iQuizLeague

This Jan, the quizzing capital of India saw a plethora of quality quizzes and the excitement peaked with our very own India Unplugged. It was as if an icing on the cake for quizzers after being treated with awesome quizzes from Dr. Navin(the Kurukshetra Open), Gopal Kidao (K Biz Quiz) and the Back with a bang Ceat open by the Rajiv Rai and team.

The quiz was an Open quiz with teams of three each. Close to 60 teams registered, thus bettering our previous turnout. A total of 180 Indians enjoyed the evening of India quizzing. The title sponsors were BPCL and we had Fruzee and Naihaa as our co-sponsors. The quiz had something for everyone. For quizzers, apart from the quiz being the cherry on the cake, they went home with loads of goodies plus a free Fruzee gift voucher for everyone who set foot inside the auditorium. The auditorium was a good choice especially since the venue reflected a very serene mood and  had a positive aura about it.

The quiz started half an hour later than promised(at 5.00 pm) but that was just to wait for the quizzers to travel from CEAT Open to India Unplugged. The venue was almost full except for the last row, a pleasing sign for us organizers.

At the stroke of five, we started with the National Anthem and a word of thanks to the sponsors. Murthy BVR conducted the prelims and it was a nice show put up by him. The prelims had a mix of almost all topics with a decent tilt on current affairs, thus catering to the quizzers and non quizzers alike. Intelligent guesswork would’ve helped you bag quite a few sitters and quite a few more were cleverly disguised. Murthy, a first time quiz master did a good job compering and the junta was evidently pleased with the questions.Would like your feedback on the prelims and the way the quiz master conducted it.

The Finals was done by Sylvian Patrick, an IQL stalwart. (its the guy in red)

The Finals was a simple no-nonsense quiz with three rounds with 20 questions in the first and third round which followed Infinite bounce format. The second round was a theme round which seemed to be a tough connect for the teams. The finalists were as follows

Thats what She Said (Rajen prabhu, Vibhendu and Sumanth)

QED (swami, Ramana and Samanth – they were the prelim toppers)

No Name(Sriram, Sankhya and Vijay)

3 idiots on the Banyan tree (Priyamvad, anil and Ravi)

Swami and Friends (Alagarswamy, JK and Anil)

Metaquizziks (Arul Mani, Fing, Mitesh)

And that comprised of the who’s who of Chennai quizzing circuit. Quite a few teams had scored decently well in the prelims and barely missed out to make it to the finals. The finals was much tougher than the prelims(as expected) and it saw a stiff competition among the teams to go for the top spot. Self was the scorer and i was holding my breath as three teams (No Name, 3 idiots and thats what she said) kept going neck on neck with each other throughout the quiz at one point during the third round, all the three teams were tied on 65) but  Vijay and team pulled off two beautiful cracks to take sole lead with just two questions remaining. The fight for second boiled down between 3 idiots and Thats what she  said and after 3 tie break questions, 3 idiots won the battle to come second.

There were quite a few beautiful questions and awesome cracks by the finalists. my personal favorites was the three idiots funda and the Jat lancers funda. ‘3 idiots’ surely has reached to the audience  and we are sure you must noticed one of innovative ideas used by Phungsukh Wangdu in his school – the innovative flour mill using a scooter . Did you know that these inventions were sourced from the National Innovation Foundation ( NIF) a venture  set up by Indian government drawing inspiration from grassroot organisation called Honey Bee ? The first round saw intense competition and i guess QED was a tad unlucky as they bore the brunt of the difficult questions most of the times, but then arent they amongst the best in cracking the uncrackable?  The second round was full of vague questions with the teams failing to answer. Headquarters of Iskon  and Manchester of the east were cracked by the audience. Only Swami and friends went on to attempt the theme which they got wrong (a minus 12.5). had they not been wrong on that occasion it would ve been a four way battle to the top.

Gopal Kidao and Ramana, mentors of IQL distrbuted the prizes. there were many light moments during the quiz with the audience passing hilarious comments. During the prize giving session, Sumo fell at Ramana’s feet and was made to wait a full long minute in that position so as to capture it in photo properly.  that left everyone in splits.

Sylvian did a really good job as the quiz master. His is a unique quizmastering style as he tends to focus more on the content than on witty remarks or funny statements. His no-nonsense approach is fast endearing to the quizzers of Chennai. Murthy wasnt far behind. His “lets go for the school kids” seemed to imitate what Rajiv Rai did earlier in the morning but then later he covered the entire crowd and loads of goodies were distributed. Rs.195 worth books from Blaft and Rs250 worth gift vouchers from Naihaa were lapped up by the audience. Plus quite a few extra gift vouchers from Fruzee Ice creams topped the audience prizes.

The core research team spent many a sleepless night in compiling the quiz. It was a problem of plenty for us as there were umpteen questions to choose from. KN,Pantan, Patrick, Sana, Vinod, Vijay and Murthy contributed innumerable questions and Patrick Sana and Pantan had a tough time in choosing. Patrick’s “Chuck this, Chuck that, i am the new Chuck Norris” kinda selection helped in ensembling together a really good set of questions. (i personally felt it was a great job done by these ppl but would love to hear your comments). As a non contributer to the questions, my job was to guage the toughness level of the quiz.

