, so I'll finish" and everything was silent again.

"By what name are the migrants from Holland who settled in South Africa in the mid-17th century known?" was the question.

Leroy, his expression as implacable as it had been throughout the session, answered "Boers", and then revealed his relief by shooting out of the chair even before Annie had replied. "That's correct!" The room erupted. And Rajiv D'Silva, certainly a top contender for SEQC Mastermind, was out in the first round of the contest.

None of the other quarterfinal match-ups was anywhere near as close, with Chirag Mutgi and Vidyadhar Gadgil winning their groups with reasonable ease.


The Group A contestants get their scores read to them.

For an event whose format requires extensive preparation and a good deal of precision in execution, the SEQC Mastermind evening was an unqualified success. It went off without a single major hitch, indeed with a degree of flair. A sizeable audience filled the hall, and enjoyed every moment of the show.




Annie, looking rather sadhu-like, introduces the event (top); the audience finds it amusing

Several members of future quarterfinal groupings were present, and no doubt took away significant learnings that they will apply to their own performance. But you can't really know how you will react to the Mastermind pressure until you're in the hot seat yourself. That's something several of those participating found out to their discomfiture, as questions that they could casually answer after their two minutes had passed, eluded their grasp while they were facing the music.


Sachin runs the gamut of emotions as his session proceeds.

A word of congratulations must specially be reserved here for the youngest contestant, Julian D'Costa from Margao, who took the chair with confidence and performed well.


Julian dwarfed by the hot seat.

The results

GROUP A Winner: Chirag Mutgi (specialised subject: Hollywood Westerns) -- 8 correct answers in the specialised subject (SS) round + 7 in the general knowledge (GK) round = 15 total
2nd: Tallulah D'Silva (Architectural Heritage of Goa) -- 8 (SS) + 4 (GK) = 12 total
3rd: Paul Gatward (English Premier League) -- 5 (SS) + 2 (GK) = 7 total

GROUP B Winner: Vidyadhar Gadgil (Indian Writing in English) -- 7 (SS) + 12 (GK) = 19 total
2nd: Neville Monteiro (World Capital Cities) -- 6 (SS) + 4 (GK) = 10 total
3rd: Sachin Chatte (Pink Floyd) -- 6 (SS) + 3 (GK) = 9 total

GROUP C Winner: Leroy Veloso (Legislative Assembly Elections in Goa) -- 15 (SS) + 1 (GK) = 16 total
2nd: Rajiv D'Silva (Grunge Music) -- 10 (SS) + 5 (GK) = 15 total
3rd: Julian D'Costa (Children's Literature by Roald Dahl) -- 6 (SS) + 3 (GK) = 9 total
4th: Paola Ann Mhambro (Geography of India) -- 5 (SS) + 1 (GK) = 6 total

Through to the semis: Chirag Mutgi, Vidyadhar Gadgil, Leroy Veloso

Frozen Music - The Architecture Quiz

Date: 21st October 2009
Time: 4.30 pm
QM: Rajiv D'Silva
Flavour: Architecture
Venue: Goa College of Architecture, Altinho - Panaji
Participation: Open to the staff and students of Goa College of Architecture.

Results of SEQC October Quiz

QM: Vivek Krishnan

1st: Janice Figueiredo, Paula Mambro, Rajiv D'Silva, Sajan Venniyoor, Salil Chaturvedi, Sunil Sardessai, Tallulah D'Silva - 1250
2nd: Aniruddha Sen Gupta, Ashray Adappa, C. G. Niyati, Ira Almeida, Neville Monteiro, Pooja Kamath, Renuka Figueiredo, Shaila De Souza - 1120
3rd: Ameya Mardolkar, Ananya Mukherjee, Julian D'Costa, Kanchan Desai, Sachin Chatte, Taran Mukherjee, Tulna Patel, Vidyadhar Gadgil, Yashodhara Kundaji - 800
4th: Abhishek Jha, Adish Talwadker, Anjali Sen Gupta, Deepika Figueiredo, Maria Souza, Mariette Correa, Paul Gatward - 570
5th: Amit Shet, Kanchan Gatward, Leroy Veloso, Luis Dias, Shaunik Chaturvedi, Sneha Puri, Vernon Fernandes - 450
6th: Anant Nagi, Anil Rodrigues, Frederick Noronha, Jatan Rodrigues, Pranab Mukherjee, Prita Sardessai, Savio Figueiredo, Srikant Subramaniam, Terence D'Costa - 400

The next monthly quiz will be hosted by Srikant Subramaniam on the 8th of November.

