Thursday, January 05, 2006
The 20th Offline Meet - Part 2
Prakash-speak
-------------
Like all good things the New Year's offline came to an end.
We tried hard to keep its memory going via the writeups and now, after this 3rd edition of writeups, it is time to forget the past and look forward to the future.
Someone has mooted the next offline be held at Mysore on the 4th/5th February weekend and I will be putting up a poll separately.
BQG Offlines zindabad!
Prakash
---------------
Subramani says:
---------------
If you want an example of a creative quiz, you may have seen it here at the Bangalore Quiz Group. To be a part of such a quiz is always going to be a great fun.
Apart from the technology in use, which was creative any way, the choice of question by Avinash was exceptional. Rather than being in throe of 'BQG's best quiz master', Avinash seem to be enjoying himself. Who won't after working hard and putting together such a wonderful set of questions. Avinash is quite simply 'an action quiz master', I mean he allows his action to do the talking.
Participants also showed quality (not just because I was part of the winning team), as every team had scrambled decent scores at the end. Of course, Avinash kept encouraging everyone to 'make intelligent guesses' and literally threw away chocolates at those who made such guesses.Mayank was a revelation, an example that silence should not be mistaken for bad-quizzing.
Bonfire party and the wonderful dinner in the end came like the icing on the cake. I'm sure the scene of Avinash holding the burning bottle is as memorable as the quiz he conducted, which perhaps, is the best so far in BQG.
Sudheendra states:
------------------
A couple of factors that makes the BQG offline meets stand apart is the spirit, the fun and of course the quiz itself. This one was no different. It was meant to be the year-end quiz. But it turned out to be the mother of all quizzes that BQG has had. Log fire , a great turnout, a great venue, a great food and a even greater quiz. We started off 8 PM and the as the time ticked , AM(Avinash Mudaliar) assured us that we were making good time.
There were 7 teams and our team comprising of Prakash, myself and Suma came in second. For a change Suma was left fumbling with quite a few bolly wood questions. Atlast she had met her match. There are a couple of questions that I shall remember for sometime to come. This one was a visual of a college. Even before the question could be completed, a young dude Kritik blurted without hesitation "Mount Carmel's" . Surprising since MCC is a girls only college ). Hats off to you dude, you certainly know your way.
The other one that will remain in memory is the music sheet with all notations. That was the music sheet for our National Anthem. Mayank was reall quick on quite a few questions and they ended on top of the heap. For a change,because the Avinash himself was the quiz master. So
next time we shal all fight for the second place , bcos Avinash will be back on the teams (!!!!!!!!!!! )
Once again I would like to place on record, this is one of the best quizzes that I have attended at BQG . Rajib was a great host and Avinash was in his elements with his one liners and and his questions.
Looking forward to the next quiz and wishing a very happy new year to all members of BQG !!!
Mukunth's short writeup:
------------------------
There were many ways of putting an end to the year gone by. Using light sabers was one…. The Molotov cocktail was a sure shot. And that was what happened on December, 30. Avinash proved he could be both an `Inquilab' and an `Amitabh' on a cold and starry night at KB Sandra.
(well that makes that place sound really cool), as 2005 was waved a big goodbye and 2006 was ushered in with wine and food. The quiz was excellent and certainly set the ball rolling for the New Year.
The event was well planned right and the host Rajib left `non stein' (No stone in German for those who missed out on the quiz) to make the event a resounding success. I was a first timer and thank Prakash and BQG for offering an excellent opportunity to welcome the New Year.
Happy New Year everyone.
-------------
Like all good things the New Year's offline came to an end.
We tried hard to keep its memory going via the writeups and now, after this 3rd edition of writeups, it is time to forget the past and look forward to the future.
Someone has mooted the next offline be held at Mysore on the 4th/5th February weekend and I will be putting up a poll separately.
BQG Offlines zindabad!
Prakash
---------------
Subramani says:
---------------
If you want an example of a creative quiz, you may have seen it here at the Bangalore Quiz Group. To be a part of such a quiz is always going to be a great fun.
Apart from the technology in use, which was creative any way, the choice of question by Avinash was exceptional. Rather than being in throe of 'BQG's best quiz master', Avinash seem to be enjoying himself. Who won't after working hard and putting together such a wonderful set of questions. Avinash is quite simply 'an action quiz master', I mean he allows his action to do the talking.
Participants also showed quality (not just because I was part of the winning team), as every team had scrambled decent scores at the end. Of course, Avinash kept encouraging everyone to 'make intelligent guesses' and literally threw away chocolates at those who made such guesses.Mayank was a revelation, an example that silence should not be mistaken for bad-quizzing.
Bonfire party and the wonderful dinner in the end came like the icing on the cake. I'm sure the scene of Avinash holding the burning bottle is as memorable as the quiz he conducted, which perhaps, is the best so far in BQG.
Sudheendra states:
------------------
A couple of factors that makes the BQG offline meets stand apart is the spirit, the fun and of course the quiz itself. This one was no different. It was meant to be the year-end quiz. But it turned out to be the mother of all quizzes that BQG has had. Log fire , a great turnout, a great venue, a great food and a even greater quiz. We started off 8 PM and the as the time ticked , AM(Avinash Mudaliar) assured us that we were making good time.
There were 7 teams and our team comprising of Prakash, myself and Suma came in second. For a change Suma was left fumbling with quite a few bolly wood questions. Atlast she had met her match. There are a couple of questions that I shall remember for sometime to come. This one was a visual of a college. Even before the question could be completed, a young dude Kritik blurted without hesitation "Mount Carmel's" . Surprising since MCC is a girls only college ). Hats off to you dude, you certainly know your way.
The other one that will remain in memory is the music sheet with all notations. That was the music sheet for our National Anthem. Mayank was reall quick on quite a few questions and they ended on top of the heap. For a change,because the Avinash himself was the quiz master. So
next time we shal all fight for the second place , bcos Avinash will be back on the teams (!!!!!!!!!!! )
Once again I would like to place on record, this is one of the best quizzes that I have attended at BQG . Rajib was a great host and Avinash was in his elements with his one liners and and his questions.
Looking forward to the next quiz and wishing a very happy new year to all members of BQG !!!
Mukunth's short writeup:
------------------------
There were many ways of putting an end to the year gone by. Using light sabers was one…. The Molotov cocktail was a sure shot. And that was what happened on December, 30. Avinash proved he could be both an `Inquilab' and an `Amitabh' on a cold and starry night at KB Sandra.
(well that makes that place sound really cool), as 2005 was waved a big goodbye and 2006 was ushered in with wine and food. The quiz was excellent and certainly set the ball rolling for the New Year.
The event was well planned right and the host Rajib left `non stein' (No stone in German for those who missed out on the quiz) to make the event a resounding success. I was a first timer and thank Prakash and BQG for offering an excellent opportunity to welcome the New Year.
Happy New Year everyone.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
The 20th Offline Meet - Part 1
Tongue-in-cheek foreword by Prakash:
-----------------------------------
Strange goings on in Rajib's house: The Don is his den. The mother of King Solomon keeps him company, quietly.
Take a look at this pic and you will swear that it is Avinash Mudaliar's long lost brother.
http://www.bangalorequizgroup.com/jan06/jan07.jpg
It is, in fact, George Lucas. Maybe the Mudaliar's and the Lucas' share some long forgotten ancestor? I have written to GL to supply a hair sample (from a decent part of his body) so that I can try and match AM's DNA with his.
http://www.bangalorequizgroup.com/jan06/jan07.jpg
Replace the guy in the above pic by Avinash and you won't be off the mark. That's exactly how terrorist Avinash looked when he held the flaming Pepsi bottle.
Someone got drunk and asked me whether whose c**k got stuck in the wine bottle. "No, it was a corkscrew" I told the dude. "Screw?" he exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. "No! No! No!" I replied and quickly walked away before things got out of hand.
"Nani yaad dila doonga" Rajiv Gandhi famously swore. Inspired by this Avinash actually managed to make Golie remember his grandma during the quiz!
Now that I have put you inthe proper frame of mind, do enjoy the writeup, dudes!
Rajib's Writeup
---------------
Before I even begin writing something about the offline meet, I need to acknowledge 3 people. Without their help the offline would not have been as good as it been.
First, I would like to thank Arun. He is a friend of mine and we often team up for quizzes. It was he who got us the projector for the show and that even without any cost. Arun promised me that he will be there for the event but because it was his last day in his ex-current company, he could not make it. Thanks much Arun for your help.
Next up are my kids Corleone and Bathsheba. They stunned me with their behaviour. Generally if I am at home they would not even spend a moment locked up some place. But that day, I dont know what prompted them to be so nice and well behaved. Thanks kiddos.
Well now coming to the offline .....
At the very offset, I had warned Prakash that getting to my place would really be an ordeal. But at the same time promised him that once people make it they will not be dissappointed. And I am sure you all enjoyed it. At this point I must commend the sense of direction of Prathibha. She was the only one who got to my place without making a single call to me asking for directions.
The quiz was a brilliant one. Even though I could barely sit through the quiz because of other things that needed my attention, whatever time I was there I found the quality of the questions upto to the mark or at times even higher. The participants were equally brilliant doling out answers with ease. Thanks to Avinash for treating our grey cells to some high quality quizzing.
And then came food, drinks and fire. Once again Avinash stole the show by his brilliant stunt of holding a would-be Molotov Cocktail in his hand (somehow his hand always gets the due attention all the time !!!!!). He aptly was humming "Come on baby light my fire" ( Is there anybody out there ?)
The fire raged on till 4:30 in the morning. Most of the people had gone home by 1 am. Me along with Azhar, Venkat, Pai & Saurabh kept the company of the warm hearth and just drowned ourselves in alcohol. Finally we retired and slumped for few winks of sleep. I had real fun after a long long time.
Thanks to everyone for turning up and making this event a memorable one ........
Ananda Rao's analysis
---------------------
Bangalore Quiz Group
I came for my very first offline quiz of BQG with great expectation, and they were all exceeded! Great group, excellent quiz, fantastic ambience & very capable organization- Quizzing at its best, most definitely. Padma & Shashwati too enjoyed it tremendously.
Looking forward to the next time we get together.
Some important highlights-
- Avinash’s first attempt at terrorism
- Saffola can set your heart on fire.
- Goldie’s corkscrew stuck in the cork.
- Rajib’s ajeeb dogs that don’t bite,
- Mentioning Mount Carmel can get you Caramel chocolate
- Just one more question & team 7 would have got a net negative score.
FUN UNLIMITED by Goldie
-----------------------
The last offline (We christened it the New Year Quiz)was the most amazing one I have come across in this birth of mine.
Not exaggerating guys, trust me..it was the 'mother of all quizzes', as Prakash puts it.
Avinash has a knack of setting his own standards and beating them time and again by several notches. And possibly his is the only quiz where I never sulk on not being able to emerge winners.
The reason remains simple: The quiz itself is so much fun that a win or loss doesnt dampen the excitement. There were many a 'best' questions for that evening, but what really stole the show was the amazing "Star War"-esque intro that Avinash has put together...an amazing piece of visual designing I must add.
The very fact that he spent so much time on putting together that awesome curtain-raiser, goes to show what being a BQG members means to us...we all go to levels of committment and passion as not displayed by any other quiz group on the face of the earth.
The one question which did elicit lot of emotions from me was the one where the QM asked to connect a temple with another b/w picture of a land slit into two parts. Of course, I knew what he was talking about. As the picture in question was of my Grandmother's town (Sitamarhi), and the temple dedicatd to Sita. It also reminded me of the conversation I had with my granny
when I was barely 10, and he told me about the 1934 earthquake in eastern india. She was there to witness that earthquake, and here after 71 years, Avinash projects the pictures of that earthquake ravage in front of my eyes.......that was really a special question. Thanks Avinash!--You made me think of my granny..something I hadn't done in a long time...
What followed after the quiz was even more exciting...log fire..drinks (including my favorite wine bottle un-corked with the 'cork-screw' breaking mid-way on its way to the cork.), and a wonderful gathering of people--many first-timers.
After the event, I have decided to give Rajib Saha a middle name (in case he doesnt have it already). It would now be Rajib 'Hospitality at its Best' Saha. The evening was truly eventful with petrol-filled pepsi bottle bursting into flames, people enjoying the warmth of log-fire, catching up with friends long lost, and getting to know many interesting new faces.
While I was the first person to arrive at Rajib's place, I did leave before many others. And the evening stayed eventful till the time I reached home. Just when I was leaving the venue, it hit me like a bolt of lightening that I was not having with me the keys to the main gate of my home. In the bomb scare that happened during the day, the whole bunch of house keys
still remained in a frozen state in my office. And all I had was one single key (borrowed from my maid) to my floor. But no keys to the main gate...So well..the evening ended with me actually jumping over a high-wall (like a thief), and finding my way into the house....
But all's well that ends well...and it was indeed a great evening--memories of which shall linger for a long time to come..
Can't wait to be there at the next offline.
SUMA'S SPIEL
------------
We were hopelessly lost, circling the area for close to 40 minutes, when Rajib generously offered to pick us up from a point he himself had trouble finding. In the end, it was worth the wait. Avinash -- in true Avinash-ishtyle -- started, literally, with a bang what I call it Star Wars Redux!!
With Sudheendra and Prakash in my team, confidence washigh. We got off to a slow start but Prakash cracked some visual clues in a jiffy, taking us to arespectable total. Sudheendra hit the bullseye withthe context behind the latest hit Kannada film song that is also a folk song. Me, this time I needed prodding from the quiz master himself to blurt out a couple of correct answers.
The Jedi Master had some pretty cool theme-connects, which our cowardly team did not attempt. They say fortune favours the brave. This time, it favoured us -- somewhat. While two other teams valiantly declared answers and lost points by the sackful, we tortoises plodded cautiously along, finishing second, thank you very much.
It was great to see such a huge turnout after quite some time. A couple of youngsters cornered a fairshare of the chocolates given out for the JM's favourite questions. It was also nice to see a family for a change -- Mr Anand Rao with wife and daughter, newly returned from Hong Kong.
The log fire took a while and quite some prodding from all manners of chemicals, but Prakash, Rajib and Avinash didn't quit till it was roaring at its warmestbest. This time, there were other elements helping us keep warm. Great Spirits, so to speak. Excellent food too.
And though I'm slightly terrified of dogs, it was sad to see Rajib's two gorgeous Golden Retrievers waiting patiently to be let into the house.
All in all, an excellent time!!
-----------------------------------
Strange goings on in Rajib's house: The Don is his den. The mother of King Solomon keeps him company, quietly.
Take a look at this pic and you will swear that it is Avinash Mudaliar's long lost brother.
http://www.bangalorequizgroup.com/jan06/jan07.jpg
It is, in fact, George Lucas. Maybe the Mudaliar's and the Lucas' share some long forgotten ancestor? I have written to GL to supply a hair sample (from a decent part of his body) so that I can try and match AM's DNA with his.
http://www.bangalorequizgroup.com/jan06/jan07.jpg
Replace the guy in the above pic by Avinash and you won't be off the mark. That's exactly how terrorist Avinash looked when he held the flaming Pepsi bottle.
Someone got drunk and asked me whether whose c**k got stuck in the wine bottle. "No, it was a corkscrew" I told the dude. "Screw?" he exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. "No! No! No!" I replied and quickly walked away before things got out of hand.
"Nani yaad dila doonga" Rajiv Gandhi famously swore. Inspired by this Avinash actually managed to make Golie remember his grandma during the quiz!
Now that I have put you inthe proper frame of mind, do enjoy the writeup, dudes!
Rajib's Writeup
---------------
Before I even begin writing something about the offline meet, I need to acknowledge 3 people. Without their help the offline would not have been as good as it been.
First, I would like to thank Arun. He is a friend of mine and we often team up for quizzes. It was he who got us the projector for the show and that even without any cost. Arun promised me that he will be there for the event but because it was his last day in his ex-current company, he could not make it. Thanks much Arun for your help.
Next up are my kids Corleone and Bathsheba. They stunned me with their behaviour. Generally if I am at home they would not even spend a moment locked up some place. But that day, I dont know what prompted them to be so nice and well behaved. Thanks kiddos.
Well now coming to the offline .....
At the very offset, I had warned Prakash that getting to my place would really be an ordeal. But at the same time promised him that once people make it they will not be dissappointed. And I am sure you all enjoyed it. At this point I must commend the sense of direction of Prathibha. She was the only one who got to my place without making a single call to me asking for directions.
The quiz was a brilliant one. Even though I could barely sit through the quiz because of other things that needed my attention, whatever time I was there I found the quality of the questions upto to the mark or at times even higher. The participants were equally brilliant doling out answers with ease. Thanks to Avinash for treating our grey cells to some high quality quizzing.
And then came food, drinks and fire. Once again Avinash stole the show by his brilliant stunt of holding a would-be Molotov Cocktail in his hand (somehow his hand always gets the due attention all the time !!!!!). He aptly was humming "Come on baby light my fire" ( Is there anybody out there ?)
The fire raged on till 4:30 in the morning. Most of the people had gone home by 1 am. Me along with Azhar, Venkat, Pai & Saurabh kept the company of the warm hearth and just drowned ourselves in alcohol. Finally we retired and slumped for few winks of sleep. I had real fun after a long long time.
Thanks to everyone for turning up and making this event a memorable one ........
Ananda Rao's analysis
---------------------
Bangalore Quiz Group
I came for my very first offline quiz of BQG with great expectation, and they were all exceeded! Great group, excellent quiz, fantastic ambience & very capable organization- Quizzing at its best, most definitely. Padma & Shashwati too enjoyed it tremendously.