Neha, Subha and Meenu did excellent job behind the scenes and without them the quiz would ve definitely fallen apart. Excellent is an understatement for what they did actually. From posters, printouts, sponsors they took care of the logistics like pros.

We would like to thank our Title Sponsors BPCL

Without them the quiz would ve been a no show.

We are highly indebted to our co sponsors Fruzee they sponsored Rs 25 worth Ice cream coupons to everyone who came. You can redeem your coupons at any Naihaa store. Thanks to them for helping us make our audience happy

Our second co-sponsor Naihaa sponsored gift vouchers for the prize winners and the audience. We would like to convey our heartfelt thanks to them

Blaft and One Good student were our prize sponsors and One good student had a lucky dip prize for our audience which was won by a lucky Swami. Anirudh’s team won the best team name award. www.iloveread.in was our promotional sponsor and Sulekha was our promotional sponsor.

I should mention Gopal Kidao’s support as he helped us with streamlining a few aspects of logistics. Despite his work and quiz research he had to do, he patiently lent us his helping hand. A perfect gentleman. Thanks Kid.

Thank you everyone for making this event a memorable one for us and IQL promises to be back next year. Look forward to it. would love to hear your valuable comments and suggestions. You can single me out for your brickbats and throw bouquets to the team  as you deem fit

Prelims questions

0 – Tamil padam

1- Id the music director (Ilayaraja)

2. For the last 22 years, The Hindu is hosting The Sportstar
trophy competition for Juniors in the field of cricket.
Who won the Player of the Tournament trophy for 1987?

3.On 29th October,1886, a lease indenture for 999 years was made between Maharaja of Travancore and Secretary of State for India for irrigation works. As a part of this indenture, a dam was constructed during 1887-1895 in the then Travancore state Identify this dam.

4. According to Hindu historians, the Muslim emperor Babur came down from Ferghana in 1527 and overcame the Hindu King of Chittodgad, Rana Sangrama Singh at Sikri, using cannons and artillery. After this victory, Babar dominated the subjugated Hindu population. His general, Mir Baqi, was in charge of the region. What historic reason is Mir Baqi famous for?

5. Map depicting Adi Shankracharya’s journey

6. Which “playback singer’s” illustrious singing career started
with this song? (Vishnu Vardhan)

7.The Barren Island volcano is India’s only volcano that erupts once
in a while and then shuts off. Recently it erupted on July 19, 2009.
In which state / union territory is it located?

8. Excerpt from someone talking to Mahatma Gandhi about someone else.
“One of my clearest mental pictures is of Mr. Gandhi sitting with a telegram in his hand looking distinctly puzzled. As I came in, the silence was being broken by a disapproving voice saying “But he’s only a buffoon, there is no point in going to meet him.” The telegram was being handed over for the necessary refusal when I saw the name. “But don’t you know that name, Bapu?’ I inquired, immensely intrigued. ‘No’ he answered, taking back the flimsy form and looking at me for the enlightenment that his secretaries could not give. “________ _______”! He’s the world’s hero. You simply must meet him. His art is rooted in the life of working people, he understands the poor as well as you do, he honours them always in his pictures.“
Fill in the blanks

9.  pic (Pazhassi Raja)

10.The first occurrence of this was on 18th, June 1951. The
94th time this occurred was on 12th,June 2006. What are
we talking about?

11.He was the first administrator in this specific post for 3 countries at
the same time – India, Nepal and Sudan. He also handled one of the
greatest challenges in Indian history during his stint.
Interestingly, his brother was with Rabindranath Tagore at the time
of Tagore’s death. Rabindranath Tagore wanted to write one last
poem in his life, dictated the verses to his brother.
He later gave away the manuscript to a museum in Kolkata. Identify
him.

12.He was born to Nirmala Devi and Nabadwip Chandra. His
grandfather was Ishanachandra who was the Raja of
Tripura from 1849-1862. He began his training in classical
music under his father, who was a Sitarist and Dhrupad
singer.
He married a commoner which created a furore within the
royal family, and subsequently he severed his ties with his
family, and forfeited his inheritance.
Who are we talking about?

13.It is an Indian mythological bird. It is always shown with
two heads and beaks, and believed to possess magnificent
strength. The Wodeyars, the erstwhile Kings of Mysore,
used the bird as their royal logo. It is also present in the
seal of Karnataka. Name the bird

14. _______ is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by people in India and
Pakistan, chiefly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir. It is
now written in Devanāgarī in India.
Intellectuals in the court of Maharaja Ranbir Singh of Jammu and
Kashmir, described _______ as a distorted form of the word
‘Dwigart,’ which means “two troughs,” a possible reference to the
Mansar and Sruinsar Lakes
On 22 December 2003, _______ was recognized as one of the
national languages of India
Name the language

15. He was born to Chundoli Padmanabhan Nair and Elappully
Radhamma in Burma in 1948. He lost his sister when she died of a
sudden illness. As his father’s job at the Burma Oil Pipeline project
took him to different places, his mother wanted him to be based in
Madras for his studies. In 1964, when he finished high school, he
won an All India essay competition sponsored by The Hindu and
was sent to Tokyo to see the Olympics.
In 1970 he co-founded _______ whose current President is P.K.
Biju, MP. Who are we talking about?