Everything you need to know about the Mastermind quiz

SEQC Mastermind is based on a popular quiz format from a BBC TV series. BBC Mastermind was the brainchild of TV producer Bill Wright, a former RAF gunner, who drew on his wartime experience as a PoW of being interrogated by the Gestapo to come up with the feel of the quiz. This reflects in the way contestants are put under the spotlight, and in the ritual of being asked their name, occupation and specialist subject, much like the three bits of information PoWs generally reveal -- name, rank and serial number.



The first ever edition of BBC Mastermind was recorded at Liverpool University and aired on BBC1 in 1972. The show was hosted by 43-year-old former journalist Magnus Magnusson, a formidable Scot of Icelandic parentage. Its immediate popularity -- somewhat unexpected given the highbrow nature of the quiz -- led to both Mastermind and Magnusson becoming household names. The show ran in its original avatar till 1997, and has re-appeared in numerous versions on other channels as well since.



Mastermind came to India as a series on BBC World between 1998 and 2002. Hosted by Siddhartha Basu, it retained all the hallmarks of the original show. One of the innovations of the Indian edition was the staging of the contest at heritage sites across the country. For example, in 1999 the semi-finals were held at the Ferozshah Kotla in Delhi, and the finals were held at the City Palace, Jaipur. Two SEQC members have featured on Mastermind India -- Annie Sen Gupta in the 2001 edition, and Harsh Bhatkuly the next year.



The format of the quiz has always been the same, and will remain so for SEQC Mastermind as well. Groups of four contestants (three, in the case of the SEQC contest) compete against each other and the clock to earn the most points. Each is quizzed first for two minutes on the specialist subject of his or her choice, and then -- in Round Two -- for a further two minutes on their general knowledge. Interrogation takes place in the famous 'black leather chair', which we have been fortunate enough to find bequeathed to us along with the CCP Hall (I believe the CCP Chairman or the Mayor or someone of that sort sits on it during important meetings).

SEQC Mastermind takes off on Sunday, October 18, when 14 of our members take the chair. Only four will survive this rigorous trial.

SEQC Mastermind: The first cut

The date: Sunday, October 18
The time: 5.30pm
The venue: CCP Hall

Who's up:
* Anjali Sen Gupta
* Chirag Mutgi
* Julian D'Costa
* Leroy Veloso
* Luis Dias
* Neville Monteiro
* Nitash CG
* Paola Ann Mhambro
* Paul Gatward
* Rajiv D'Silva
* Reuben Rodrigues
* Sachin Chatte
* Tallulah D'Silva
* Vidyadhar Gadgil

Only four out of these 14 contestants will progress to the semi-finals. Who will make the grade? Land up to find out, and bring friends and family.

A word of warning: This event will be run more formally than most SEQC events are. Once the quizzing begins, the doors will be shut so as not to disturb the participants. So please be there before time, to ensure you don't get locked out.

Participants will need to be at the venue by 5pm for a briefing before the event begins.

SEQC squeezes onto YouTube

Check out Frederick Noronha's video interview of Rajiv D'Silva and Annie Sen Gupta on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oeq1qFBT2xQ

The Fast and the Furious

A review of the SEQC October 2009 quiz

Vivek Krishnan is a student of BITS Pilani, currently in Goa to do his internship with Pentair Water. He stays on the BITS campus near Vasco. It's a long way to Panjim for him, and a long way back.