Looking forward to the next time we get together.
Some important highlights-
- Avinash’s first attempt at terrorism
- Saffola can set your heart on fire.
- Goldie’s corkscrew stuck in the cork.
- Rajib’s ajeeb dogs that don’t bite,
- Mentioning Mount Carmel can get you Caramel chocolate
- Just one more question & team 7 would have got a net negative score.
FUN UNLIMITED by Goldie
-----------------------
The last offline (We christened it the New Year Quiz)was the most amazing one I have come across in this birth of mine.
Not exaggerating guys, trust me..it was the 'mother of all quizzes', as Prakash puts it.
Avinash has a knack of setting his own standards and beating them time and again by several notches. And possibly his is the only quiz where I never sulk on not being able to emerge winners.
The reason remains simple: The quiz itself is so much fun that a win or loss doesnt dampen the excitement. There were many a 'best' questions for that evening, but what really stole the show was the amazing "Star War"-esque intro that Avinash has put together...an amazing piece of visual designing I must add.
The very fact that he spent so much time on putting together that awesome curtain-raiser, goes to show what being a BQG members means to us...we all go to levels of committment and passion as not displayed by any other quiz group on the face of the earth.
The one question which did elicit lot of emotions from me was the one where the QM asked to connect a temple with another b/w picture of a land slit into two parts. Of course, I knew what he was talking about. As the picture in question was of my Grandmother's town (Sitamarhi), and the temple dedicatd to Sita. It also reminded me of the conversation I had with my granny
when I was barely 10, and he told me about the 1934 earthquake in eastern india. She was there to witness that earthquake, and here after 71 years, Avinash projects the pictures of that earthquake ravage in front of my eyes.......that was really a special question. Thanks Avinash!--You made me think of my granny..something I hadn't done in a long time...
What followed after the quiz was even more exciting...log fire..drinks (including my favorite wine bottle un-corked with the 'cork-screw' breaking mid-way on its way to the cork.), and a wonderful gathering of people--many first-timers.
After the event, I have decided to give Rajib Saha a middle name (in case he doesnt have it already). It would now be Rajib 'Hospitality at its Best' Saha. The evening was truly eventful with petrol-filled pepsi bottle bursting into flames, people enjoying the warmth of log-fire, catching up with friends long lost, and getting to know many interesting new faces.
While I was the first person to arrive at Rajib's place, I did leave before many others. And the evening stayed eventful till the time I reached home. Just when I was leaving the venue, it hit me like a bolt of lightening that I was not having with me the keys to the main gate of my home. In the bomb scare that happened during the day, the whole bunch of house keys
still remained in a frozen state in my office. And all I had was one single key (borrowed from my maid) to my floor. But no keys to the main gate...So well..the evening ended with me actually jumping over a high-wall (like a thief), and finding my way into the house....
But all's well that ends well...and it was indeed a great evening--memories of which shall linger for a long time to come..
Can't wait to be there at the next offline.
SUMA'S SPIEL
------------
We were hopelessly lost, circling the area for close to 40 minutes, when Rajib generously offered to pick us up from a point he himself had trouble finding. In the end, it was worth the wait. Avinash -- in true Avinash-ishtyle -- started, literally, with a bang what I call it Star Wars Redux!!
With Sudheendra and Prakash in my team, confidence washigh. We got off to a slow start but Prakash cracked some visual clues in a jiffy, taking us to arespectable total. Sudheendra hit the bullseye withthe context behind the latest hit Kannada film song that is also a folk song. Me, this time I needed prodding from the quiz master himself to blurt out a couple of correct answers.
The Jedi Master had some pretty cool theme-connects, which our cowardly team did not attempt. They say fortune favours the brave. This time, it favoured us -- somewhat. While two other teams valiantly declared answers and lost points by the sackful, we tortoises plodded cautiously along, finishing second, thank you very much.
It was great to see such a huge turnout after quite some time. A couple of youngsters cornered a fairshare of the chocolates given out for the JM's favourite questions. It was also nice to see a family for a change -- Mr Anand Rao with wife and daughter, newly returned from Hong Kong.
The log fire took a while and quite some prodding from all manners of chemicals, but Prakash, Rajib and Avinash didn't quit till it was roaring at its warmestbest. This time, there were other elements helping us keep warm. Great Spirits, so to speak. Excellent food too.
And though I'm slightly terrified of dogs, it was sad to see Rajib's two gorgeous Golden Retrievers waiting patiently to be let into the house.
All in all, an excellent time!!
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
The 20th Offline Meet: 30th December 2005
Quizmaster: Avinash Mudaliar
Venue: Rajib's Place
This quiz is also known as the log fire quiz! :-)
-----------------------------------------------
Guys, you have to read between the lines, add 2+2 and come up with
4.01, understand innuendo etc. etc.
Also, please make a note that 'sarve' means 'wood' in Kannada.
Since this is a unique writeup, it is being featured first.
Balance writeups will appear tomorrow, at the same time.
Stay tuned!
Prakash
=======
*******************************
***AVINASH'S OFFLINE WRITEUP***
*******************************
As the usual suspects lay in wait for the Bangalore Quiz Group's New
Year Quiz...This is a re-telling of the processes which occurred in
the deep recesses of the background or is that back yard.
3 Days before the quiz:
-----------------------
Rajib: Hello
Avinash: Hi, dude... Wassup?
Rajib: Have you finished setting the quiz?
A: Nearly, why?
Rajib: Hmmmmmm
A: Why...
R: Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
A: Why!!!!!
R: Hmmm..Pummpa...Hmmmma ....Pummmmpaa..Hmmmmmmmmmm
A: Hey, Wassup, da?
R: Dude, we have a small problem.
A: What?
R: No, no, its really small...minute...miniscule...molecule...atomic...
A: If it is that small, why don't you tell me about it?
R: Actually, it's cathodic
A: What?
R: No probs, I'll take care of it.
A: But, what exactly is it?
R: My TV is just cracked up. It refuses any kind of transmission.
Antennal, intra-venal or otherwise. I see no rays of hope.
My TV is not working, dude...My TV is not
functional...dysfunctional...kaput....transsexual...oops....forget
that. It just came with the flow... (Tears...)All my Friends, my
neighbor's desperate housewives... All of them, have left me.
A: Rajib, you call that a small problem. Man, I can understand how you
feel...This is mammoth...gigantic...bigger than gigantic...This is a
"I need to reach my hands on the thesaurus for synonyms" kind of a
situation.. Especially, since I don't have neighbors who are married.
R: Avinash, I understand, how you feel. I see that you understand how
I feel...
A: But inspite of all this feeling and understanding, how do we solve
this?
R: Hmmmmm
A: Hmmmm...What Rajib?
R: Dude, did you just realize, what has just happened? I mean, the
magnitude if it all, et al
A: (Trying out his Bogie impersonation) Yeah, your tube's gone kaput
and I don't see how we are gonna be seeing the quiz, eh?
R: No... Its bigger than that... We have understood each other. You
understand how I feel about these feelings and vice versa...This is
the beginning of a beautiful friendship...
A: Boss, that was supposed to be my line...I am the one playing Bogie!!
R: So, what do we do?
A: Hmmmm
R: Hmmmmmmm
A:Hmmmmmmmmm Tummmmm..ding ding daaa daaa, ding ding daa daa..
R and A together decide to call on the High Priest of the
congregation, Prakash....
Scene Ends....
Act 11
------
Rajib: Hi Prakash
Prakash: Hi Avinash
R: Prakash, we might have a problem without the TV
P: Yeah
R: So what do we do?
P: C'mon Rajib...I think Avinash and you are experienced enough to
come up a solution.
R: Actually, we can...
P: See...
P: I'm getting a call...Call back if you need anything.
P: Ya, Avinash..
A: Prakaaaash...
P: Avinash, I have already discussed it with Rajib...
A: ok
A: Bye...
Scene Ends....
Now you know why Prakash has different appellations... like the Oracle
of Namahah, The Voice, The Sound of Sanjaynagara, The Guru of Jai-
nagara, The Bullet of the Dodda Bandhooku (Big Gun, in lowly anglical
terms), High Priest etc ...
Avinash and his merry men sit with his TV, some video and audio
cables, with inputs from Goldie (aka the Oracle of IBM) trying to
figure out different ways to make this work. And it did...after a few
software downloads, a few lines of code to make the software compatible...
That is another story...
------------------------
P.S. Meanwhile, Rajib was up to some mega - networking, which none of
us were aware of...More about it in Scene X line - XXX
P.S. II : Goldie (aka the kind soul, one really needs to meet him, to
know him) continuously linked up, genuinely concerned, and helped (as
usual: Help and Goldie are synonyms in the OED, or check out the HELP
menu on your machines!) us with words of encouragement.
The Day before D-Day
--------------------
Prakash: Hi Avinash, Good Morning...How are you placed today?
A: I'm okay, do we need to something specific?
P: Yes, the time has come...
A: For what?
P: For us....
P:To go and pick up wood
A: What?
P: The fuel that consumes all...the basis of fire... the element that
makes us hot... the wood.
A: blink....blink...
P: For the log fire, dude
A: laughter...Cool...Where do we need to go?
P: I know the place. But we need to survey.
A: Okay, will come and pick you up post lunch
Post Lunch...
Prakash, his relative Gopi, an expert in all things wooden and me go
to the log house
At the log house: The Survey for Sarve
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A: Saar, wood beku (We need wood.)
Lord of the Log Manor: For what?
A:(Tempted to say a million things)
P: For a log fire
A: Yeah, for a logfire...(We wanna heat our booties)
LoLM:How many kgs?
Gopi provided valuable insights into the time span of a log burning
and how much of wood, we would need.
A: Prakash, we need smoke-less wood...
P: Definitely, At BQG we have always been eco-friendly.
A: Lord, we would need smokeless wood...What kind of wood do you have?
LoLM: We are the lords of all the wood you can survey. We have Jungle
wood, Forest wood, Wood wood...
P: Which of it is smokeless?
LoLM: Hmmmmmmmm
Gopi: Try sarve (survey). Give us 25 kgs of Sarve.
LoLM was displeased .His secret was no longer a secret... We knew the
right logs to buy. He was distraught. He delved into the heathen
depths of his logworld and appeared with the most potent of sarve
doubled with some chakke (bark). It looked like
we had asked 25 pounds of his flesh. His act beat all the wood
merchants of Venice (make that, Arsikere).
Glances were exchanged.
Then hard cash was...His face bore a wooden look.
A: Boss, do you have any Sandal wood?
He glared...
We scrammed....
We were ready to light many babies' fires!!
Scene Ends.
D-Day
-----
The day dawned.
BQGers looked at the clocks...
The day cycles couldn't be cut shorter so we waited. It was
evening...It was time.
To cut a long trail short. We got lost...(inspite of map) in the
woods...with the wood... And the TV and us...
Calls were made from one to all, and from all to Rajib. Prathibha
reached first, like a homing pigeon (Prakash's apt words)
Finally all of us got there in one place in different pieces.
Great turnout.
The usual suspects were all there: Suma, Sunil, Goldie, Sudheendra and
the rest of us.
Rajib, the man, had pulled the ace.
He got the best from the best.
Pepsi from Pepsico, Juice from Oranges and Booze from all over
including Scotch from Scotland and not Uncle Scot!
The food was Chinese and need I say, It was from the Chinese (born and
bread in Calcutta to add the Indian flavor!)
But, the biggest coup of all...
He had acquired projection equipment thanks to a friend from Acer and
the best audio equipment, thanks to Japs. Since, it was a small
gathering (large by our standards), he decided to give Amar Bose's
contraptions a miss this time...
Then the Quiz happened. Conducted by yours truly...
Comments on the quiz, welcome...
Brickbats can be aimed at me, bouquets towards BQG and Prakash.
Post the Quiz
++++++++++++++
After food for thought, the imminent next was the thought of food.
Rajib's terraces were marauded by us hungry souls.
The log fire was set to happen, while Rajib and me did a tribal hand
shake...The parts of the anatomy which shook including my belly have
been purposefully edited out.
The fire started. So did the revelry. The wine flowed...Men were floored.
Sunil, Suma and me entertained ourselves with our own brand of humor.
It is essentially a BQG thing. We seem to find something funny in the
most irate of issues.
We found the fire slightly tepid. I decided to heat 'em timbers! The
petrol was poured into the fire. And I had first taste of a Molotov
cocktail. The bottle I held had caught fire! It was my first taste of
revolution! I felt the red of the Red Flags in my veins...
Actually, I didn't have time to feel anything of that sort but I guess
it must be the closest I ever got to throwing petrol bombs...
Later, Anand Rao and me dealt with mechanics of the firing embers by
providing a healthy, fuel for the heart and the fire alike. It was
also a healthy experience in brand burning!
Saffola was the brand. Other brands burnt included DH, ET, TOI etc...
Rajib had hidden his favorite magazines!
The fire was great. We settled down to some memorable banter and
leg-pulling.
The clock struck thirteen. We left for home...Our feet and hearts
warm...while Rajib was last heard asking for numbers of horologists...
We met again the next day...and the next...
But that is another story.
Happy New Year!
The memory remains....
Thanks all
Avinash Mudaliar
Venue: Rajib's Place
This quiz is also known as the log fire quiz! :-)
-----------------------------------------------
Guys, you have to read between the lines, add 2+2 and come up with
4.01, understand innuendo etc. etc.
Also, please make a note that 'sarve' means 'wood' in Kannada.
Since this is a unique writeup, it is being featured first.
Balance writeups will appear tomorrow, at the same time.
Stay tuned!
Prakash
=======
*******************************
***AVINASH'S OFFLINE WRITEUP***
*******************************
As the usual suspects lay in wait for the Bangalore Quiz Group's New
Year Quiz...This is a re-telling of the processes which occurred in
the deep recesses of the background or is that back yard.
3 Days before the quiz:
-----------------------
Rajib: Hello
Avinash: Hi, dude... Wassup?
Rajib: Have you finished setting the quiz?
A: Nearly, why?
Rajib: Hmmmmmm
A: Why...
R: Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
A: Why!!!!!
R: Hmmm..Pummpa...Hmmmma ....Pummmmpaa..Hmmmmmmmmmm
A: Hey, Wassup, da?
R: Dude, we have a small problem.
A: What?
R: No, no, its really small...minute...miniscule...molecule...atomic...
A: If it is that small, why don't you tell me about it?
R: Actually, it's cathodic
A: What?
R: No probs, I'll take care of it.
A: But, what exactly is it?
R: My TV is just cracked up. It refuses any kind of transmission.
Antennal, intra-venal or otherwise. I see no rays of hope.
My TV is not working, dude...My TV is not
functional...dysfunctional...kaput....transsexual...oops....forget
that. It just came with the flow... (Tears...)All my Friends, my
neighbor's desperate housewives... All of them, have left me.
A: Rajib, you call that a small problem. Man, I can understand how you
feel...This is mammoth...gigantic...bigger than gigantic...This is a
"I need to reach my hands on the thesaurus for synonyms" kind of a
situation.. Especially, since I don't have neighbors who are married.
R: Avinash, I understand, how you feel. I see that you understand how
I feel...
A: But inspite of all this feeling and understanding, how do we solve
this?
R: Hmmmmm
A: Hmmmm...What Rajib?
R: Dude, did you just realize, what has just happened? I mean, the
magnitude if it all, et al
A: (Trying out his Bogie impersonation) Yeah, your tube's gone kaput
and I don't see how we are gonna be seeing the quiz, eh?
R: No... Its bigger than that... We have understood each other. You
understand how I feel about these feelings and vice versa...This is
the beginning of a beautiful friendship...
A: Boss, that was supposed to be my line...I am the one playing Bogie!!
R: So, what do we do?
A: Hmmmm
R: Hmmmmmmm
A:Hmmmmmmmmm Tummmmm..ding ding daaa daaa, ding ding daa daa..
R and A together decide to call on the High Priest of the
congregation, Prakash....
Scene Ends....
Act 11
------
Rajib: Hi Prakash
Prakash: Hi Avinash
R: Prakash, we might have a problem without the TV
P: Yeah
R: So what do we do?
P: C'mon Rajib...I think Avinash and you are experienced enough to
come up a solution.
R: Actually, we can...
P: See...
P: I'm getting a call...Call back if you need anything.
P: Ya, Avinash..
A: Prakaaaash...
P: Avinash, I have already discussed it with Rajib...
A: ok
A: Bye...
Scene Ends....
Now you know why Prakash has different appellations... like the Oracle
of Namahah, The Voice, The Sound of Sanjaynagara, The Guru of Jai-
nagara, The Bullet of the Dodda Bandhooku (Big Gun, in lowly anglical
terms), High Priest etc ...
Avinash and his merry men sit with his TV, some video and audio
cables, with inputs from Goldie (aka the Oracle of IBM) trying to
figure out different ways to make this work. And it did...after a few
software downloads, a few lines of code to make the software compatible...
That is another story...
------------------------
P.S. Meanwhile, Rajib was up to some mega - networking, which none of
us were aware of...More about it in Scene X line - XXX
P.S. II : Goldie (aka the kind soul, one really needs to meet him, to
know him) continuously linked up, genuinely concerned, and helped (as
usual: Help and Goldie are synonyms in the OED, or check out the HELP
menu on your machines!) us with words of encouragement.
The Day before D-Day
--------------------
Prakash: Hi Avinash, Good Morning...How are you placed today?
A: I'm okay, do we need to something specific?
P: Yes, the time has come...
A: For what?
P: For us....