16. _______ is a small cantonment town in Solan district in
the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The town is the
home of the _______ brewery, which is the highest
brewery and distillery in the world.
Legend has it that _______came into being when Lord
Hanuman, on his way to getting the Sanjeevani herb,
stepped here for jumping on to the Sanjeevani hill. At
_______ is a Hanuman Mandir atop the 300 meter high
hillock called Manki Point, where Lord Hanuman is
supposed to have rested his feet. Fill in the blanks.

17._______ was born in Kanpur and worked as a postgraduate research
fellow under Homi Bhabha at the Indian Institute of Science at
Bangalore. ________’s teacher, recommended him to Paul Dirac for
research work at Cambridge which would lead to his Ph.D degree
During the course of his Ph.D, he attended a lecture by Wolfgang
Pauli and pointed out a mistake in Pauli’s work. From then on the
two became life long friends.
The Indian Government honoured him by naming an institute
dedicated to Theoretical Physics and Mathematics, in Allahabad,
India. Who is this person?

18. The following are the parameters for judging an entry. What are we
talking about? Which famous company is associated with this? Part
Points are available
Category 1:
★ Personal Risk
★ Situational Intensity
★ Selflessness
Category 2:
★ Determination
★ Foresight
★ Selflessness
★ Perseverance
Category 3:
★ Determination
★ Foresight
★ Selflessness
★ Perseverance

19.It was first grown in India during the 15th century in
Cambay and Malwa. It was an important article of trade
with China and other Eastern countries and the State had
monopoly over it. However, during the later years of the
Moghul Empire, the State lost its hold on the monopoly.
In 1757, the monopoly of its cultivation passed into the
hands of the East India Company. In 1773, Lord Warren
Hastings brought the entire trade under the control of the
Government. The Government has retained its monopoly
since then. What am I talking about?

20. ID (Maria Montessori)

21.The Sikkim Government built a stadium in their district
headquarters Namchi in 2009. The stadium was named
after a very popular sportsperson. Identify the
sportsperson.

22.The British author H. G. Wells wrote of him: “In the
history of the world there have been thousands of kings
and emperors who called themselves ‘Their Highnesses’,
‘Their Majesties’ and ‘Their Exalted Majesties’ and so on.
They shone for a brief moment, and as quickly
disappeared. But _________ shines and shines brightly
like a bright star, even unto this day.” Fill in the blank

23. This was composed by Viswamitra. Vyasa put it into the
third Mandala of the Rig Veda. Agni, Indra, Viswedevah,
Ashwins, Mitra, Rbhus and Ushas are the Devas invoked
through these hymns.
There are 62 Hymns in the 3rd Mandala. The 10th Mantra
of the 62nd Hymn is ________.
Fill in the blanks.

24.______ ______, is an Indian gambling game. This is also
known as Flush. Any number of players can take part
although it is best for about 4 to 7 players.
Before playing it is necessary to agree the value of the
minimum stake. Everyone places this minimum stake in a
pot at the centre of the table. This pot will be won by one
of the players. The players then bet on who has the best
deal. There are two ways to play this – playing seen and
playing blind.
What game are we talking about?

25.Rural villagers would use this to protect their flocks from
thieves and in fights between herdsmen.
This was later popularized by Zamindars who sent ______
groups to forcefully collect taxes from villagers.
Much later, the British soldiers used this effectively to ward
off law-breakers in India. Though the correct word is
baton, the Indian media changed the word to sound more
“Indian”, thus baton became ______. Fill in the blanks

26. This instrument is extremely difficult to play, as a
consequence its popularity is on the decline.
Late Pandit Ram Narayan, Ustad Sabri Khan are few
noted exponents of this Indian instrument. Identify this
instrument.

27. logo(National School of
Drama)

28.Biswamoy Biswas was an Indian ornithologist who was
born in Calcutta. He received a Ph.D. in 1952 from the
University of Calcutta.
He was part of the Daily Mail expedition sent to look for
_____ around Mount Everest in 1954.
A file photo of him with his finding is shown in the next
slide. What was this expedition all about?

29.The slogan: “Wear Lord Krishna’s sacred secrets of peace
and wisdom close to your heart” is present on this product.
Proceeds from the sales of this product will go to Project
Prakash, a NGO which works on correcting congenital
cataract in children. Name the company which has
designed this product?

30. audio

31. pic

32.vid

33.vid

34. Identify the advertiser. It’s an initiative of two companies.
One is the Jang Group of Pakistan. Who is the other?(vid)

35 This is the first Meghdoot post card of India issued as on
02.09.2002 on a film advertisement. It is priced cheaper
than normal post card. 50% of the space available on the
address side of the card is allotted for advertisement with
4 colours. Who is blanked out in this picture? (Baba postcard)

(Review by Hantan and Meenakshi)