Which, perhaps, explains the whirlwind nature of the SEQC quiz that he conducted on October 11. At 56 questions, it wasn't the shortest quiz we've had (thought shorter than most). But it was certainly the fastest. Keeping the structure to two rounds -- one clockwise, one anti -- also contributed to keeping things moving. There wasn't any of the customary score read-outs (accompanied by desultory clapping) at the end of every other round -- this time, the scores came up only once at the halfway point, and then the final positions at the end.

It also helped that many of the questions got answered quickly. The quiz wasn't easy, but Vivek did put enough clues into most of the questions that people could figure them out. The competition was quite open till the halfway mark, at which point Luis's and Gadgil's teams were very much in the race, along with Annie's and Rajiv's -- the lattermost having built up a sizeable lead. Gadgil's team's positioning between Rajiv's on one side and Annie's on the other was a classic example of why the Direct-and-Pass system of conventional quizzing doesn't work. If that traditional system had been in use, the team in the middle would have had a far smaller percentage of questions reaching them.

The second half of the quiz turned out to be largely a battle between Rajiv's team and Annie's, with the latter creeping up on the former but eventually losing out 1120 to 1250 (there was a bizarre 100-points-per-answer scoring system in place, and Vivek generously handed out half-portions and other fractions whenever he wanted).

Before the quiz began, prizes for The BiG Q were handed out by one of SEQC's most recent sprightly young recruits, Maria Imelda Souza. And after the quiz was over, Fredrick Noronha, Goa's busiest journalist, did a video interview with Rajiv and Annie which has since gone up on YouTube, but that's a story for a different post.

More participants for Mastermind

Three last-minute entrants and one omission rectified have brought the final participant count for the SEQC Mastermind competition to 28. The four additions to the list posted earlier are Sunil Sardessai (inadvertantly omitted earlier), Gaurav Kenkre, Raunaq Rao and Neville Monteiro.

The new count has entailed a change in the format. The new plan is for the participants to be divided into 9 groups of 3 each, with one group including an extra member. The 9 winners of the groups will be divided into 3 semis of 3 contestants each. The 3 semi-final winners will fight it out for the overall title of SEQC Mastermind.

We will hold four of the quarterfinals on the 18th of October, and five on the 25th. Make sure you're there on both days, with friends and family.

Those who missed the earlier announcement, scroll down for the older post.

SEQC Sunday Quiz - October

Date: 11th October 2009
Time: 5.00 pm
QM: Vivek Krishnan
Flavour: General
Venue: CCP Hall, 2nd Floor, CCP Building, Opp. Cafe Central, off 18th June Road, Panaji
Participation: Come one come all

SEQC Mastermind participants and format

The ball has begun rolling on SEQC Mastermind. Twenty-four participants have confirmed their participation in the event -- a good number, mathematically. Here's the final list:
1. Ashray Adappa
2. Harshvardhan Bhatkuly
3. Nitash CG
4. Sachin Chatte
5. Julian D'Costa
6. Luis Dias
7. Rajiv D'Silva
8. Tallulah D'Silva
9. Vidyadhar Gadgil
10. Paul Gatward
11. Abhishek Jha
12. Jayant Karn
13. Vivek Krishnan
14. Ameya Mardolkar
15. Paola Ann Mhambro
16. Chirag Mutgi
17. Navin Pai
18. Mahesh Prabhu
19. Reuben Rodrigues
20. Viola Rodrigues
21. Anjali SenGupta
22. Amit Shet
23. Adish Talwadker
24. Leroy Veloso

These 24 will be divided into eight groups of three each, for the quarterfinals. These eight contests will be split over two days -- four on October 18, and four on October 25. The eight winners of the quarterfinal groups will qualify for the semi-finals.

In the semis, which will be held some two months later, the eight qualifiers will be divided into two groups of four each, with the top two from each group qualifying for the finals to be held early next year.

More information will be revealed over the next couple of weeks, but some things -- who's in what's group, what people's specialised subjects are, etc -- you will only learn when you land up at the events.