P:To go and pick up wood
A: What?
P: The fuel that consumes all...the basis of fire... the element that
makes us hot... the wood.
A: blink....blink...
P: For the log fire, dude
A: laughter...Cool...Where do we need to go?
P: I know the place. But we need to survey.
A: Okay, will come and pick you up post lunch
Post Lunch...
Prakash, his relative Gopi, an expert in all things wooden and me go
to the log house
At the log house: The Survey for Sarve
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A: Saar, wood beku (We need wood.)
Lord of the Log Manor: For what?
A:(Tempted to say a million things)
P: For a log fire
A: Yeah, for a logfire...(We wanna heat our booties)
LoLM:How many kgs?
Gopi provided valuable insights into the time span of a log burning
and how much of wood, we would need.
A: Prakash, we need smoke-less wood...
P: Definitely, At BQG we have always been eco-friendly.
A: Lord, we would need smokeless wood...What kind of wood do you have?
LoLM: We are the lords of all the wood you can survey. We have Jungle
wood, Forest wood, Wood wood...
P: Which of it is smokeless?
LoLM: Hmmmmmmmm
Gopi: Try sarve (survey). Give us 25 kgs of Sarve.
LoLM was displeased .His secret was no longer a secret... We knew the
right logs to buy. He was distraught. He delved into the heathen
depths of his logworld and appeared with the most potent of sarve
doubled with some chakke (bark). It looked like
we had asked 25 pounds of his flesh. His act beat all the wood
merchants of Venice (make that, Arsikere).
Glances were exchanged.
Then hard cash was...His face bore a wooden look.
A: Boss, do you have any Sandal wood?
He glared...
We scrammed....
We were ready to light many babies' fires!!
Scene Ends.
D-Day
-----
The day dawned.
BQGers looked at the clocks...
The day cycles couldn't be cut shorter so we waited. It was
evening...It was time.
To cut a long trail short. We got lost...(inspite of map) in the
woods...with the wood... And the TV and us...
Calls were made from one to all, and from all to Rajib. Prathibha
reached first, like a homing pigeon (Prakash's apt words)
Finally all of us got there in one place in different pieces.
Great turnout.
The usual suspects were all there: Suma, Sunil, Goldie, Sudheendra and
the rest of us.
Rajib, the man, had pulled the ace.
He got the best from the best.
Pepsi from Pepsico, Juice from Oranges and Booze from all over
including Scotch from Scotland and not Uncle Scot!
The food was Chinese and need I say, It was from the Chinese (born and
bread in Calcutta to add the Indian flavor!)
But, the biggest coup of all...
He had acquired projection equipment thanks to a friend from Acer and
the best audio equipment, thanks to Japs. Since, it was a small
gathering (large by our standards), he decided to give Amar Bose's
contraptions a miss this time...
Then the Quiz happened. Conducted by yours truly...
Comments on the quiz, welcome...
Brickbats can be aimed at me, bouquets towards BQG and Prakash.
Post the Quiz
++++++++++++++
After food for thought, the imminent next was the thought of food.
Rajib's terraces were marauded by us hungry souls.
The log fire was set to happen, while Rajib and me did a tribal hand
shake...The parts of the anatomy which shook including my belly have
been purposefully edited out.
The fire started. So did the revelry. The wine flowed...Men were floored.
Sunil, Suma and me entertained ourselves with our own brand of humor.
It is essentially a BQG thing. We seem to find something funny in the
most irate of issues.
We found the fire slightly tepid. I decided to heat 'em timbers! The
petrol was poured into the fire. And I had first taste of a Molotov
cocktail. The bottle I held had caught fire! It was my first taste of
revolution! I felt the red of the Red Flags in my veins...
Actually, I didn't have time to feel anything of that sort but I guess
it must be the closest I ever got to throwing petrol bombs...
Later, Anand Rao and me dealt with mechanics of the firing embers by
providing a healthy, fuel for the heart and the fire alike. It was
also a healthy experience in brand burning!
Saffola was the brand. Other brands burnt included DH, ET, TOI etc...
Rajib had hidden his favorite magazines!
The fire was great. We settled down to some memorable banter and
leg-pulling.
The clock struck thirteen. We left for home...Our feet and hearts
warm...while Rajib was last heard asking for numbers of horologists...
We met again the next day...and the next...
But that is another story.
Happy New Year!
The memory remains....
Thanks all
Avinash Mudaliar
19th Offline Meet
Quizmaster: Rajib
Venue: Goldie's place
Here is the writeup about the 19th Offline Meet from several different
perspectives. Let's start with the first timers to BQG quizzes, Vipin
and Pratibha...........
Vipin wrote in to say:
----------------------
The quiz was just awesome!! It was a unique experience for us. We have
attended quite a number of quizzes but none in this kind of
environment. People pulling each others' legs and all that. I am
thankful to Rajib for introducing us to this clique.
He also did an excellent job with the quiz. It was a real smorgasbord
of questions out there. And to think he did all this in one night!!
Hats off to him.
Goldie played an ideal host. The dinner was excellent, "seasoned" with
repartees by Avinash, Sunil, Prakash etc.
As regards the best answer of the day, there were many brilliant
answers from Avinash as is his wont. I have seen some of his KQA
quizzes and couldn't help but marvel at his answers on each of the
occasions!! But on this particular day, I think Goldie took the cake
with his answer in which he identified the movie 'Core' without even
having a look at the video.
I was surprised to hear that (some) people come for this quiz once and
then stop coming altogether. You can at least count me out of that
list, excepting the weekends when I go home.
Eagerly awaiting the next offline meet at Rajib's. Also the prospect
of a Chinese dinner looks inviting!! :)
Regards
-Vipin Nair-
Pratibha says:
--------------
Although I had known about this quiz group for a long time, I never
made that effort to be a part of it. I had my friend Goldie inviting
me many times, but everytime there was always some work to be done, I
was not in town, in meetings - (giving) excuses & excuses. But I am
glad that I came and enjoyed myself thoroughly.
I thought I would be just a spectator and ended up being a part of the
winning team!
The level of quizzing was high, at least for me. I got one answer
correct! That was the best part. An evening that was very productive
in a very fun manner.
-Pratibha Sastry-
Now the quizmasters comments, titled "My Side Of The Story"
-----------------------------------------------------------
"There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge" said
Bertrand Russell and I can't agree more.
After pestering Prakash for 4 months to hold a BQG offline we finally
got one. I tried by all means (sometimes while Prakash was in senses
and sometimes when he was not) to get him restart the event which we
all enjoyed out and out. But I met no success. He did not buckle down.
Somewhere down the line he was hurt and pissed off [at the poor
attendance of the previous offline]. I hope time has healed his wounds.
Thanks to Goldie for shifting to a new house for this was the event
that triggered the last BQG Offline (if this be a case in the point to
have BQG offlines I sincerely pray we all shift our homes in turns
every month).
I was delighted when Prakash broke the news to me about the upcoming
offline and enthralled when I got the chance to conduct the quiz, for
it was almost a year since I did a BQG offline quiz (Dec 26th 2004 was
when I did the last one). Since I did the quiz, it would not be
justified to turn into a self critic. Hoping you all enjoyed it. But I
must commend the ambience & the food that Goldie managed to
create/get. It was simply superb.
Wishing the offlines keep on happening .... "Another Place, Another Time"
-Rajb Saha-
Goldie's (The host's) comments:
-------------------------------
Ask someone how long a duration do they think 4 month is. Chances are
most will say its hardly a long time. But ask die-hard BQGers, they
wud beg to differ. And how.
4 months without an offline for BQGers is like a bad drought without a
drop of water for months, its like having to live without something
that u like the most, its like no fun at all....!!!
Well, all that finally ended on 3rd Dec..when BQG offline bounced back
to action, and lived up to its name -- fun, excitement, stampedes, and
quizzing--at its best.
As the host, I couldnt be more happier to see everything falling into
place-like a clockwork. Weather (courtesy rain god) didn't act up,
people (courtesy everyone) who confirmed turned up, quiz (courtesy
Rajib) exhilerated us, food (transportation courtesy Prakash and Suma)
and dessert (transportation courtesy Sunil and Priya) satiated our
hunger.
My experiment of connecting the laptop to TV also worked (and I feel
like a 'Genius), though it didn't do much to avoid the stampedes that
have become a trademark of the BQG offliners.
While all this sounded good, the only thing that I am sad about is the
performance of my team. We came a miserly 3rd :(
And me got answers to just 2 questions (of which one i answered even
without seeing the question!).
I am only too keen now is to set the scores right in next offliner.
It was nice to see three new faces turning up for the quiz..and also
to witness their excitement levels. Hope these faces do not become
one-time wonders at the offlines :). They have promised us otherwise,
which remains to be seen.
Also, for a change the offline started by 7 and ended by 8:30--a
timeline most of us wud love to see at most of the offlines.
And I am sure most of us wud agree that its just feels so nice to have
the offlines back. And am sure with li'l co-operation from all of us,
we can take this wonderful tradition of offline quizzing a long way ahead.
Can't wait for the next one at Rajib's home with Avinash doing the
honors as QM...
So look out for the 20th offline quiz report coming your way soon.
-Goldie-
Prasad Nayak writes:
--------------------
hi BQGites,
It was great to see you all after such a long time. Being in a quiz I
actually realized how much I was missing it. And it was a great quiz,
thoroughly enjoyed it, of course with Avinash in ur team u don't feel
the tension of scoring.
My favourite question was the one with the movie, Core. I went online
after that and read about the movie. Hope to watch it soon if I can
get my hands on the DVD. Also the fun we had after the quiz was great
with the usual leg pulling, Prakash's Masala stories and Avinash's
characteristic humour (Revenge of the Sikh). All in all it was a
lovely night,of course it helped that after that I went out for a few
drinks.
See u all at the next one.
Regards,
-Prasad Nayak-
BQG's husband-and-wfe quizzing team's response:
-----------------------------------------------
(a) Ladies first.......Suma:
----------------------------
The buzz was greater this time, since it was a revival of sorts. Armed
with dabbas full of food from the great Nammuru, Prakash and I made
our way to Goldie's new place, spying Avinash's car on the way up.
The turnout was encouraging, to say the least. Lots of new people (who
must have been slightly zapped at the high spirits and more-than-usual
leg pulling). Avinash was in full swing, thinking of names for
hurricanes more imaginative than the melodramatic "Baaz". (Avinash,
please provide the full list!!)
Goldie had made some pretty nice seating arragments on colourful mats
but since the quiz was mostly visual, the stampede meant that everone
was crowded around the TV screen. Actually, the team to whom the
question was directed was (self)accorded the privilege of peeping into
the QM's laptop.
Rajib Saha as QM turned out a few surprises. This time, there were
absolutely no questions from NFL, NBA, baseball or F1!! Such admirable
restraint, Rajib. For the sake of ignorami like us, please keep it up.
Good questions there were aplenty. The most delicious for me was
knowing the names of the 3 locomotives that made the first journey in
India. Why did I know it? There's a restaurant by that name in town
and though it's too expensive for me, I derive my info from reading
the P3 stuff. There were other delicious answers too. We guessed some
that others faltered over, (namely: Sudheendra over the curvaceous
Helena Christiansen in MTV's most sexy video!!) and managed to reach
second place (I think...the final scores were never announced, right?)
And I must say this, it was great to have a new bunch of enthusiasts
with us...and it was just as great to see that the old bunch had lost
none of its verve.
Hope to see you guys again soon!! Long life the offliners!!
-Suma Ramachandran-
(b) Sunil the Hubby's spiel:
----------------------------
So the Offline Fellowship of the BQG is finally back! (For a few
months I thought it was lost for good)
That was the high point of Saturday night at Goldie's place. The quiz
itself was a visual and aural delight, the ambience was rooftopish and
partyish, the participants were full of enthu, the food and coffee
were yum and we all had a great time just sitting and chatting and
laughing towards the end of the session.
Can't wait to see what the Jodi Number 1 Avinash & Rajib dish out in
January. I'm sure that's going to be great.
-Sunil Rajguru-
Kenan Machado says:
-------------------
It was great meeting everybody and had a wonderful time. My grey cells
heated up after a long time. Also in so small part to the 'Flames of
Love' round! ;)
Sudheendra speaks:
------------------
It was raining that day. A cyclone we were told, by the mets. An
irritating drizzle that had me mostly indoors. A slight lull in the
drizzle meant that I started for my destination. But it was not to be.
It started to drizzle again. Called Rajib and told him to proceed with
the promise that I would join them if the rain stops. Went back home
in the drizzle. An hour later the drizzle stopped and off I was, to
the venue. Traffic was at its peak, with numerous jams along the way.
A journey of 40 minutes took me an hour and fifteen.
All along the way , Rajib had given 3-4 missed calls. As I stood near
the Airport Road signal, there came another call from him "Dude, where
are you? we are waiting for you here". Just replied "Will be there in
15 minutes".
The Signal had turned green and I zoomed. Soon I was following the
map, that I had stored in my memory. The noise of Planes taking off,
confirmed that I was on the right track. As I travelled along the
boundary wall, more flights took off. Soon I felt, I had reached
closer to my destination. Called Rajib again, who handed the call to
Goldie. It turned out that I was standing at the next road corner of
the venue. I soon landed at the venue. I looked skywards, and from the
2nd floor Balcony peered Rajib's face. I knew I had reached my
destination.
What happened over the next 2-3 hours was a blur, with everyone
shouting themselves hoarse, much to the amazement of the newcomers.
The visual and audio clues were cracked. The Indestructible lived upto
his name and the rest of us ended
somewhere behind.
Then came the food,from nammura hotel and everyone helped themselves
to it. A lot of truths and jokes were manufactured with everyone
laughing their guts out.
Well, it was time to go back again. I started and pushed my bike to
100 Kmph on the Mysore Road flyover. I was back in 25 minutes and
ready to go to the next venue.
Hmmm... BTW did I tell you that the destination was the 19th BQG
Offline meet, the venue was Goldie's residence near
the Airport Boundary wall and the next venue will be Rajib's residence!!!!
Meet you all there :)
PS: My throat is still sore, maybe we should serve strepsils at the
next meet !!!
Thanks for the great evening guys. Hope to meet you soon.
Tailpiece by Avinash:
---------------------
It's been quite some time since there was a BQG meet. All thanks to
Goldie andPrakash who got the motley crew together again on the
terraces of Goldie's house.
Rajib's quiz came in different flavors including a Bollywood round.
The questions were knotty and naughty. From Playboy to The Core the
quiz had us gasping for more.
My personal favorite was the Core question, which Goldie cracked
effortlessly without even watching the clip.
There was a round on models where we kinda, got confused as to which
model to look at - the car (Rajib's first love) or the star. Our
salivatory glands took a beating as these clips were a tad too short.
We would have liked Vanessa Williams and Eva Mendes in their true
ebullience. But Rajib a k a The New Age Bowdler denied us the pleasure.
Another definite mention was the some new blood, who came, who saw and
who we wish will come again!
As the Union of Undercover Playbhais of BQG welcome the new faces :
Bunny! Bunny!
Shine On....
"Please come! Please come!" At another level, when asociated with
playbhais "Please come! Please come!" can take on another hidden
meaning that I will let you to figure out.
Prakash's concluding comments:
-------------------------------
The 19th offline was great!
Those of you with analytical minds will realise that one person's
writeup is missing above. It is Priya's. She suddenly upped and awayed
to Kolkata on an assigment and was eating rosagollas with gusto there
when I called her to enquire where her offline write up was. When she
explained the situation, I thawed and egged her to forget about the
writeup and have a rasamalai too. Which I believe she did.
What is incredible is the very close bonding that develops at these
offline meets.
No one has mentioned Goldie's parents. These two lovely people enjoyed
the offline meet in their own way. They stood discretely in the
background and were rivetted by the goings on.
During the quiz I suddenly faced a sharp drop in blood sugar. I rushed
in to Goldie's kitchen in search of something sweet. His mom, alarmed,
asked me what was the problem. When I explained my predicament to her,
she gave me some of her own special home-cooked gajjar halwa that was
delicious! I believe that this was a privilege that I exclusively
enjoyed.
Btw, I must tell you that BQG is unique in having coined the phrase
"monitor stampede".
Who coined it?
Suma? Avinash? I forget.
The fact is, it descibes the situation perfectly. When the visual questions come
up on the monitor, there is a stampede for the monitor.
This offline I realised something else.
We have subconcously developed a monitor stampede etiquette!
I heard some teams asking for the right of way to the front of the monitor and
this was given ungrudgingly. Since there were two monitors present on this
occaison - Goldie's TV and the laptop - the etiquetee was immediately modified,
to let the team to whom the question was posed view the laptop monitor whilst
the others stampeded the TV monitor.
================
THE NEXT OFFLINE
================
Will be at Rajib Saha's place. Avinash will be the quiz master. It
looks like the first quiz that he conducts in 2006 will be a BQG one!
Rajib confided in me that two great quizzers will be in secret
attendance and that he (and his team) are sure to win the quiz. They
(the secret quizzers) will communicate the answers to him
discretely...... furtively. When I pressed him to let me in on the
secret as to who they are he told me, in the strictest confidence,
that he has been training his two lovely golden retrievers in the art
of quizzing and they are already at an advanced level. There is only
one catch. If Rajib does not win the round, they bite the quiz master
out of anger.
So come and be prepared for a great quiz by Avinash and a rigged win by Rajib
and his lovely Retrievers.
=====================
THE FEBRUARY OFFLINE
=====================
Will be quiz mastered by Priya.
Ace quizzer that she is, she asked for support in ripping clips etc.
