February Monthly 2026- Panjim

                                                 Artwork for Mayur credited to Upesh Pradhan

Traditions have survived millennia for a reason. They provide continuity in a world that feels alien. People die, cities change, our bodies look different. But traditions, and our stories associated with them, will survive. They provide a sense of control and indeed, comfort to the ones left behind. They are illusions, created by mankind to pull the greatest trick of all- immortality.

And so it was yesterday. The show must go on, as is tradition. Mayur once told me , one should aspire to be notorious enough to be featured in a quiz. He would be tickled to know that he was in Annie’s quiz yesterday. I remember in my early days at SEQC, there was a quiz Mayur had hosted and he put in the quote by Carl Sagan (echoing my thoughts for Mayur right now): "In the vastness of space and the immensity of time, it is my joy to share a planet and an epoch with Annie.” He had told me later how much he admired Annie and how lucky he felt to be a part of SEQC.

Of course, he would have wished the circumstances were different. My man had a lot to live for. But as the memorial showed, he had a large life , and an even larger impact on our lives .Death is never the end if one doesn’t want it to be.

The quiz was brief and excellent. However, the SEQC community is large and will hopefully continue for much longer than any of us will be here. But until then, we live to fight another day, ask another question, and show up on the next Sunday. As is tradition.

Teams and Points:

Team 2: 155 points

Ira Prem, Magali Vaz,Julian, Vilas Pavithran,Nikhil, Diwakar Kishore

Team 1: 115 points

Paola Mambro, Dr Chandrashekhar Rao, Ashwin Mascarenhas,Srijit Kumar, Mervyn Fernandes, Parind Phadte

Team 5: 110 points

Chinmay Naik, Swati Parab, Rajiv D’Silva, Anuradha Kedia, Assis Sequeira, Sunil Sardessai, Terrence D’Costa, Anirudh K

Team 6: 105 points

Anjali Sengupta, Devika Shetty, Dr Ira Almeida, Angeline Pradhan, Upesh Pradhan, Raunak Nevgi, Soham Gaunekar

Team 3: 100 points

Kaivalya, Dhimanth, Sanjay, Melchior, Shwetambari, Prabhav Sidheya, Aastha

Team 4: 70 points

Aditya Karve, Omkar Bhurke, Ashwini Joglekar, Ruchira Porob, Abhijit Virgincar, Nitish Wagle, Kanchan Desai