The events of October 18 and 25 should be fraught with excitement and cut-throat competition. We expect that the quizzing will take up about two hours on each of the two days -- from 5.30pm to 7.30pm. Mark these dates and times off on your calendars, and tell your friends and relatives to turn up as well, to witness the best of our best go up against each other.

The BiG Q - Results

The final, verified results of The Big Q are finally out. 86 people participated in all, 46 in the Open category, 17 in the College category and 23 in the School category. Venue-wise, Panjim had 43 participants, Margao 24 and Vasco 19.
And... The BiG Q for the year 2009 is... (drumroll) - Annie! Here are the rest of the top finishers:

Open winner - Aniruddha Sen Gupta (84)
College winner - Vivek Krishnan (68)
School winner - Julian D'Costa (26)

The top ten scores overall:
1st: Aniruddha Sen Gupta (84)
2nd: Vivek Krishnan (68)
3rd: Chirag Mutgi, Anand Shankar (48)
5th: Vidyadhar Gadgil (47)
6th: Abhishek Jha (42)
7th: Srikant Subramaniam (40)
8th: Dhruv Usgaonkar (37)
9th: Joseph De Souza, Adish Talwadker, Rajesh Panicker (36)

Find the complete scores here.
Find the questions & answers to The BiG Q at these links - Section I, Section II.

Turbulence Results

Held on: 19th September 2009
Organized by: Sarwaswat BBA College, Mapusa
QM: Rajiv D'Silva

1st - Symbiosis, Pune (95)
2nd - DMC, Mapusa (90)
3rd - PES, Bangalore (55)
4th - KLE, Hubli (10)
5th - MAT, Raipur (0)
6th - KLE, Belgaum (-5)

The BiG Q - Confirmed venues

Panaji: Lecture Hall No.2, Goa College of Pharmacy, 18th June Road

Margao: Holy Spirit Institute, Behind Holy Spirit Church

Vasco: St. Andrew's High School, Next to St. Andrew's Church

All participants are requested to report at 10.00 am. The quiz will begin at 10.30 am sharp. Please carry a pen/pencil/crow quill.

Sachin at the Bat

A report on the September 2009 SEQC Quiz

by Aniruddha Sen Gupta

There was tension in the air

As Sachin came out to play.

The laptop was on the blink,

The projector gone astray.

It was two down for nothing,

But the master blaster was cool;

For that's the kind of score

Our Sachin's faced since school.

The first question was fielded

To the tensely waiting crowd.

His second streaked through,

And the applause swelled loud.

Boundaries were soon stretched,

The scores soared ever higher

The crowd was on its feet --

Sachin was off to a flyer!

By the time the day was done,

And Sachin left the field,

His masterclass was legend,

Exquisite style revealed.

Back in the dressing room

The bubbly would be fizzing

For that's how it always is

When Sachin goes quizzing.

Great Big Book Fun Day a big hit with kids

From a report prepared for The Herald by Aniruddha Sen Gupta

The poster promised "an action-packed afternoon of all manner of madness and mayhem revolving around the amazing worlds that exist in books". And that's exactly what the Great Big Book Fun Day, held at the Clube Tennis de Gaspar Dias in Miramar, Panjim on September 5, delivered.

The afternoon consisted of three events. The first, called Mixed Mysteries, was for children from classes 1 to 4. It was an uproarious affair, with kids rushing from clue station to clue station to put together book covers, which were given to them as puzzle pieces. "Our attempt," explained Sujata Noronha, one of the organisers of the event, "was to bring in various aspects of learning that a kid could use. So there was a challenge that required them to come up with synonyms for words, while another one used visual clues for them to work out."

The Mixed Mysteries compelled kids to think, deduce and act upon their deductions, a combination loved by the participants and appreciated by their parents too. Said one parent, who had accompanied her child from Vasco for the event, "I am glad I came all this way -- the Bookworm events get the kids to use their brains while enjoying themselves, which is such a rare feature of their lives."

Next came the Bookwise Quiz, an audiovisual quiz on books and comics, open to all students up to class 12. "The quiz was great," said Saloni Sardessai, one of the finalists. "The questions weren't very difficult, but they really required us to rack our brains. I enjoyed it like anything!"