Avinash, Rajib and I have rushed to offer her support, if she needs it.
In that order of eagerness! :-)
Signing off with a smile.
Prakash
Venue: Goldie's place
Here is the writeup about the 19th Offline Meet from several different
perspectives. Let's start with the first timers to BQG quizzes, Vipin
and Pratibha...........
Vipin wrote in to say:
----------------------
The quiz was just awesome!! It was a unique experience for us. We have
attended quite a number of quizzes but none in this kind of
environment. People pulling each others' legs and all that. I am
thankful to Rajib for introducing us to this clique.
He also did an excellent job with the quiz. It was a real smorgasbord
of questions out there. And to think he did all this in one night!!
Hats off to him.
Goldie played an ideal host. The dinner was excellent, "seasoned" with
repartees by Avinash, Sunil, Prakash etc.
As regards the best answer of the day, there were many brilliant
answers from Avinash as is his wont. I have seen some of his KQA
quizzes and couldn't help but marvel at his answers on each of the
occasions!! But on this particular day, I think Goldie took the cake
with his answer in which he identified the movie 'Core' without even
having a look at the video.
I was surprised to hear that (some) people come for this quiz once and
then stop coming altogether. You can at least count me out of that
list, excepting the weekends when I go home.
Eagerly awaiting the next offline meet at Rajib's. Also the prospect
of a Chinese dinner looks inviting!! :)
Regards
-Vipin Nair-
Pratibha says:
--------------
Although I had known about this quiz group for a long time, I never
made that effort to be a part of it. I had my friend Goldie inviting
me many times, but everytime there was always some work to be done, I
was not in town, in meetings - (giving) excuses & excuses. But I am
glad that I came and enjoyed myself thoroughly.
I thought I would be just a spectator and ended up being a part of the
winning team!
The level of quizzing was high, at least for me. I got one answer
correct! That was the best part. An evening that was very productive
in a very fun manner.
-Pratibha Sastry-
Now the quizmasters comments, titled "My Side Of The Story"
-----------------------------------------------------------
"There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge" said
Bertrand Russell and I can't agree more.
After pestering Prakash for 4 months to hold a BQG offline we finally
got one. I tried by all means (sometimes while Prakash was in senses
and sometimes when he was not) to get him restart the event which we
all enjoyed out and out. But I met no success. He did not buckle down.
Somewhere down the line he was hurt and pissed off [at the poor
attendance of the previous offline]. I hope time has healed his wounds.
Thanks to Goldie for shifting to a new house for this was the event
that triggered the last BQG Offline (if this be a case in the point to
have BQG offlines I sincerely pray we all shift our homes in turns
every month).
I was delighted when Prakash broke the news to me about the upcoming
offline and enthralled when I got the chance to conduct the quiz, for
it was almost a year since I did a BQG offline quiz (Dec 26th 2004 was
when I did the last one). Since I did the quiz, it would not be
justified to turn into a self critic. Hoping you all enjoyed it. But I
must commend the ambience & the food that Goldie managed to
create/get. It was simply superb.
Wishing the offlines keep on happening .... "Another Place, Another Time"
-Rajb Saha-
Goldie's (The host's) comments:
-------------------------------
Ask someone how long a duration do they think 4 month is. Chances are
most will say its hardly a long time. But ask die-hard BQGers, they
wud beg to differ. And how.
4 months without an offline for BQGers is like a bad drought without a
drop of water for months, its like having to live without something
that u like the most, its like no fun at all....!!!
Well, all that finally ended on 3rd Dec..when BQG offline bounced back
to action, and lived up to its name -- fun, excitement, stampedes, and
quizzing--at its best.
As the host, I couldnt be more happier to see everything falling into
place-like a clockwork. Weather (courtesy rain god) didn't act up,
people (courtesy everyone) who confirmed turned up, quiz (courtesy
Rajib) exhilerated us, food (transportation courtesy Prakash and Suma)
and dessert (transportation courtesy Sunil and Priya) satiated our
hunger.
My experiment of connecting the laptop to TV also worked (and I feel
like a 'Genius), though it didn't do much to avoid the stampedes that
have become a trademark of the BQG offliners.
While all this sounded good, the only thing that I am sad about is the
performance of my team. We came a miserly 3rd :(
And me got answers to just 2 questions (of which one i answered even
without seeing the question!).
I am only too keen now is to set the scores right in next offliner.
It was nice to see three new faces turning up for the quiz..and also
to witness their excitement levels. Hope these faces do not become
one-time wonders at the offlines :). They have promised us otherwise,
which remains to be seen.
Also, for a change the offline started by 7 and ended by 8:30--a
timeline most of us wud love to see at most of the offlines.
And I am sure most of us wud agree that its just feels so nice to have
the offlines back. And am sure with li'l co-operation from all of us,
we can take this wonderful tradition of offline quizzing a long way ahead.
Can't wait for the next one at Rajib's home with Avinash doing the
honors as QM...
So look out for the 20th offline quiz report coming your way soon.
-Goldie-
Prasad Nayak writes:
--------------------
hi BQGites,
It was great to see you all after such a long time. Being in a quiz I
actually realized how much I was missing it. And it was a great quiz,
thoroughly enjoyed it, of course with Avinash in ur team u don't feel
the tension of scoring.
My favourite question was the one with the movie, Core. I went online
after that and read about the movie. Hope to watch it soon if I can
get my hands on the DVD. Also the fun we had after the quiz was great
with the usual leg pulling, Prakash's Masala stories and Avinash's
characteristic humour (Revenge of the Sikh). All in all it was a
lovely night,of course it helped that after that I went out for a few
drinks.
See u all at the next one.
Regards,
-Prasad Nayak-
BQG's husband-and-wfe quizzing team's response:
-----------------------------------------------
(a) Ladies first.......Suma:
----------------------------
The buzz was greater this time, since it was a revival of sorts. Armed
with dabbas full of food from the great Nammuru, Prakash and I made
our way to Goldie's new place, spying Avinash's car on the way up.
The turnout was encouraging, to say the least. Lots of new people (who
must have been slightly zapped at the high spirits and more-than-usual
leg pulling). Avinash was in full swing, thinking of names for
hurricanes more imaginative than the melodramatic "Baaz". (Avinash,
please provide the full list!!)
Goldie had made some pretty nice seating arragments on colourful mats
but since the quiz was mostly visual, the stampede meant that everone
was crowded around the TV screen. Actually, the team to whom the
question was directed was (self)accorded the privilege of peeping into
the QM's laptop.
Rajib Saha as QM turned out a few surprises. This time, there were
absolutely no questions from NFL, NBA, baseball or F1!! Such admirable
restraint, Rajib. For the sake of ignorami like us, please keep it up.
Good questions there were aplenty. The most delicious for me was
knowing the names of the 3 locomotives that made the first journey in
India. Why did I know it? There's a restaurant by that name in town
and though it's too expensive for me, I derive my info from reading
the P3 stuff. There were other delicious answers too. We guessed some
that others faltered over, (namely: Sudheendra over the curvaceous
Helena Christiansen in MTV's most sexy video!!) and managed to reach
second place (I think...the final scores were never announced, right?)
And I must say this, it was great to have a new bunch of enthusiasts
with us...and it was just as great to see that the old bunch had lost
none of its verve.
Hope to see you guys again soon!! Long life the offliners!!
-Suma Ramachandran-
(b) Sunil the Hubby's spiel:
----------------------------
So the Offline Fellowship of the BQG is finally back! (For a few
months I thought it was lost for good)
That was the high point of Saturday night at Goldie's place. The quiz
itself was a visual and aural delight, the ambience was rooftopish and
partyish, the participants were full of enthu, the food and coffee
were yum and we all had a great time just sitting and chatting and
laughing towards the end of the session.
Can't wait to see what the Jodi Number 1 Avinash & Rajib dish out in
January. I'm sure that's going to be great.
-Sunil Rajguru-
Kenan Machado says:
-------------------
It was great meeting everybody and had a wonderful time. My grey cells
heated up after a long time. Also in so small part to the 'Flames of
Love' round! ;)
Sudheendra speaks:
------------------
It was raining that day. A cyclone we were told, by the mets. An
irritating drizzle that had me mostly indoors. A slight lull in the
drizzle meant that I started for my destination. But it was not to be.
It started to drizzle again. Called Rajib and told him to proceed with
the promise that I would join them if the rain stops. Went back home
in the drizzle. An hour later the drizzle stopped and off I was, to
the venue. Traffic was at its peak, with numerous jams along the way.
A journey of 40 minutes took me an hour and fifteen.
All along the way , Rajib had given 3-4 missed calls. As I stood near
the Airport Road signal, there came another call from him "Dude, where
are you? we are waiting for you here". Just replied "Will be there in
15 minutes".
The Signal had turned green and I zoomed. Soon I was following the
map, that I had stored in my memory. The noise of Planes taking off,
confirmed that I was on the right track. As I travelled along the
boundary wall, more flights took off. Soon I felt, I had reached
closer to my destination. Called Rajib again, who handed the call to
Goldie. It turned out that I was standing at the next road corner of
the venue. I soon landed at the venue. I looked skywards, and from the
2nd floor Balcony peered Rajib's face. I knew I had reached my
destination.
What happened over the next 2-3 hours was a blur, with everyone
shouting themselves hoarse, much to the amazement of the newcomers.
The visual and audio clues were cracked. The Indestructible lived upto
his name and the rest of us ended
somewhere behind.
Then came the food,from nammura hotel and everyone helped themselves
to it. A lot of truths and jokes were manufactured with everyone
laughing their guts out.
Well, it was time to go back again. I started and pushed my bike to
100 Kmph on the Mysore Road flyover. I was back in 25 minutes and
ready to go to the next venue.
Hmmm... BTW did I tell you that the destination was the 19th BQG
Offline meet, the venue was Goldie's residence near
the Airport Boundary wall and the next venue will be Rajib's residence!!!!
Meet you all there :)
PS: My throat is still sore, maybe we should serve strepsils at the
next meet !!!
Thanks for the great evening guys. Hope to meet you soon.
Tailpiece by Avinash:
---------------------
It's been quite some time since there was a BQG meet. All thanks to
Goldie andPrakash who got the motley crew together again on the
terraces of Goldie's house.
Rajib's quiz came in different flavors including a Bollywood round.
The questions were knotty and naughty. From Playboy to The Core the
quiz had us gasping for more.
My personal favorite was the Core question, which Goldie cracked
effortlessly without even watching the clip.
There was a round on models where we kinda, got confused as to which
model to look at - the car (Rajib's first love) or the star. Our
salivatory glands took a beating as these clips were a tad too short.
We would have liked Vanessa Williams and Eva Mendes in their true
ebullience. But Rajib a k a The New Age Bowdler denied us the pleasure.
Another definite mention was the some new blood, who came, who saw and
who we wish will come again!
As the Union of Undercover Playbhais of BQG welcome the new faces :
Bunny! Bunny!
Shine On....
"Please come! Please come!" At another level, when asociated with
playbhais "Please come! Please come!" can take on another hidden
meaning that I will let you to figure out.
Prakash's concluding comments:
-------------------------------
The 19th offline was great!
Those of you with analytical minds will realise that one person's
writeup is missing above. It is Priya's. She suddenly upped and awayed
to Kolkata on an assigment and was eating rosagollas with gusto there
when I called her to enquire where her offline write up was. When she
explained the situation, I thawed and egged her to forget about the
writeup and have a rasamalai too. Which I believe she did.
What is incredible is the very close bonding that develops at these
offline meets.
No one has mentioned Goldie's parents. These two lovely people enjoyed
the offline meet in their own way. They stood discretely in the
background and were rivetted by the goings on.
During the quiz I suddenly faced a sharp drop in blood sugar. I rushed
in to Goldie's kitchen in search of something sweet. His mom, alarmed,
asked me what was the problem. When I explained my predicament to her,
she gave me some of her own special home-cooked gajjar halwa that was
delicious! I believe that this was a privilege that I exclusively
enjoyed.
Btw, I must tell you that BQG is unique in having coined the phrase
"monitor stampede".
Who coined it?
Suma? Avinash? I forget.
The fact is, it descibes the situation perfectly. When the visual questions come
up on the monitor, there is a stampede for the monitor.
This offline I realised something else.
We have subconcously developed a monitor stampede etiquette!
I heard some teams asking for the right of way to the front of the monitor and
this was given ungrudgingly. Since there were two monitors present on this
occaison - Goldie's TV and the laptop - the etiquetee was immediately modified,
to let the team to whom the question was posed view the laptop monitor whilst
the others stampeded the TV monitor.
================
THE NEXT OFFLINE
================
Will be at Rajib Saha's place. Avinash will be the quiz master. It
looks like the first quiz that he conducts in 2006 will be a BQG one!
Rajib confided in me that two great quizzers will be in secret
attendance and that he (and his team) are sure to win the quiz. They
(the secret quizzers) will communicate the answers to him
discretely...... furtively. When I pressed him to let me in on the
secret as to who they are he told me, in the strictest confidence,
that he has been training his two lovely golden retrievers in the art
of quizzing and they are already at an advanced level. There is only
one catch. If Rajib does not win the round, they bite the quiz master
out of anger.
So come and be prepared for a great quiz by Avinash and a rigged win by Rajib
and his lovely Retrievers.
=====================
THE FEBRUARY OFFLINE
=====================
Will be quiz mastered by Priya.
Ace quizzer that she is, she asked for support in ripping clips etc.
Avinash, Rajib and I have rushed to offer her support, if she needs it.
In that order of eagerness! :-)
Signing off with a smile.
Prakash
17th Offline Meet
Prakash's petty poetic prattle....................
Now the Offline Quiz reviving old Desires,
The thoughtful Quizzer to Avinash's terrace retires,
Where the White Hand Of Priya on the Bough
Puts out answers, and Goldie sitting nearby perspires.
Each quiz a thousand thoughts brings, you say;
Yes, but where leaves Avinash's quiz of Yesterday?
And this first winter quiz that brings the Rose
Shall take Priya and Suma away on the podium to pose.
Well, let it take them! What have we to do
With Sunil, and Sudheendra, and Venkat Mandela too?
Let Suma and Priya bluster as they will,
Next time, we'll beat them, and by a handsome margin too!
A Book of Quizzes underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou
Beside me quizzing in the Wilderness--
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!
(Btw: The last para……………..does that sound like me or does
it sound like……..ahem! what was I saying?..........
I have lost the thread of the conversation……………..)
..................................
Has Prakash gone bonkers, you ask.
The answer is no.
Given the poetry of Avinash's quizzing,
I decided to become a poet too!
Summary: The 17th Offline Quiz was sensational. But learn all about it from the mighty pens of my fellow -BQGers.
Cheers,
Prakash
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
THE WINNERS SPEAK…………………….
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
========================================================
First Priya (alphabetically ahead and all that!)………………..
========================================================
A sweet win.....
I am still smiling… in fact, we are still smiling--- Suma and me, that
is. Our win at the 17th Offline meet hosted by Avinash, was a sweet
win and took me back to the thrill of winning at college competitions.
I called up Suma the next morning and we both relived the quiz moments
again. I believe Sunil commented that we were "giggling like school
girls" when we won. Well Sunil, all I can say is sour grapes. Huh!
It felt good to win a quiz that was really good in terms of questions,
the presentation pyrotechnics, location, the food (yumm!) and of
course the people! Before we started out, we were disappointed at the
poor turnout since Avinash had taken a lot of pains to organize a
projector, sound system, catering etc. Anyways, I'm sure the motley
bunch of quizzards did not disappoint him in terms of enthusiasm or
answers.
Like the food, the quiz posers were delectable. The first few rounds
warmed us up to get our grey cells ticking and work out the answers.
The Clinton-Bobbit was a gem of a question!!
By the end of the second round, the Goldie and Prakash duo were in the
lead with Rajib's team following suit. We managed to collected some 5
points change (chillre in Kannada) now and then and scraped to third
place. Never mind that in the beginning we didn't get points though
"we were on the right track."
Then it changed. The connection round was the clincher. I must
congratulate Avinash on the great questions and clues. Having a
Bollywood specialist Suma really turned things in our favor-for
example-:the Salim Khan connection question. I'll never forget that
hilarious Kannda movie clip where the B &W movie changes into
colour(multi-colour) and how!!!LOL.
Even after the last question of the quiz was asked, we still thought
that we would end up third or second. But surprise surprise, we won.
Psst…Avinash, the scores weren't rigged na? Anyways, Kudos to Avinash
and team for arranging such a wonderful quiz..
Lest I forget, Prakash's good-natured leg (shoulder/ throat in some
cases)- pulling and yarn spinning has become part and parcel of the
offline meets. Each time it's a new bakra though Goldie has been at
the receiving end most times. And now I think he's passed on the baton
to Avinash.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
==========================
Winner Suma's Spiel……………….
==========================
"For all those who said they were coming and finally didn't turn up, I
must say this you missed one helluva quiz.
There are a lot of things I want to say about this quiz but I don't
know where to start.
Probably with the elaborate arrangements Avinash had made: the
setting, the food, the ambience, not mention his appearance. :) And
those who turned up had done so with full josh nobody bothering to
conceal that the josh had everything to do with Avinash being the
quizmaster, leaving the rest of us amateur mortals with a
more-than-fair chance of claiming first place.
But I must admit that just like the first BQG offliner I attended
where Avinash was QM this one also boasted of brilliant research and
classy execution.
