CHENNAI : Local quizzers decided to spend Gandhi Jayanthi by getting to know the country’s rich history, culture, and traditions. The scene at MOP Vaishnav College for Women was bustling with Chennaiites who had come to attend the Bharat Quotient quiz hosted at the college premises. The competition was organised by the college in association with X quiz It and The New Indian Express to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
The hall echoed buzzer sounds and claps. Participants were busy scrolling through Google search results for last-minute preparations. The event was open to all age groups —children, college students, women and senior citizens. Around 110 teams took part in the preliminary round. Each team answered a list of 20 questions covering several aspects of the country. Six teams qualified and competed on the stage.
“This is our second edition. Last year the theme was all things about Gandhi. This year we wanted citizens to know all aspects of their country and hence the topic was generic. The competition has gained momentum and it reflects from the number of participants,” said Jayalakshmi, head of the English Department. Three participants from different age categories who didn’t make it to the finals were given special mention awards.
The questions for the final rounds revolved around a range of topics like unsung sports hero, traditional recipes, railways, festivals, end of British Raj, ISRO, architectural marvels and festivals. “We wanted it to be an enriching experience for the audience too, so we had questions for them in-between the rounds. To make it interesting, we had a mix of picture, audio-visual and rapid fire questions,” said R Arvind, quiz master and creative head of X Quiz It. The top three winners were awarded cash prize of `5,000, `3,000 and `2,000.
the bigwinners
First prize: Deviprasad Vishwanathan and Ravi Mundoli
Second prize: Ramakrishnan N and Ramesh Natarajan
Third prize: Sivakumar VV and Gopal Kidao