Smoothly conducted by Rajiv D'Silva, the Bookwise quiz was won by the team of Julian D'Costa, Ari Pereira and Shridhar Shirolkar, which stayed a step ahead in each round, but surged ahead in the final Rapid Fire round, with Julian answering all four of his questions on 'Tom Sawyer' correctly. The team of Aishwarya Shridhar, Chitra Mekoth and Jemimah Gomes came second.

The grand finale was an innovative quiz-based board game with the theme of 'Around the World in 80 Minutes'. Conducted by Savio Figueiredo, this component was for students of classes 5 to 8. The game required participating teams to travel around the world on a fixed route, answering questions based on the literature of the country that they landed on to go ahead. An element of luck was added through the throw of a die and other chance elements on the 'board', which was a route map projected onto the wall. "It was well-conceived, an interesting idea," said Yvonne Sequeira, whose son Alexander was a member of one of the six finalist teams.

Pritha Sardessai, whose daughter Saloni was part of the runner-up team in the 'Around the World' event, was all praise for the idea too. "It set the books in the geographic location from which they originate or in which they are based," she said. "This makes it more real for the kids, and gets them more interested in reading." Her son Shaunak, she feels, has got a tremendous headstart since she enrolled him at Bookworm, because of "the knowledge of books and love of reading it has given him".

The 'Around the World' event, too, was won by the team of Julian D'Costa, Ari Pereira and Shridhar Shirolkar, with the team of Sahil Prabhudesai, Saloni Sardessai and Sapna Nayak coming in second. The winning team's double feat was particularly impressive considering they were competing against far more senior teams. If there had been a 'Player of the Day' award, Julian D'Costa would have won it hands down.

The Great Big Book Fun Day was organised by the Panjim-based not-for-profit Bookworm library, whose aim is to foster a love of reading among children. The quiz and game content for the senior events was developed by the Sunday Evening Quiz Club, Goa's fledgling but very active quiz club. The Reading Habit, the much-loved Panjim bookstore, and stationery producers A.W. Faber Castell sponsored prizes for all participants. The women's wing of the YMCA had set up a snacks stall at the venue.

Turbulence - The Business Quiz

As part of Saraswat BBA College's festival Odyssey 2009, a business quiz will be held on the 17th-19th of September. Participation is unfortunately restricted to only those colleges taking part in the larger festival, but those interested are welcome to join the audience.

Turbulence - The Business Quiz

Date & time: Prelims on the 17th September at 7.00 pm, Semi-finals on the 18th at 7.00 pm and Finals on the 19th at 3.30 pm.

QM: Rajiv D'Silva

Content: QuizCo

Flavour: Business

Venue: Taleigao Community Hall, Taleigao

The BiG Q – Call for entries

Date: 20^th September 2009

Time: 10.30 am (Please report at 10.00 AM)
Content set by: Rajiv D'Silva
Format: The BiG Q is a solo, written quiz event. Participants will be asked to answer 120 questions within 90 minutes.
Flavour: General
Venue: The quiz will be held simultaneously in Panaji, Margao & Vasco. Exact venues will be finalized soon.
Participation: Open to all. Prizes will be awarded in three categories - Best School Quizzer, Best College Quizzer, and Best Quizzer in the Open category. To register, send an email to rajivdsilva@gmail.com, indicating which centre you would like to participate from. Also please mention your phone number and the category you are taking part in. Call 9890141715 or 9823362217 for details and clarifications. Last date for registration is 18^th September 2009. Spot entries will be accepted, but since we will only print a limited amount of the question sheets based on the numbers that register, these will run the the risk of not being able to participate.
Prizes: We're working on it, but there almost certainly will be some.

SEQC September Quiz Results

Sachin Chatte's maiden quiz had some of us chanting "Sa-chiiin, Saa-chin!" and I don't think his more famous namesake would have minded had he been there. Here are the results.