Set on the terrace, the trademark Bangalore breeze provided just the
right touch, what with the rain gods gone on holiday. And what a quiz
it was. An impressive audio-visual gorgeously displayed on a large
screen introduced us to what lay ahead. I was paired with Priya once
again and rather pleased about it. The first two make that three
rounds were a washout as far as we were concerned. The questions were
"wow" but
the answers were slow in coming. According to Avinash, our team was
always on the right track unfortunately, one that always ran into a
dead end.
Sigh………………….
But we learnt a little from our mistakes and started to speak our
minds. It paid off in multiples of 5 points (out of 20) for knowing a
little quarter truths in BQG. Prakash, are you listening? Heh Heh ;)
We enjoyed our ignorance and somebody commented that we spent most of
the quiz giggling like schoolgirls.
Ahem, well, that's more or less right, so let's leave it there, shall
we? It kept our minds off the fact that we were trailing a
d-i-s-t-a-n-t third to Prakash-Goldie and Sudheendra-Rajib.
Thankfully, the trickle of 5-pt gains didn't dry up. Unlike the city's
water supply, it got better with rounds related to entertainment. One
delectable "connect" question linking Salim-Javed (but how exactly,
asked Avinash, so we could get a tonne of points). And then Priya made
another fantastic connection Illaiyaraja by listening to some ads
composed along his film tunes.
Also correctly guessed the connection between the three gents after
whom cricket stadiums have been named. Felt terrible about missing the
Bimal Roy connection, not that we could crack too many of the others.
But we trudged along. And finally, it was time for Avinash to announce
"with-that-we-come-to-the-end-of…" Just before the
scores came up, Priya and I wondered aloud: "Third? Or second you think?"
…."Second, I hope."
But the scorer had some happy news for us we had scraped past with a
15-point lead and won!! So we did a little jig and beamed. And we
shall continue to remain as pleased as Punch till the next offliner.
Of course, with Avinash returning to our midst, the fight just might
return to the claim for second place. However, I have a feeling that
everyone is raring to go and there might just be an upset victory
around the
corner."
Regards,
Suma
Now, the losers……………in alphabetic order…………………
=================
Goldie…………………………
=================
It was a 'Perfect' day! I mean if given a choice, I would love to
spend most of my sundays like the one on which last offline was held.
Have a nice lunch at my friend's place (in this case dear friends were
Sunil and Suma, who were hosting myself and Priya), spend time with an
over-enthusiastic 3-yr old kid (that's Shreyan, Su-nil/ma's son), take
a nice nap, and then set out with the rest to an evening filled of
exciting questions, some yummy food for thought as well as for stomach.
Needless to talk much about the quizzing quality when Avinash is at
the helm of affairs. Must say, when he does things, he makes sure he
does it in style. And that was more than obvious in the whole setting
of the 17th offline.
Generally, I don't rue losing out in the offline quizzes. But this
time, I certainly did. Simply, because I myself didn't follow the rule
I had set for myself: Always listen to ur intuitions. On two questions
(which would have fetched us 40 marks and made us the winner), I
almost gave the right answer and then before could spell it out, chose
a wrong one.
The questions with answers: Monalisa and Atlantic were so much on my
mind, but somehow the devil inside me forced me to say things unwise.
As usual, looking forward to the next offline... and it better be soon.
=================
Poornima………………………
=================
Hadn't been to any of the quizzes Avinash conducted but had heard so
much about them. Well, the show was more than I expected. Avinash
outdid anything else that I have seen. Better than even the stuff on
TV. The big screen, the mike, the works. Even the Light refreshment
which actually turned out to be more than dinner. I wish more people
could have been there to enjoy this experience, because it was
definitely that, more than just a quiz. Anyways, it was just this
small cozy group on the great big terrace and a great smashing quiz
with lots of lovely information. Esp. loved the question of the
`Country that changes its name once every year'. There was also a
dedication to the Strong, Silent man of the group, Sunil!! Waiting for
the next one.
======================
Sudheendra…………………………..
======================
It was that evening,
when we do quizzing.
On the terrace we were,
while the lights were fading.
In the bright light of the neon bulb,
we started to vanquish,
the idli, Halwa and the chutney.
Spicey and tasty they were,
so everyone said "yeh dil maange more"
For a change it was the Indestructible,
who conducted the proceedings,
giving us mortals some satisfaction,
of having to compete for the first place,
instead of the usual second.
Questions came in like lightning,
and had everyone scurrying.
Still everyone manage,
a count of hundred and odd,
only to find Suma and Priya
pip the others at the post.
So ended the starry evening,
with "The Indestructible" scratching his beard
and thinking "I shall be back and rule
for another 6 months" while the others just
sighed and said "Oh, no, not again" !!!!
==============
Sunil…………………….
==============
Finally an Avinash quiz and another PVR-style big screen. It was a
great quiz and I had loads of fun even though I finished last!
(Getting my voice back seems to have done me in remarked someone) The
hospitality was great too and the first round was a yummy one of Pet Puja.
The thing I like about Avinash's quizzes is that you have to think,
think and think. In most quizzes, it's just that either you know it or
you don't. At best you can guess. Not so here. For example in one
question, I thought of Male (the capital of Maldives) instead of the
Isle of Man(n). Not that way of the mark, or so I thought. Mullah
Naseeruddin was another gettable one, the donkey was a big getaway,
but we didn't get it either. But the best round of all was the visual
"connect round" and the most enjoyable clip was the colorful Kannada
movie one where a black and white film went technicolor right in front
of our eyes! The attendance was pretty low, but that really didn't
bother me. Even 8 serious quizzers is enough to have a great evening.
Kudos to Suma and Priya for coming first. The Illyaraja and Bollywood
answers were pretty cool.
Anyway, it's not every time that one has a question dedicated to
oneself. I won't forget that. I won't also forget the meaning of
"Aphasia" thanks to that.
So Avinash, hope your next quiz won't come after too long a gap.
Cheers!
Sunil
======================DA END. FINIS. KHALAAS.==================
Now the Offline Quiz reviving old Desires,
The thoughtful Quizzer to Avinash's terrace retires,
Where the White Hand Of Priya on the Bough
Puts out answers, and Goldie sitting nearby perspires.
Each quiz a thousand thoughts brings, you say;
Yes, but where leaves Avinash's quiz of Yesterday?
And this first winter quiz that brings the Rose
Shall take Priya and Suma away on the podium to pose.
Well, let it take them! What have we to do
With Sunil, and Sudheendra, and Venkat Mandela too?
Let Suma and Priya bluster as they will,
Next time, we'll beat them, and by a handsome margin too!
A Book of Quizzes underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou
Beside me quizzing in the Wilderness--
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!
(Btw: The last para……………..does that sound like me or does
it sound like……..ahem! what was I saying?..........
I have lost the thread of the conversation……………..)
..................................
Has Prakash gone bonkers, you ask.
The answer is no.
Given the poetry of Avinash's quizzing,
I decided to become a poet too!
Summary: The 17th Offline Quiz was sensational. But learn all about it from the mighty pens of my fellow -BQGers.
Cheers,
Prakash
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
THE WINNERS SPEAK…………………….
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
========================================================
First Priya (alphabetically ahead and all that!)………………..
========================================================
A sweet win.....
I am still smiling… in fact, we are still smiling--- Suma and me, that
is. Our win at the 17th Offline meet hosted by Avinash, was a sweet
win and took me back to the thrill of winning at college competitions.
I called up Suma the next morning and we both relived the quiz moments
again. I believe Sunil commented that we were "giggling like school
girls" when we won. Well Sunil, all I can say is sour grapes. Huh!
It felt good to win a quiz that was really good in terms of questions,
the presentation pyrotechnics, location, the food (yumm!) and of
course the people! Before we started out, we were disappointed at the
poor turnout since Avinash had taken a lot of pains to organize a
projector, sound system, catering etc. Anyways, I'm sure the motley
bunch of quizzards did not disappoint him in terms of enthusiasm or
answers.
Like the food, the quiz posers were delectable. The first few rounds
warmed us up to get our grey cells ticking and work out the answers.
The Clinton-Bobbit was a gem of a question!!
By the end of the second round, the Goldie and Prakash duo were in the
lead with Rajib's team following suit. We managed to collected some 5
points change (chillre in Kannada) now and then and scraped to third
place. Never mind that in the beginning we didn't get points though
"we were on the right track."
Then it changed. The connection round was the clincher. I must
congratulate Avinash on the great questions and clues. Having a
Bollywood specialist Suma really turned things in our favor-for
example-:the Salim Khan connection question. I'll never forget that
hilarious Kannda movie clip where the B &W movie changes into
colour(multi-colour) and how!!!LOL.
Even after the last question of the quiz was asked, we still thought
that we would end up third or second. But surprise surprise, we won.
Psst…Avinash, the scores weren't rigged na? Anyways, Kudos to Avinash
and team for arranging such a wonderful quiz..
Lest I forget, Prakash's good-natured leg (shoulder/ throat in some
cases)- pulling and yarn spinning has become part and parcel of the
offline meets. Each time it's a new bakra though Goldie has been at
the receiving end most times. And now I think he's passed on the baton
to Avinash.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
==========================
Winner Suma's Spiel……………….
==========================
"For all those who said they were coming and finally didn't turn up, I
must say this you missed one helluva quiz.
There are a lot of things I want to say about this quiz but I don't
know where to start.
Probably with the elaborate arrangements Avinash had made: the
setting, the food, the ambience, not mention his appearance. :) And
those who turned up had done so with full josh nobody bothering to
conceal that the josh had everything to do with Avinash being the
quizmaster, leaving the rest of us amateur mortals with a
more-than-fair chance of claiming first place.
But I must admit that just like the first BQG offliner I attended
where Avinash was QM this one also boasted of brilliant research and
classy execution.
Set on the terrace, the trademark Bangalore breeze provided just the
right touch, what with the rain gods gone on holiday. And what a quiz
it was. An impressive audio-visual gorgeously displayed on a large
screen introduced us to what lay ahead. I was paired with Priya once
again and rather pleased about it. The first two make that three
rounds were a washout as far as we were concerned. The questions were
"wow" but
the answers were slow in coming. According to Avinash, our team was
always on the right track unfortunately, one that always ran into a
dead end.
Sigh………………….
But we learnt a little from our mistakes and started to speak our
minds. It paid off in multiples of 5 points (out of 20) for knowing a
little quarter truths in BQG. Prakash, are you listening? Heh Heh ;)
We enjoyed our ignorance and somebody commented that we spent most of
the quiz giggling like schoolgirls.
Ahem, well, that's more or less right, so let's leave it there, shall
we? It kept our minds off the fact that we were trailing a
d-i-s-t-a-n-t third to Prakash-Goldie and Sudheendra-Rajib.
Thankfully, the trickle of 5-pt gains didn't dry up. Unlike the city's
water supply, it got better with rounds related to entertainment. One
delectable "connect" question linking Salim-Javed (but how exactly,
asked Avinash, so we could get a tonne of points). And then Priya made
another fantastic connection Illaiyaraja by listening to some ads
composed along his film tunes.
Also correctly guessed the connection between the three gents after
whom cricket stadiums have been named. Felt terrible about missing the
Bimal Roy connection, not that we could crack too many of the others.
But we trudged along. And finally, it was time for Avinash to announce
"with-that-we-come-to-the-end-of…" Just before the
scores came up, Priya and I wondered aloud: "Third? Or second you think?"
…."Second, I hope."
But the scorer had some happy news for us we had scraped past with a
15-point lead and won!! So we did a little jig and beamed. And we
shall continue to remain as pleased as Punch till the next offliner.
Of course, with Avinash returning to our midst, the fight just might
return to the claim for second place. However, I have a feeling that
everyone is raring to go and there might just be an upset victory
around the
corner."
Regards,
Suma
Now, the losers……………in alphabetic order…………………
=================
Goldie…………………………
=================
It was a 'Perfect' day! I mean if given a choice, I would love to
spend most of my sundays like the one on which last offline was held.
Have a nice lunch at my friend's place (in this case dear friends were
Sunil and Suma, who were hosting myself and Priya), spend time with an
over-enthusiastic 3-yr old kid (that's Shreyan, Su-nil/ma's son), take
a nice nap, and then set out with the rest to an evening filled of
exciting questions, some yummy food for thought as well as for stomach.
Needless to talk much about the quizzing quality when Avinash is at
the helm of affairs. Must say, when he does things, he makes sure he
does it in style. And that was more than obvious in the whole setting
of the 17th offline.
Generally, I don't rue losing out in the offline quizzes. But this
time, I certainly did. Simply, because I myself didn't follow the rule
I had set for myself: Always listen to ur intuitions. On two questions
(which would have fetched us 40 marks and made us the winner), I
almost gave the right answer and then before could spell it out, chose
a wrong one.
The questions with answers: Monalisa and Atlantic were so much on my
mind, but somehow the devil inside me forced me to say things unwise.
As usual, looking forward to the next offline... and it better be soon.
=================
Poornima………………………
=================
Hadn't been to any of the quizzes Avinash conducted but had heard so
much about them. Well, the show was more than I expected. Avinash
outdid anything else that I have seen. Better than even the stuff on
TV. The big screen, the mike, the works. Even the Light refreshment
which actually turned out to be more than dinner. I wish more people
could have been there to enjoy this experience, because it was
definitely that, more than just a quiz. Anyways, it was just this
small cozy group on the great big terrace and a great smashing quiz
with lots of lovely information. Esp. loved the question of the
`Country that changes its name once every year'. There was also a
dedication to the Strong, Silent man of the group, Sunil!! Waiting for
the next one.
======================
Sudheendra…………………………..
======================
It was that evening,
when we do quizzing.
On the terrace we were,
while the lights were fading.
In the bright light of the neon bulb,
we started to vanquish,
the idli, Halwa and the chutney.
Spicey and tasty they were,
so everyone said "yeh dil maange more"
For a change it was the Indestructible,
who conducted the proceedings,
giving us mortals some satisfaction,
of having to compete for the first place,
instead of the usual second.
Questions came in like lightning,
and had everyone scurrying.
Still everyone manage,
a count of hundred and odd,
only to find Suma and Priya
pip the others at the post.
So ended the starry evening,
with "The Indestructible" scratching his beard
and thinking "I shall be back and rule
for another 6 months" while the others just
sighed and said "Oh, no, not again" !!!!
==============
Sunil…………………….
==============
Finally an Avinash quiz and another PVR-style big screen. It was a
great quiz and I had loads of fun even though I finished last!
(Getting my voice back seems to have done me in remarked someone) The
hospitality was great too and the first round was a yummy one of Pet Puja.
The thing I like about Avinash's quizzes is that you have to think,
think and think. In most quizzes, it's just that either you know it or
you don't. At best you can guess. Not so here. For example in one
question, I thought of Male (the capital of Maldives) instead of the
Isle of Man(n). Not that way of the mark, or so I thought. Mullah
Naseeruddin was another gettable one, the donkey was a big getaway,
but we didn't get it either. But the best round of all was the visual
"connect round" and the most enjoyable clip was the colorful Kannada
movie one where a black and white film went technicolor right in front
of our eyes! The attendance was pretty low, but that really didn't
bother me. Even 8 serious quizzers is enough to have a great evening.
Kudos to Suma and Priya for coming first. The Illyaraja and Bollywood
answers were pretty cool.
Anyway, it's not every time that one has a question dedicated to
oneself. I won't forget that. I won't also forget the meaning of
"Aphasia" thanks to that.
So Avinash, hope your next quiz won't come after too long a gap.
Cheers!
Sunil
======================DA END. FINIS. KHALAAS.==================
17th Offline Meet
==================================================
Prakash's petty poetic prattle....................
==================================================
Now the Offline Quiz reviving old Desires,
The thoughtful Quizzer to Avinash's terrace retires,
Where the White Hand Of Priya on the Bough
Puts out answers, and Goldie sitting nearby perspires.
Each quiz a thousand thoughts brings, you say;
Yes, but where leaves Avinash's quiz of Yesterday?
And this first winter quiz that brings the Rose
Shall take Priya and Suma away on the podium to pose.
Well, let it take them! What have we to do
With Sunil, and Sudheendra, and Venkat Mandela too?
Let Suma and Priya bluster as they will,
Next time, we'll beat them, and by a handsome margin too!
A Book of Quizzes underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou
Beside me quizzing in the Wilderness--
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!
(Btw: The last para……………..does that sound like me or does
it sound like……..ahem! what was I saying?...................
I have lost the thread of the conversation……………..)
..................................
Has Prakash gone bonkers, you ask.
The answer is no.
Given the poetry of Avinash's quizzing,
I decided to become a poet too!
Summary: The 17th Offline Quiz was sensational. But learn all about it
from the mighty pens of my fellow -BQGers.
Cheers,
Prakash
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
THE WINNERS SPEAK…………………….
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
========================================================
First Priya (alphabetically ahead and all that!)………………..
========================================================
A sweet win.....
I am still smiling… in fact, we are still smiling--- Suma and me, that
is. Our win at the 17th Offline meet hosted by Avinash, was a sweet
win and took me back to the thrill of winning at college competitions.
I called up Suma the next morning and we both relived the quiz moments
again. I believe Sunil commented that we were "giggling like school
girls" when we won. Well Sunil, all I can say is sour grapes. Huh!
It felt good to win a quiz that was really good in terms of questions,
the presentation pyrotechnics, location, the food (yumm!) and of
course the people! Before we started out, we were disappointed at the
poor turnout since Avinash had taken a lot of pains to organize a
projector, sound system, catering etc. Anyways, I'm sure the motley
bunch of quizzards did not disappoint him in terms of enthusiasm or
answers.
Like the food, the quiz posers were delectable. The first few rounds
warmed us up to get our grey cells ticking and work out the answers.
The Clinton-Bobbit was a gem of a question!!
By the end of the second round, the Goldie and Prakash duo were in the
lead with Rajib's team following suit. We managed to collected some 5
points change (chillre in Kannada) now and then and scraped to third
place. Never mind that in the beginning we didn't get points though
"we were on the right track."
Then it changed. The connection round was the clincher. I must
congratulate Avinash on the great questions and clues. Having a
Bollywood specialist Suma really turned things in our favor-for
example-:the Salim Khan connection question. I'll never forget that
hilarious Kannda movie clip where the B &W movie changes into
colour(multi-colour) and how!!!LOL.
Even after the last question of the quiz was asked, we still thought
that we would end up third or second. But surprise surprise, we won.
Psst…Avinash, the scores weren't rigged na? Anyways, Kudos to Avinash
and team for arranging such a wonderful quiz..
Lest I forget, Prakash's good-natured leg (shoulder/ throat in some
cases)- pulling and yarn spinning has become part and parcel of the
offline meets. Each time it's a new bakra though Goldie has been at
the receiving end most times. And now I think he's passed on the baton
to Avinash.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
==========================
Winner Suma's Spiel……………….
==========================
"For all those who said they were coming and finally didn't turn up, I
must say this you missed one helluva quiz.
There are a lot of things I want to say about this quiz but I don't
know where to start.
Probably with the elaborate arrangements Avinash had made: the
setting, the food, the ambience, not mention his appearance. :) And
those who turned up had done so with full josh nobody bothering to
conceal that the josh had everything to do with Avinash being the
quizmaster, leaving the rest of us amateur mortals with a
more-than-fair chance of claiming first place.
But I must admit that just like the first BQG offliner I attended
where Avinash was QM this one also boasted of brilliant research and
classy execution.
Set on the terrace, the trademark Bangalore breeze provided just the
right touch, what with the rain gods gone on holiday. And what a quiz
it was. An impressive audio-visual gorgeously displayed on a large
screen introduced us to what lay ahead. I was paired with Priya once
again and rather pleased about it. The first two make that three
rounds were a washout as far as we were concerned. The questions were
"wow" but
the answers were slow in coming. According to Avinash, our team was
always on the right track unfortunately, one that always ran into a
dead end.
Sigh………………….
But we learnt a little from our mistakes and started to speak our
minds. It paid off in multiples of 5 points (out of 20) for knowing a
little quarter truths in BQG. Prakash, are you listening? Heh Heh ;)
We enjoyed our ignorance and somebody commented that we spent most of
the quiz giggling like schoolgirls.
Ahem, well, that's more or less right, so let's leave it there, shall
we? It kept our minds off the fact that we were trailing a
d-i-s-t-a-n-t third to Prakash-Goldie and Sudheendra-Rajib.
Thankfully, the trickle of 5-pt gains didn't dry up. Unlike the city's
water supply, it got better with rounds related to entertainment. One
delectable "connect" question linking Salim-Javed (but how exactly,
asked Avinash, so we could get a tonne of points). And then Priya made
another fantastic connection Illaiyaraja by listening to some ads
composed along his film tunes.
Also correctly guessed the connection between the three gents after
whom cricket stadiums have been named. Felt terrible about missing the
Bimal Roy connection, not that we could crack too many of the others.
But we trudged along. And finally, it was time for Avinash to announce
"with-that-we-come-to-the-end-of…" Just before the
scores came up, Priya and I wondered aloud: "Third? Or second you think?"
…."Second, I hope."
But the scorer had some happy news for us we had scraped past with a
15-point lead and won!! So we did a little jig and beamed. And we
shall continue to remain as pleased as Punch till the next offliner.
Of course, with Avinash returning to our midst, the fight just might
return to the claim for second place. However, I have a feeling that
everyone is raring to go and there might just be an upset victory
around the
corner."
Regards,
Suma
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Now, the losers……………in alphabetic order…………………
=================
Goldie…………………………
=================
It was a 'Perfect' day! I mean if given a choice, I would love to
spend most of my sundays like the one on which last offline was held.
Have a nice lunch at my friend's place (in this case dear friends were
Sunil and Suma, who were hosting myself and Priya), spend time with an
over-enthusiastic 3-yr old kid (that's Shreyan, Su-nil/ma's son), take
a nice nap, and then set out with the rest to an evening filled of
exciting questions, some yummy food for thought as well as for stomach.
Needless to talk much about the quizzing quality when Avinash is at
the helm of affairs. Must say, when he does things, he makes sure he
does it in style. And that was more than obvious in the whole setting
of the 17th offline.
Generally, I don't rue losing out in the offline quizzes. But this
time, I certainly did. Simply, because I myself didn't follow the rule
I had set for myself: Always listen to ur intuitions. On two questions
(which would have fetched us 40 marks and made us the winner), I
almost gave the right answer and then before could spell it out, chose
a wrong one.
The questions with answers: Monalisa and Atlantic were so much on my
mind, but somehow the devil inside me forced me to say things unwise.
As usual, looking forward to the next offline... and it better be soon.
=================
Poornima………………………
=================
Hadn't been to any of the quizzes Avinash conducted but had heard so
much about them. Well, the show was more than I expected. Avinash
outdid anything else that I have seen. Better than even the stuff on
TV. The big screen, the mike, the works. Even the Light refreshment
which actually turned out to be more than dinner. I wish more people
could have been there to enjoy this experience, because it was
definitely that, more than just a quiz. Anyways, it was just this
small cozy group on the great big terrace and a great smashing quiz
with lots of lovely information. Esp. loved the question of the
`Country that changes its name once every year'. There was also a
dedication to the Strong, Silent man of the group, Sunil!! Waiting for
the next one.
======================
Sudheendra…………………………..
======================
It was that evening,
when we do quizzing.
On the terrace we were,
while the lights were fading.
In the bright light of the neon bulb,
we started to vanquish,
the idli, Halwa and the chutney.
Spicey and tasty they were,
so everyone said "yeh dil maange more"
For a change it was the Indestructible,
who conducted the proceedings,
giving us mortals some satisfaction,
of having to compete for the first place,
instead of the usual second.
Questions came in like lightning,
and had everyone scurrying.
Still everyone manage,
a count of hundred and odd,
only to find Suma and Priya
pip the others at the post.
So ended the starry evening,
with "The Indestructible" scratching his beard
and thinking "I shall be back and rule
for another 6 months" while the others just
sighed and said "Oh, no, not again" !!!!
==============
Sunil…………………….
==============
Finally an Avinash quiz and another PVR-style big screen. It was a
great quiz and I had loads of fun even though I finished last!
(Getting my voice back seems to have done me in remarked someone) The
hospitality was great too and the first round was a yummy one of Pet Puja.
The thing I like about Avinash's quizzes is that you have to think,
think and think. In most quizzes, it's just that either you know it or
you don't. At best you can guess. Not so here. For example in one
question, I thought of Male (the capital of Maldives) instead of the
Isle of Man(n). Not that way of the mark, or so I thought. Mullah
Naseeruddin was another gettable one, the donkey was a big getaway,
but we didn't get it either. But the best round of all was the visual
"connect round" and the most enjoyable clip was the colorful Kannada
movie one where a black and white film went technicolor right in front
of our eyes! The attendance was pretty low, but that really didn't
bother me. Even 8 serious quizzers is enough to have a great evening.
Kudos to Suma and Priya for coming first. The Illyaraja and Bollywood
answers were pretty cool.
Anyway, it's not every time that one has a question dedicated to
oneself. I won't forget that. I won't also forget the meaning of
"Aphasia" thanks to that.
So Avinash, hope your next quiz won't come after too long a gap.
Cheers!
Sunil
======================DA END. FINIS. KHALAAS.==================
Prakash's petty poetic prattle....................
==================================================
Now the Offline Quiz reviving old Desires,
The thoughtful Quizzer to Avinash's terrace retires,
Where the White Hand Of Priya on the Bough
Puts out answers, and Goldie sitting nearby perspires.
Each quiz a thousand thoughts brings, you say;
Yes, but where leaves Avinash's quiz of Yesterday?
And this first winter quiz that brings the Rose
Shall take Priya and Suma away on the podium to pose.
Well, let it take them! What have we to do
With Sunil, and Sudheendra, and Venkat Mandela too?
Let Suma and Priya bluster as they will,
Next time, we'll beat them, and by a handsome margin too!
A Book of Quizzes underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou
Beside me quizzing in the Wilderness--
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!
(Btw: The last para……………..does that sound like me or does
it sound like……..ahem! what was I saying?...................
I have lost the thread of the conversation……………..)
..................................
Has Prakash gone bonkers, you ask.
The answer is no.
Given the poetry of Avinash's quizzing,
I decided to become a poet too!
Summary: The 17th Offline Quiz was sensational. But learn all about it
from the mighty pens of my fellow -BQGers.
Cheers,
Prakash
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
THE WINNERS SPEAK…………………….
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
========================================================
First Priya (alphabetically ahead and all that!)………………..
========================================================
A sweet win.....
I am still smiling… in fact, we are still smiling--- Suma and me, that
is. Our win at the 17th Offline meet hosted by Avinash, was a sweet
win and took me back to the thrill of winning at college competitions.
I called up Suma the next morning and we both relived the quiz moments
again. I believe Sunil commented that we were "giggling like school
girls" when we won. Well Sunil, all I can say is sour grapes. Huh!
It felt good to win a quiz that was really good in terms of questions,
the presentation pyrotechnics, location, the food (yumm!) and of
course the people! Before we started out, we were disappointed at the
poor turnout since Avinash had taken a lot of pains to organize a
projector, sound system, catering etc. Anyways, I'm sure the motley
bunch of quizzards did not disappoint him in terms of enthusiasm or
answers.
Like the food, the quiz posers were delectable. The first few rounds
warmed us up to get our grey cells ticking and work out the answers.
The Clinton-Bobbit was a gem of a question!!
By the end of the second round, the Goldie and Prakash duo were in the
lead with Rajib's team following suit. We managed to collected some 5
points change (chillre in Kannada) now and then and scraped to third
place. Never mind that in the beginning we didn't get points though
"we were on the right track."
Then it changed. The connection round was the clincher. I must
congratulate Avinash on the great questions and clues. Having a
Bollywood specialist Suma really turned things in our favor-for
example-:the Salim Khan connection question. I'll never forget that
hilarious Kannda movie clip where the B &W movie changes into
colour(multi-colour) and how!!!LOL.
Even after the last question of the quiz was asked, we still thought
that we would end up third or second. But surprise surprise, we won.
Psst…Avinash, the scores weren't rigged na? Anyways, Kudos to Avinash
and team for arranging such a wonderful quiz..
Lest I forget, Prakash's good-natured leg (shoulder/ throat in some
cases)- pulling and yarn spinning has become part and parcel of the
offline meets. Each time it's a new bakra though Goldie has been at
the receiving end most times. And now I think he's passed on the baton
to Avinash.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
==========================
Winner Suma's Spiel……………….
==========================
"For all those who said they were coming and finally didn't turn up, I
must say this you missed one helluva quiz.
There are a lot of things I want to say about this quiz but I don't
know where to start.
Probably with the elaborate arrangements Avinash had made: the
setting, the food, the ambience, not mention his appearance. :) And
those who turned up had done so with full josh nobody bothering to
conceal that the josh had everything to do with Avinash being the
quizmaster, leaving the rest of us amateur mortals with a
more-than-fair chance of claiming first place.
But I must admit that just like the first BQG offliner I attended
where Avinash was QM this one also boasted of brilliant research and
classy execution.
Set on the terrace, the trademark Bangalore breeze provided just the
right touch, what with the rain gods gone on holiday. And what a quiz
it was. An impressive audio-visual gorgeously displayed on a large
screen introduced us to what lay ahead. I was paired with Priya once
again and rather pleased about it. The first two make that three
rounds were a washout as far as we were concerned. The questions were
"wow" but
the answers were slow in coming. According to Avinash, our team was
always on the right track unfortunately, one that always ran into a
dead end.
Sigh………………….
But we learnt a little from our mistakes and started to speak our
minds. It paid off in multiples of 5 points (out of 20) for knowing a
little quarter truths in BQG. Prakash, are you listening? Heh Heh ;)
We enjoyed our ignorance and somebody commented that we spent most of
the quiz giggling like schoolgirls.
Ahem, well, that's more or less right, so let's leave it there, shall
we? It kept our minds off the fact that we were trailing a
d-i-s-t-a-n-t third to Prakash-Goldie and Sudheendra-Rajib.
Thankfully, the trickle of 5-pt gains didn't dry up. Unlike the city's
water supply, it got better with rounds related to entertainment. One
delectable "connect" question linking Salim-Javed (but how exactly,
asked Avinash, so we could get a tonne of points). And then Priya made
another fantastic connection Illaiyaraja by listening to some ads
composed along his film tunes.
Also correctly guessed the connection between the three gents after
whom cricket stadiums have been named. Felt terrible about missing the
Bimal Roy connection, not that we could crack too many of the others.
But we trudged along. And finally, it was time for Avinash to announce
"with-that-we-come-to-the-end-of…" Just before the
scores came up, Priya and I wondered aloud: "Third? Or second you think?"
…."Second, I hope."
But the scorer had some happy news for us we had scraped past with a
15-point lead and won!! So we did a little jig and beamed. And we
shall continue to remain as pleased as Punch till the next offliner.
Of course, with Avinash returning to our midst, the fight just might
return to the claim for second place. However, I have a feeling that
everyone is raring to go and there might just be an upset victory
around the
corner."
Regards,
Suma
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Now, the losers……………in alphabetic order…………………
=================
Goldie…………………………
=================
It was a 'Perfect' day! I mean if given a choice, I would love to
spend most of my sundays like the one on which last offline was held.
Have a nice lunch at my friend's place (in this case dear friends were
Sunil and Suma, who were hosting myself and Priya), spend time with an
over-enthusiastic 3-yr old kid (that's Shreyan, Su-nil/ma's son), take
a nice nap, and then set out with the rest to an evening filled of
exciting questions, some yummy food for thought as well as for stomach.
Needless to talk much about the quizzing quality when Avinash is at
the helm of affairs. Must say, when he does things, he makes sure he
does it in style. And that was more than obvious in the whole setting
of the 17th offline.
Generally, I don't rue losing out in the offline quizzes. But this
time, I certainly did. Simply, because I myself didn't follow the rule
I had set for myself: Always listen to ur intuitions. On two questions
(which would have fetched us 40 marks and made us the winner), I
almost gave the right answer and then before could spell it out, chose
a wrong one.
The questions with answers: Monalisa and Atlantic were so much on my
mind, but somehow the devil inside me forced me to say things unwise.
As usual, looking forward to the next offline... and it better be soon.
=================
Poornima………………………
=================
Hadn't been to any of the quizzes Avinash conducted but had heard so
much about them. Well, the show was more than I expected. Avinash
outdid anything else that I have seen. Better than even the stuff on
TV. The big screen, the mike, the works. Even the Light refreshment
which actually turned out to be more than dinner. I wish more people
could have been there to enjoy this experience, because it was
definitely that, more than just a quiz. Anyways, it was just this
small cozy group on the great big terrace and a great smashing quiz
with lots of lovely information. Esp. loved the question of the
`Country that changes its name once every year'. There was also a
dedication to the Strong, Silent man of the group, Sunil!! Waiting for
the next one.
======================
Sudheendra…………………………..
======================
It was that evening,
when we do quizzing.
On the terrace we were,
while the lights were fading.
In the bright light of the neon bulb,
we started to vanquish,
the idli, Halwa and the chutney.
Spicey and tasty they were,
so everyone said "yeh dil maange more"
For a change it was the Indestructible,
who conducted the proceedings,
giving us mortals some satisfaction,
of having to compete for the first place,
instead of the usual second.
Questions came in like lightning,
and had everyone scurrying.
Still everyone manage,
a count of hundred and odd,
only to find Suma and Priya
pip the others at the post.
So ended the starry evening,
with "The Indestructible" scratching his beard
and thinking "I shall be back and rule
for another 6 months" while the others just
sighed and said "Oh, no, not again" !!!!
==============
Sunil…………………….
==============
Finally an Avinash quiz and another PVR-style big screen. It was a
great quiz and I had loads of fun even though I finished last!
(Getting my voice back seems to have done me in remarked someone) The
hospitality was great too and the first round was a yummy one of Pet Puja.
The thing I like about Avinash's quizzes is that you have to think,
think and think. In most quizzes, it's just that either you know it or
you don't. At best you can guess. Not so here. For example in one
question, I thought of Male (the capital of Maldives) instead of the
Isle of Man(n). Not that way of the mark, or so I thought. Mullah
Naseeruddin was another gettable one, the donkey was a big getaway,
but we didn't get it either. But the best round of all was the visual
"connect round" and the most enjoyable clip was the colorful Kannada
movie one where a black and white film went technicolor right in front
of our eyes! The attendance was pretty low, but that really didn't
bother me. Even 8 serious quizzers is enough to have a great evening.
Kudos to Suma and Priya for coming first. The Illyaraja and Bollywood
answers were pretty cool.
Anyway, it's not every time that one has a question dedicated to
oneself. I won't forget that. I won't also forget the meaning of
"Aphasia" thanks to that.
So Avinash, hope your next quiz won't come after too long a gap.
Cheers!