QM: Sachin Chatte

1^st: Amit Shet, Anil Rodrigues, Aniruddha Sen Gupta, Mariette Correa, Pratamesh Naik – 160

2^nd: Jayant Karn, Kanchan Desai, Rajiv D'Silva, Sunil Sardessai, Tulna Patel – 90

3^rd: [Neville Monteiro, Noella Fernandes, Paola Mambro, Reuben Rodrigues, Vivek Krishnan] & [Ashray Adappa, Nikhil Arolkar, Pranab Mukherjee, Tallulah D'Silva, Vidyadhar Gadgil] – 80

5^th: [Adish Talwadker, C. G. Niyati, Gaurav Kenkre, Mahesh Prabhu, Sneha Puri, Vibhas Prabhudesai] & [Anjali Sen Gupta, Conrad Fernandes, Jatan Rodrigues, Julian Fernandes, Navin Pai, Shaila De Souza] – 60

The next monthly quiz will be held on the 4^th of October, to be hosted by Vivek Krishnan.

The Great Big Book Fun Day - Results

Here are the results of the two quizzes held at The Great Big Book Fun Day on the 5^th of September. Both quizzes were won by the same team! A remarkable feat considering both were for different age-groups. The team led by little Julian D'Costa even scored a mind-boggling 20/20 in the written preliminaries of the Around the World in Eighty Minutes quiz! Phew!

Bookwise – The Books & Comics Quiz

QM: Rajiv D'Silva

1^st: Ari Pereira, Julian D'Costa, Shridhar Shirolkar – 110
2^nd: Aishwarya Shridhar, Chitra Mekoth, Jemimah Gomes – 75
3^rd: Gauri Kenkre, Royston Braganza, Shaswat Salgaonkar – 70
4^th: Kirit Ayya, Shantanu Kulkarni, Suyash Kamat – 60
5^th: [Sahil Prabhudesai, Saloni Sardessai, Sapna Nayak] & [Agastya Keni, Managalam Tiwari, Pranav Khadpe] – 50

Around the World in Eighty Minutes

QM: Savio Figueiredo (Content by Aniruddha Sen Gupta)

1^st: Ari Pereira, Julian D'Costa, Shridhar Shirolkar – 31

2^nd: Sahil Prabhudesai, Saloni Sardessai, Sapna Nayak – 19
3^rd: Agastya Keni, Managalam Tiwari, Pranav Khadpe – 17
4^th: Bryan D'Souza, Nikhil Arolkar, Reuben Rodrigues – 15
5^th: Aksay Rege, Eeshan Vernekar, Nitish Fatarpekar – 9
6^th: Alexander, Rebecca, Solomon - 7

Another SEQC Sunday

A lot of muddy water seems to have flowed under the twin Mandovi bridges since the last monthly quiz, what with several quizzes having taken place in the interim. All the more reason to look forward to this Sunday's gig.

SEQC Sunday Quiz - September 2009

Date: 6th September 2009
Time: 5.00 pm
QM: Sachin Chatte
Flavour: General
Venue: Corporation of the City of Panaji Hall, IInd floor, CCP Building, opposite Cafe Central, off 18th June Road.
Participation: Open to all

Great Big Book Fun Day just a week away

Books can be fun, whether you read them or play games around them. That's the point of the Great Big Book Fun Day, an event due to take place on Saturday, September 5, at the Clube Tennis de Gasper Dias in Miramar.

There are three events planned -- the first, called Mixed Mysteries, is for children from classes 1 to 4. This component is for individual participants, who will be given the task of solving a puzzle related to books.

The main event of the afternoon is a quiz-based board game with the theme of 'Around the World in 80 Minutes'. This game is for children from classes 5 to 8, who will need to participate in teams of three.

The grand finale will be the Bookwise Quiz, open to all students up to class 12. Also for teams of three, this will be an audiovisual quiz on the topic of books and comics.

Kids interested in participating in any of these events can either apply through their schools or directly with the organisers, though for the senior events, they will need to apply as teams of three. Entry to all events is free.