Sunil
======================DA END. FINIS. KHALAAS.==================
The 16th Offline Meet
Is up. It's at:
http://www.bangalorequizgroup.com/docs/16ol.doc
Have fun reading it! :-)
Cheers,
Prakash
http://www.bangalorequizgroup.com/docs/16ol.doc
Have fun reading it! :-)
Cheers,
Prakash
The 15th Offline Meet Writeup
Is at http://www.bangalorequizgroup.com/docs/15ol.doc
Report on the 14th Offline Meet
It's at:
http://www.bangalorequizgroup.com/docs/14ol.doc
Regards,
Prakash
http://www.bangalorequizgroup.com/docs/14ol.doc
Regards,
Prakash
13th Offline Meet - a report
Is at:
http://www.bangalorequizgroup.com/13thofflinemeet.htm
http://www.bangalorequizgroup.com/13thofflinemeet.htm
13th Offline Meet
The quiz took place at the lovely Jain International Residential School. A detailed report is under preparation and will be sent shortly.
Two of the 13th Offline Meet quizzes (# 0503051 and 0503052) that have already been circulated feature questions asked by Goldie.
We'd like to see many new persons taking part at the Offline Meets!
Next offline meet has been tentatively fixed for 26th March 2005. Please do try and make it! :-)
Regards,
Prakash
Two of the 13th Offline Meet quizzes (# 0503051 and 0503052) that have already been circulated feature questions asked by Goldie.
We'd like to see many new persons taking part at the Offline Meets!
Next offline meet has been tentatively fixed for 26th March 2005. Please do try and make it! :-)
Regards,
Prakash
12th Offline Meet
Suma's write up is at:
http://www.bangalorequizgroup.com/12offline.htm
Regards,
Prakash
http://www.bangalorequizgroup.com/12offline.htm
Regards,
Prakash
11th Offline Meet: 6th February 2005
It's at:
http://www.bangalorequizgroup.com/11offline.htm
http://www.bangalorequizgroup.com/11offline.htm
Prakash on the 10th Offliner
Before I set out with the setting of the questions I re-looked at the stated objectives of The Bangalore Quiz Group. They are:
1. Actively promoting quizzing amongst non quizzers (we are trying very hard inthis regard, aren't we?)
2. Changing the negative perception towards quizzing in those who may have had repeated setbacks in competitive quizzing (Don't know about this, though. Are we? Maybe we are……..on second thoughts).
3. Making quizzing both informative and entertaining (I think BQG scores quite high here, doesn't it?)
It was objective # 3 that caught my eye. "Making quizzing both informative and entertaining."
I decided, then and there, to try and make the 10th Offline quiz of BQG as informative and entertaining as I could.
The start was by throwing out the old (thoughts and concepts) and by bringing in the new.
The 10th Offline Meet was completely different from any quiz that we have had in the past. For one thing there were no visuals at all! The quiz almost completely consisted of so called "dry questions" and audio tracks.
The rules of the quiz were also completely different. Each question started with a simple question (a.k.a. a "sitter").
Examples of sitters? The first question of the quiz was, for example, "The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an annual meeting among chief executives of the world's richest corporations, some national political leaders (presidents, prime ministers and others), and selected intellectuals and journalists, about 2000 people in all. It is usually held in?" If the team answered it correct they got 300 points. Then a tougher question on the same subject was offered to them. The points increased. For example, the next question was "On what basis are
companies selected to attend the Davos meet? (1000 points). If the team answered this also correctly they got an even tougher question"It was founded in ------ (year) by -------- Name either." (1000 + 1000 points). If at any point they fumbled the answer, the question passed to the next team.
Would you believe it that one or two "sitters" couldn't be answered by most the teams present? An example was a song track from the famous "Sangam" movie. It wasunbelievable and just goes to tell us that we need to "pull up our socks" in a manner of speaking. We are forgetting as we learn. Bonus questions carrying huge points were thrown in at regular intervals. For example, the question "He was a legendary musician of the Jaipur Atrauli gharana. He did not possess a regal bearing. He did not clothe himself in princely robes. He did not care to be the centre of attraction. He continued to look like a shopkeeper's assistant. He did not speak like an Oracle. He rarely referred to his triumphs. Those who met him marveled at his combination of eminence and humility. His autobiography is a mere 85 pages but, like his music, it conveys profundity. This stalwart passed away recently. Identify him."
Carried 2000 points!
The net result was an almost roller coaster ride on the infotainmenthighway where a team would be up points-wise one moment and down the next.
Team # 5 (Sunil and colleagues) were, at one point trailing. They suddenly came up very rapidly and closed the gap through a series of brilliant answers and ultimately scored very close to the winning team. How close the contest was is reflected in the final scores:
Winning team: 7500 points
Team # 2: 6700 points
Team # 3: 6100 points
Considering the fact that most questions, if answered correctly, yielded 500 points on average – this was a photo finish!
When this happens……………when there is a tremendous volatility in the scores……….when a hastily uttered wrong answer can spell the difference between victory and failure, the tension starts mounting.
And so it was at the 10th Offliner. The tension at times was palpable. Quizzing is not always about setting the right question and giving the right answers. It is also about team work, giving careful thought to one's words (rather than blurting out the first thought that came to one's mind). For a 2000 point bonus, one needs to word one's answers very carefully. Many a point was lost between a slightly vague answer". There were no "half-points" given. The logic: you either know it or you don't.
We (Indians) sometimes tend to be individually brilliant but collectively find it difficult to work as a team. In the quizzing arena we tend to defer to our colleagues (Mini sotto voce answered one question right but was over ruled by a team mate who got it wrong! The question passed to the next team who gave the same answer as Mini and scored the points) I'd like to think that the new format gave every one a sense of "Hey! I know something too!" feeling. This (hopefully)
gives rise to greater self worth. Team members (hopefully) realizing this will consult colleagues more closely. I'd like to think that the 10th Offline Meet took a small but definite step in this regard. The quiz was tough. At least that was the way I had designed it. "The more you know, the more you earn, baby" was the underlying credo. But what I have always stood for is the fact that you may know the answers to 2, 3, 4…maybe even 5 questions. The balance answers will be provided by BQG. That means you leave the arena a lot richer in knowledge than when you entered. The quiz master should subordinate himself to the audience.
His (or her) task is to inform as well as entertain; to whip up a frenzy of excitement in the audience. Not to shine in isolation.
Why am I saying all this? Because I feel that this is the way I'd like to have future quizzes conducted at BQG. We need to set guidelines and I am setting those with relation to our recent experiences.
Finally………………. people should leave each Offliner Quiz with a warm glow of "that was great, I enjoyed myself"!
If they left that way after the 10th Offliner, then I have succeeded in my task.
The date/time of the next Offliner will be announced shortly. Goldie will quizmaster it. Venue will be announced. If all else fails, my place is always there! Watch for the announcement, as they say!
Acknowledgements:
-----------------
Thank you, Gururaj, Sukanya and Sandhya for the excellent food and other arrangements!
Anuradha - kept great track of the scores and has proved to be our best scorer ever!
And last but not least: some of the audio rounds would just not have been possible but for the techie info provided by Sudheendraa. Just what info did he provide? Ask him.
Best wishes,
Prakash
PS: Written at 3 am, bleary eyed. E&OE, as they say!
1. Actively promoting quizzing amongst non quizzers (we are trying very hard inthis regard, aren't we?)
2. Changing the negative perception towards quizzing in those who may have had repeated setbacks in competitive quizzing (Don't know about this, though. Are we? Maybe we are……..on second thoughts).
3. Making quizzing both informative and entertaining (I think BQG scores quite high here, doesn't it?)
It was objective # 3 that caught my eye. "Making quizzing both informative and entertaining."
I decided, then and there, to try and make the 10th Offline quiz of BQG as informative and entertaining as I could.
The start was by throwing out the old (thoughts and concepts) and by bringing in the new.
The 10th Offline Meet was completely different from any quiz that we have had in the past. For one thing there were no visuals at all! The quiz almost completely consisted of so called "dry questions" and audio tracks.
The rules of the quiz were also completely different. Each question started with a simple question (a.k.a. a "sitter").
Examples of sitters? The first question of the quiz was, for example, "The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an annual meeting among chief executives of the world's richest corporations, some national political leaders (presidents, prime ministers and others), and selected intellectuals and journalists, about 2000 people in all. It is usually held in?" If the team answered it correct they got 300 points. Then a tougher question on the same subject was offered to them. The points increased. For example, the next question was "On what basis are
companies selected to attend the Davos meet? (1000 points). If the team answered this also correctly they got an even tougher question"It was founded in ------ (year) by -------- Name either." (1000 + 1000 points). If at any point they fumbled the answer, the question passed to the next team.
Would you believe it that one or two "sitters" couldn't be answered by most the teams present? An example was a song track from the famous "Sangam" movie. It wasunbelievable and just goes to tell us that we need to "pull up our socks" in a manner of speaking. We are forgetting as we learn. Bonus questions carrying huge points were thrown in at regular intervals. For example, the question "He was a legendary musician of the Jaipur Atrauli gharana. He did not possess a regal bearing. He did not clothe himself in princely robes. He did not care to be the centre of attraction. He continued to look like a shopkeeper's assistant. He did not speak like an Oracle. He rarely referred to his triumphs. Those who met him marveled at his combination of eminence and humility. His autobiography is a mere 85 pages but, like his music, it conveys profundity. This stalwart passed away recently. Identify him."
Carried 2000 points!
The net result was an almost roller coaster ride on the infotainmenthighway where a team would be up points-wise one moment and down the next.
Team # 5 (Sunil and colleagues) were, at one point trailing. They suddenly came up very rapidly and closed the gap through a series of brilliant answers and ultimately scored very close to the winning team. How close the contest was is reflected in the final scores:
Winning team: 7500 points
Team # 2: 6700 points
Team # 3: 6100 points
Considering the fact that most questions, if answered correctly, yielded 500 points on average – this was a photo finish!
When this happens……………when there is a tremendous volatility in the scores……….when a hastily uttered wrong answer can spell the difference between victory and failure, the tension starts mounting.
And so it was at the 10th Offliner. The tension at times was palpable. Quizzing is not always about setting the right question and giving the right answers. It is also about team work, giving careful thought to one's words (rather than blurting out the first thought that came to one's mind). For a 2000 point bonus, one needs to word one's answers very carefully. Many a point was lost between a slightly vague answer". There were no "half-points" given. The logic: you either know it or you don't.
We (Indians) sometimes tend to be individually brilliant but collectively find it difficult to work as a team. In the quizzing arena we tend to defer to our colleagues (Mini sotto voce answered one question right but was over ruled by a team mate who got it wrong! The question passed to the next team who gave the same answer as Mini and scored the points) I'd like to think that the new format gave every one a sense of "Hey! I know something too!" feeling. This (hopefully)
gives rise to greater self worth. Team members (hopefully) realizing this will consult colleagues more closely. I'd like to think that the 10th Offline Meet took a small but definite step in this regard. The quiz was tough. At least that was the way I had designed it. "The more you know, the more you earn, baby" was the underlying credo. But what I have always stood for is the fact that you may know the answers to 2, 3, 4…maybe even 5 questions. The balance answers will be provided by BQG. That means you leave the arena a lot richer in knowledge than when you entered. The quiz master should subordinate himself to the audience.
His (or her) task is to inform as well as entertain; to whip up a frenzy of excitement in the audience. Not to shine in isolation.
Why am I saying all this? Because I feel that this is the way I'd like to have future quizzes conducted at BQG. We need to set guidelines and I am setting those with relation to our recent experiences.
Finally………………. people should leave each Offliner Quiz with a warm glow of "that was great, I enjoyed myself"!
If they left that way after the 10th Offliner, then I have succeeded in my task.
The date/time of the next Offliner will be announced shortly. Goldie will quizmaster it. Venue will be announced. If all else fails, my place is always there! Watch for the announcement, as they say!
Acknowledgements:
-----------------
Thank you, Gururaj, Sukanya and Sandhya for the excellent food and other arrangements!
Anuradha - kept great track of the scores and has proved to be our best scorer ever!
And last but not least: some of the audio rounds would just not have been possible but for the techie info provided by Sudheendraa. Just what info did he provide? Ask him.
Best wishes,
Prakash
PS: Written at 3 am, bleary eyed. E&OE, as they say!
An FIR on the 1st YM Quiz
Here is the feedback on the 1st YM Quiz.
Ganapathi Subbaiah
-------------------
indeed the quiz went gr8. out of the 20 membs registered 12 were there to take part.other 4 or so resigned. i found the quiz very nice. but i had a tough time conducting it as i had to answer all 12 of them at the same time for their differnt questions. i'll soon be mailing you the personalities on whom i quizzed.the response was good. I'm planning to conduct more of it after my exams.
Balkishen from Hyderabad
-------------------------
I have attended the yesterday YM quiz.It was really fantastic. plz continue this type quiz in future.
Harish Poojary from Kuwait
--------------------------
It would be nice if you can consider those in other time-zones (here in Kuwait, we are 2.5 hours behind IST). Also, our weekend is Thu-Fri; so, if you're going to do it on your weekend, evenings would be better.
Prashant Mannur
---------------
gr8 effort on ur part to come out with this novel concept. liked the "20 Questions format". hoping for other formats too. hello prakash, UR BABY IS GROWING INTO A FINE
GENTLEMAN???? CONGRATS PAPA.
Friends, I must give credit where it is due. The idea was not mine - it emanated from others, notably Ganapathi Subbaiah who, though he is busy with exams, took time off and did the quiz within 72 hours of his having volunteered to do so.
The credit also goes to all those dudes who were there, waiting patiently in the hot digital sun at 2.55 pm. I must confess that I expected a response of 4 or 5........... 20 people registering was
beyond my wildest imagination!!!
We have a great chemistry going here, friends. Let's keep it up!
Three cheers to all of you!
Hip hip, hurray!
Hip hip, hurray!
Hip hip, hurray!
Regards,
Prakash
Ganapathi Subbaiah
-------------------
indeed the quiz went gr8. out of the 20 membs registered 12 were there to take part.other 4 or so resigned. i found the quiz very nice. but i had a tough time conducting it as i had to answer all 12 of them at the same time for their differnt questions. i'll soon be mailing you the personalities on whom i quizzed.the response was good. I'm planning to conduct more of it after my exams.
Balkishen from Hyderabad
-------------------------
I have attended the yesterday YM quiz.It was really fantastic. plz continue this type quiz in future.
Harish Poojary from Kuwait
--------------------------
It would be nice if you can consider those in other time-zones (here in Kuwait, we are 2.5 hours behind IST). Also, our weekend is Thu-Fri; so, if you're going to do it on your weekend, evenings would be better.
Prashant Mannur
---------------
gr8 effort on ur part to come out with this novel concept. liked the "20 Questions format". hoping for other formats too. hello prakash, UR BABY IS GROWING INTO A FINE
GENTLEMAN???? CONGRATS PAPA.
Friends, I must give credit where it is due. The idea was not mine - it emanated from others, notably Ganapathi Subbaiah who, though he is busy with exams, took time off and did the quiz within 72 hours of his having volunteered to do so.
The credit also goes to all those dudes who were there, waiting patiently in the hot digital sun at 2.55 pm. I must confess that I expected a response of 4 or 5........... 20 people registering was
beyond my wildest imagination!!!
We have a great chemistry going here, friends. Let's keep it up!
Three cheers to all of you!
Hip hip, hurray!
Hip hip, hurray!
Hip hip, hurray!
Regards,
Prakash
Suma's solo soliloquy sans Sunil (a.k.a. The Report On The 9th Offliner)
It was westward ho for BQG's 8th offline meet, this time at Sudheendra's home. His faultless directions meant practically nobody got lost while getting to his house. Of course, Prakash did attempt to pull a fast one on the quizmaster by trying (unsuccessfully) to cook up a tale about the maze that was Vijayanagar. And to Prakash's credit, it was only when Sudheendra realized that we had reached on time that the penny dropped. One wonders if this is what prompted him
to duck into his room and change into a daring red T-shirt advertising Microsoft. (The gentleman does sell software, you see. As da marriage bureau lady said: No harm in mixing a little business with pleasure.)
Quizzers trickled in at regular intervals and since Sudheendra was unable to beat the record for attendance (24 at Anuradha Goyal's place last year, I'm told) he was eager to start the quiz while everyone else yakked away and savoured his mother's delicious cooking. Pet puja, as one earlier report said, takes precedence over almost everything else. This time, however, Sudheendra did manage to shepherd everyone into their places (some still with plates in their hands) to get the show going.
Several faces from the previous meet kept their word and turned up: Naveen, the two Ashwins (B&R), Jaideep, Prakash (but of course), Sunil (or as Prakash likes to say, my worse half!). There was also Balaji Narasimhan – journalist, author and leading authority on Sherlock
Holmes (two books on the subject and counting). Vineet too was a first-timer and joined in the fun with full gusto, taking his team to second place. Goldie was back, shoulder in sling and just about managed not to hurt it again, what with all the back thumping his team indulged in. Sandhya was back after a prolonged absence, as were Sukanya and her husband, Gururaj. Goldie introduced another member to BQG: Anuradha, who has worked as a journalist and is now with HP, marketing solutions for emerging markets (or some such hi-funda thing that is beyond the scope of my limited biz gyan. A thousand pardons, Anuradha and we do hope to see you at the next meet.) Sandhya brought along a colleague, Saudamini, who was extremely enthusiastic right up to the end. Mini, we hope to see your bubbly self next time too.