The Great Big Book Fun Day is being organised by the Panjim-based not-for-profit Bookworm library, whose aim is to foster a love of reading among children. The quiz and game content for the senior events is being developed by SEQC members. Reading Habit, the much-loved Panjim bookstore, has offered to sponsor prizes for the winners of the events. The YMCA will also be putting up a snacks stall at the venue.

Registration for the three components are open -- those interested can contact Bookworm at 2420146 or 9823222665, or e-mail bookworm_goa@yahoo.com

The Heritage Quiz - Qs & As

Tata Crucible Goa - Questions

Preliminary:

1. What brand in India is “Seedhi baat, no bakwaas”? – Sprite

2. Which company started off as Western India Vegetable Products? – Wipro

3. Picture – E. Sreedharan

4. Adolf Dassler started Adidas, what did his brother Rudolf start? – Puma

5. Which cement brand was recently acquired by Italcementi? – Zuari Cement

6. Which automobile manufacturer also produces high-end accessories like the P9521 mobile phones & the P8400 sun-glasses? – Porsche

7. Print ad – PETA

8. Which company has introduced a 3” wide touch screen mp3 player with the prefix 3, the 3 signifying 3 stars? – Samsung

9. What did Alexander McRae start as the McRae Hosiery Co.? – Speedo

10. The smallest of this species is Ispidina lecontei, the largest is Megaceryle maxima. What brand name do we get from this species? – Kingfisher

11. Book cover – Narayan Murthy’s A Better India, A Better World

12. Which consulting major has a networking platform called D-Street? – Deloitte

13. Which organization’s newsletter is called Grapevine, which it terms as ‘meeting in print’? – Alcoholics Anonymous

14. The book From Bankruptcy to Billions by Sudhir Kumar & Shagun Mehrotra is the story of the turnaround of which Indian organization? – The Indian Railways

Round 1: (+10)

1. The name of what product, which Vogue magazine termed as the ‘invention of the 20^th century’ in 1908, entered the Oxford English Dictionary a few years later? The word being in French and difficult to pronounce, people began calling it by an abbreviated name, which also enters the OED subsequently. – Bra/Brassiere

2. What technique did Albert Humphrey pioneer at Stanford University in the 1960s using data from Fortune 500 companies? – SWOT Analysis

3. Which Oxford economist of the 18^th century was never given an honorary doctorate by his own university but was honoured by having his image printed on a British currency note? – Adam Smith

4. What is C2A, or Call To Action marketing? – Marketing in which the potential customer is made to get in touch with the marketer, such as a toll free number, or a discount coupon that will bring the customer to the store.

5. What was created by Alexey Pajitnov that has sold 40 million copies, but did not benefit its creator monetarily since he invented it in communist-era Russia? – Tetris

6. What was created for the German Army due to petrol shortages in World War I and became very popular in rural India? – Paraffin

Round 2: Tata (Buzzer, +5/-5)

1. Which Tata company that produces educational books….? – Tata-McGraw Hill

2. What is the old name of Tata Coffee? – Consolidated Coffee

3. Which Tata brand is named after a time of the day? – Eight O’Clock Coffee

Round 3: Visual (+10)

1. Print ad – Coca-cola

2. Picture of a castle – Why does this building earn millions of dollars in royalty payments? – It’s the castle where the Harry Potter movies are shot.

3. Book cover – Nandan Nilekani’s Imagining India.

4. Logo – Fendi

5. Identify the car. – The Vespa 400, the only car manufactured by Piaggio.

Round 4: Connect (Buzzer, +10/-5)

1. Movie with Tushar Kapoor, poster of Liar Liar, scene from some TV serial etc. – Balaji Telefilms

2. Picture of Ted Turner, four brothers, The Wedding Singer poster, Bugs Bunny video – Warner Brothers

3. Dennie Lillee, Steve Waugh, Mammen Mapillai, Suzuki ad – MRF

4. Nadeem, Vaishnodevi, scene from a film etc. – T-Series

Round 5: Three Clues (Buzzer, +15,+10,+5/-10)

1. Naina Lal Kidwai

2. Gulshan Kumar

3. Shiv Nadar