The other guest was L. Subramani, a reporter/sub-editor with Deccan Herald who was doing a story on BQG: (members, please to go and dig up the DH Metro Life supplement of 17 Jan 2005, page 2. Big spread with even bigger photo of Prakash and friends. Hmmm….) Now here's the thing: Subramani is blind but he does his work with some help from a voice-to-text software. He lost his sight at the age of 18 to a genetic disorder but new research means he can probably get it back in a few years with gene therapy. The marvels of technology and modern
medicine, as he put it. He left early and that unfortunately for yours truly, meant that Anuradha and I –leading at the end of the first few rounds, struggled to uplift the score to a not-so-decent third place.
But I am getting ahead of the events. Once everyone had settled into their places (with plates, glasses and whatnot) Sudheendra unveiled his "AV MAX" quiz aptly titled: I saw, I heard, I answered. No "dry" questions and absolutely no mythology-etymology questions either. The
latter are either the toughest or the easiest but I missed `em this time. Come back Penelope, by hook or by crook. Ashwin B (quiz master designate for the next meet) are you listening?
Also sorely missed was Prakash's mother: in her absence, there were no history-of-Bangalore questions. Come back, ma'am.
Back to Sunday, Sudheendra had managed to source some pretty good ol' photos and believe it or not, most of those questions were answered. The new photos, now, there was a challenge. I could've kicked myself for missing the link between Rani Mukherjee, Amisha Patel, Mahima
Chaudhry, Bhumika Chawla, Aarti Chhabria and who else, now? Can't recollect. Well, anyway, that ought to have been enough to tell me that they all starred in Adnan Sami's music videos!! Aaargh!! Especially because that was one of the few questions related to Bollywood, of which I claim to be a huge fan. Ignorance, though, can be an advantage, as was proved when Sudheendra put up another B&W picture of a gentleman and asked our team to identify it. Robert Duvall, who else? Not meaning to show off my knowledge but I was wondering about the fuss when Sudheendra explained that this particular picture was often mistaken for one of Jack Welch. Ah! You see, I have no clue what Jack Welch looks like. Ergo, ignorance is (and advantage and therefore) bliss.
Not so in the case of the picture of Gwen Stefanie holding an HP digital camera at its recent release. Despite a nice big representation from HP (4 people, I think), the question went
abegging. Miz Stefanie designed the shell herself. So now we know. Popstars don't fade, they become designers.
Now, since BQG can't always afford to hire a screen (considering we have no idea how many people will turn up eventually and how many will be ready to pitch in with the costs), there was much racing-to-the-screen happening, not to mention "Play it again, Sudheendra," when it came to the audio rounds. In the melee, some questions were answered out of turn and consequently cancelled. Another couple of questions were answered spontaneously by the
quizmaster's father. No harm done, except that Sudheendra ran out of questions in the end and had to come up with two at very short notice. One was again answered out of turn (wot people? In so much hurry to get home-ah?)
The quizmaster's fondness for Carnatic music was evident and manifested into bouncers for much of the janta (despite a fair chunk being South Indians and all that). But he more than made up for it with an equally big chunk of Western rock and pop. That's when Naveen came into his own and cruised through the rest of the proceedings, taking his team (including Prakash and Goldie) to first place. Pay attention people: if I ever graduate to becoming quiz master, I shall wreak my vengeance by cramming old Hindi films and film music into every possible question. As the redoubtable Ajit would say: Phirr mat kehna humne tumhe varrrning nahin dee!!
Anuradha volunteered to keep score, did a commendable job but everybody crowded round her and asking her if she needed help to tally the final scores!! According to my mathematically-challenged self, she as doing just fine and added a twist to the tail(end) by meting out `punishments'. Team 1 (in 5th place with 10 points) had to open a bottle of wine at the next quiz, which, she declared, Team 2 (in 1st place with 100 points) would get to drink. Unfortunately, that was eventually whittled down to one person from Team 1 (the gallant Gururaj, in this case) providing the venue for the next quiz (on 28th Jan at 8 pm) and Ashwin B. (also from Team1) playing quizmaster.
to duck into his room and change into a daring red T-shirt advertising Microsoft. (The gentleman does sell software, you see. As da marriage bureau lady said: No harm in mixing a little business with pleasure.)
Quizzers trickled in at regular intervals and since Sudheendra was unable to beat the record for attendance (24 at Anuradha Goyal's place last year, I'm told) he was eager to start the quiz while everyone else yakked away and savoured his mother's delicious cooking. Pet puja, as one earlier report said, takes precedence over almost everything else. This time, however, Sudheendra did manage to shepherd everyone into their places (some still with plates in their hands) to get the show going.
Several faces from the previous meet kept their word and turned up: Naveen, the two Ashwins (B&R), Jaideep, Prakash (but of course), Sunil (or as Prakash likes to say, my worse half!). There was also Balaji Narasimhan – journalist, author and leading authority on Sherlock
Holmes (two books on the subject and counting). Vineet too was a first-timer and joined in the fun with full gusto, taking his team to second place. Goldie was back, shoulder in sling and just about managed not to hurt it again, what with all the back thumping his team indulged in. Sandhya was back after a prolonged absence, as were Sukanya and her husband, Gururaj. Goldie introduced another member to BQG: Anuradha, who has worked as a journalist and is now with HP, marketing solutions for emerging markets (or some such hi-funda thing that is beyond the scope of my limited biz gyan. A thousand pardons, Anuradha and we do hope to see you at the next meet.) Sandhya brought along a colleague, Saudamini, who was extremely enthusiastic right up to the end. Mini, we hope to see your bubbly self next time too.
The other guest was L. Subramani, a reporter/sub-editor with Deccan Herald who was doing a story on BQG: (members, please to go and dig up the DH Metro Life supplement of 17 Jan 2005, page 2. Big spread with even bigger photo of Prakash and friends. Hmmm….) Now here's the thing: Subramani is blind but he does his work with some help from a voice-to-text software. He lost his sight at the age of 18 to a genetic disorder but new research means he can probably get it back in a few years with gene therapy. The marvels of technology and modern
medicine, as he put it. He left early and that unfortunately for yours truly, meant that Anuradha and I –leading at the end of the first few rounds, struggled to uplift the score to a not-so-decent third place.
But I am getting ahead of the events. Once everyone had settled into their places (with plates, glasses and whatnot) Sudheendra unveiled his "AV MAX" quiz aptly titled: I saw, I heard, I answered. No "dry" questions and absolutely no mythology-etymology questions either. The
latter are either the toughest or the easiest but I missed `em this time. Come back Penelope, by hook or by crook. Ashwin B (quiz master designate for the next meet) are you listening?
Also sorely missed was Prakash's mother: in her absence, there were no history-of-Bangalore questions. Come back, ma'am.
Back to Sunday, Sudheendra had managed to source some pretty good ol' photos and believe it or not, most of those questions were answered. The new photos, now, there was a challenge. I could've kicked myself for missing the link between Rani Mukherjee, Amisha Patel, Mahima
Chaudhry, Bhumika Chawla, Aarti Chhabria and who else, now? Can't recollect. Well, anyway, that ought to have been enough to tell me that they all starred in Adnan Sami's music videos!! Aaargh!! Especially because that was one of the few questions related to Bollywood, of which I claim to be a huge fan. Ignorance, though, can be an advantage, as was proved when Sudheendra put up another B&W picture of a gentleman and asked our team to identify it. Robert Duvall, who else? Not meaning to show off my knowledge but I was wondering about the fuss when Sudheendra explained that this particular picture was often mistaken for one of Jack Welch. Ah! You see, I have no clue what Jack Welch looks like. Ergo, ignorance is (and advantage and therefore) bliss.
Not so in the case of the picture of Gwen Stefanie holding an HP digital camera at its recent release. Despite a nice big representation from HP (4 people, I think), the question went
abegging. Miz Stefanie designed the shell herself. So now we know. Popstars don't fade, they become designers.
Now, since BQG can't always afford to hire a screen (considering we have no idea how many people will turn up eventually and how many will be ready to pitch in with the costs), there was much racing-to-the-screen happening, not to mention "Play it again, Sudheendra," when it came to the audio rounds. In the melee, some questions were answered out of turn and consequently cancelled. Another couple of questions were answered spontaneously by the
quizmaster's father. No harm done, except that Sudheendra ran out of questions in the end and had to come up with two at very short notice. One was again answered out of turn (wot people? In so much hurry to get home-ah?)
The quizmaster's fondness for Carnatic music was evident and manifested into bouncers for much of the janta (despite a fair chunk being South Indians and all that). But he more than made up for it with an equally big chunk of Western rock and pop. That's when Naveen came into his own and cruised through the rest of the proceedings, taking his team (including Prakash and Goldie) to first place. Pay attention people: if I ever graduate to becoming quiz master, I shall wreak my vengeance by cramming old Hindi films and film music into every possible question. As the redoubtable Ajit would say: Phirr mat kehna humne tumhe varrrning nahin dee!!
Anuradha volunteered to keep score, did a commendable job but everybody crowded round her and asking her if she needed help to tally the final scores!! According to my mathematically-challenged self, she as doing just fine and added a twist to the tail(end) by meting out `punishments'. Team 1 (in 5th place with 10 points) had to open a bottle of wine at the next quiz, which, she declared, Team 2 (in 1st place with 100 points) would get to drink. Unfortunately, that was eventually whittled down to one person from Team 1 (the gallant Gururaj, in this case) providing the venue for the next quiz (on 28th Jan at 8 pm) and Ashwin B. (also from Team1) playing quizmaster.
The generous Prakash again invited everyone to a movie-cum-quiz on a weekend at the Jain International Residential School (where his wife is a teacher) in Kanakapura. At a distance of 44 kms, it'll be a nice drive down to the beautiful campus. (although I believe that's an understatement.) Now that's what I call something to look forward to.
See you soon, everyone!
See you soon, everyone!
9th Offline Meet: Prakash's comments
Went off very well. Great job, Sudheendraa!
I won't say much more. We'll wait for Sunil and Suma's report on the evening's activities.
I will, however, say that we had a few new people at the 9th Offline who made the evening all the more enjoyable for all of us. They were:
T.S. Vineeth Kumar
Mini Marthanda
M.S. Anuradha
and finally last but not the least "Sherlock" Balaji
I must mention here that the closing moments of the quiz were greatly enhanced by Anuradha's great comments. I have some of them on video.
If anyone is interested in having a copy bring a CD along next time and I will burn a copy for you.
Invitations have been sent to them and we hope to see them as full fledged BQG members soon.
New members but first-time attendees to our offline meet: L. Subramani and Naveen Giles.
10th Offline Quiz is at Gururaj's place on the 28th January. That's a Friday.
We are also planning to have a movie quiz at Jain International Residential School on a weekend. I will check on this and get back to you but I would guess that we could have this on the 30th January. I will be putting up a poll. Kindly respond.
Regards,
Prakash
BQG
I won't say much more. We'll wait for Sunil and Suma's report on the evening's activities.
I will, however, say that we had a few new people at the 9th Offline who made the evening all the more enjoyable for all of us. They were:
T.S. Vineeth Kumar
Mini Marthanda
M.S. Anuradha
and finally last but not the least "Sherlock" Balaji
I must mention here that the closing moments of the quiz were greatly enhanced by Anuradha's great comments. I have some of them on video.
If anyone is interested in having a copy bring a CD along next time and I will burn a copy for you.
Invitations have been sent to them and we hope to see them as full fledged BQG members soon.
New members but first-time attendees to our offline meet: L. Subramani and Naveen Giles.
10th Offline Quiz is at Gururaj's place on the 28th January. That's a Friday.
We are also planning to have a movie quiz at Jain International Residential School on a weekend. I will check on this and get back to you but I would guess that we could have this on the 30th January. I will be putting up a poll. Kindly respond.
Regards,
Prakash
BQG
Feedback onthe 8th Offline Quiz: Thoda Sunil, Thoda Suma.....
I thought last time's offline quiz (my first) was great – little can match the ambience of the Shankara Foundation – but I was in for a pleasant surprise this time around. (hmm…by the way, am I the only non-online member?)
This time too, the quiz started late, (okay, maybe we need to do something about that but it does provide time for chit-chat and networking and generally settling in and meeting new people) but if anybody was upset, they didn't show it. And once it started, it wenton for much longer than planned. (We'll stop in an hour, everyone had agreed, and blissfully continued when the hour was up.)
All this, thanks to the excellent audio-visual questions put together by ace quizmaster Rajeev. There was a slide projector and a big screen set up in Prakash's front lawn, which added so much to the whole experience. So folks, let's all pitch in with a bit towards the rental of the hi-tech paraphernalia that was the icing on the cake. A tiny price to pay for having such a fabulous time.
I, of course, came away feeling on top of the world, being part of a team that came second (again) by a whisker. Our secret weapon was Prakash himself. Behind all that modesty and alleged ignorance of all things musical lay a sharp "gut feel" that hit the mark around
half-a-dozen times in the audio rounds.
I honestly wish more people had come and I'm hoping to see higher numbers in January when Rajeev is back with his "IIT quiz".
(Better Half) Suma
-------------------------xxxxxxxx----------------------------
Hi!
I am really sorry for the delay, can't give excuses, just got caught up in the daily grind, that's all. But I am giving the report without further delay. And I didn't grind my teeth when I said 2 reports instead of one! Maybe a trick of the light! The intentions for two were always there, just the actions have come late. Here's my report!
For a couple who were quizzing freaks throughout their school life, we were both woefully out of touch for years. While Goldie had beentelling me about some great quiz circle he was involved in, I never took him seriously (my big big loss!). Anyway, we attended our first quiz at Shankara and decided not to miss a single one after that!
Shankara was great. Good ambience and good questions. We really had a great time and I felt my brains were really really rusted. I knew some of the answers and didn't reply on time! Decided to make amends in the next quiz.
But the last quiz outdid Shankara. It was almost like sitting in a small PVR cinema hall! A complete audio-visual quiz was a real treat. Kudos to Rajeev.
The questions were all "thinking" questions: Not too obscure and not too easy (though one team did get a lot of sitters!).
The slides made everyone think real hard, some we answered and some we didn't even though they stared at us right in the face. Harold Robbins, Tennesse Williams, Lewis Carrol and many more were such characters which we had heard and read about so much for years but
just failed to recognise them.
The audio round was enlightening and it's a pity we couldn't complete it due to lack of time. The biggest revelation of course was Prakash, who claimed that his knowledge of music wasn't that great. But he answered most of the questions right from the oldies to heavy metal! That took us to 15 points just one point behind the leaders. Not a bad performance, I'd say.
Finally, the thing I like about BQG is though they have great quizzesthat are competitive, it's also about meeting people and building relationships. The atmosphere is pretty warm (even though we were sitting out in the cold that evening!) Also kudos to Prakash for putting together such a great group, his organizational skills and hispatience for putting up with last-minute cancellations and people who send their reports late.
Long Live BQG!
----------SUNIL----------
This time too, the quiz started late, (okay, maybe we need to do something about that but it does provide time for chit-chat and networking and generally settling in and meeting new people) but if anybody was upset, they didn't show it. And once it started, it wenton for much longer than planned. (We'll stop in an hour, everyone had agreed, and blissfully continued when the hour was up.)
All this, thanks to the excellent audio-visual questions put together by ace quizmaster Rajeev. There was a slide projector and a big screen set up in Prakash's front lawn, which added so much to the whole experience. So folks, let's all pitch in with a bit towards the rental of the hi-tech paraphernalia that was the icing on the cake. A tiny price to pay for having such a fabulous time.
I, of course, came away feeling on top of the world, being part of a team that came second (again) by a whisker. Our secret weapon was Prakash himself. Behind all that modesty and alleged ignorance of all things musical lay a sharp "gut feel" that hit the mark around
half-a-dozen times in the audio rounds.
I honestly wish more people had come and I'm hoping to see higher numbers in January when Rajeev is back with his "IIT quiz".
(Better Half) Suma
-------------------------xxxxxxxx----------------------------
Hi!
I am really sorry for the delay, can't give excuses, just got caught up in the daily grind, that's all. But I am giving the report without further delay. And I didn't grind my teeth when I said 2 reports instead of one! Maybe a trick of the light! The intentions for two were always there, just the actions have come late. Here's my report!
For a couple who were quizzing freaks throughout their school life, we were both woefully out of touch for years. While Goldie had beentelling me about some great quiz circle he was involved in, I never took him seriously (my big big loss!). Anyway, we attended our first quiz at Shankara and decided not to miss a single one after that!
Shankara was great. Good ambience and good questions. We really had a great time and I felt my brains were really really rusted. I knew some of the answers and didn't reply on time! Decided to make amends in the next quiz.
But the last quiz outdid Shankara. It was almost like sitting in a small PVR cinema hall! A complete audio-visual quiz was a real treat. Kudos to Rajeev.
The questions were all "thinking" questions: Not too obscure and not too easy (though one team did get a lot of sitters!).
The slides made everyone think real hard, some we answered and some we didn't even though they stared at us right in the face. Harold Robbins, Tennesse Williams, Lewis Carrol and many more were such characters which we had heard and read about so much for years but
just failed to recognise them.
The audio round was enlightening and it's a pity we couldn't complete it due to lack of time. The biggest revelation of course was Prakash, who claimed that his knowledge of music wasn't that great. But he answered most of the questions right from the oldies to heavy metal! That took us to 15 points just one point behind the leaders. Not a bad performance, I'd say.
Finally, the thing I like about BQG is though they have great quizzesthat are competitive, it's also about meeting people and building relationships. The atmosphere is pretty warm (even though we were sitting out in the cold that evening!) Also kudos to Prakash for putting together such a great group, his organizational skills and hispatience for putting up with last-minute cancellations and people who send their reports late.
Long Live BQG!
----------SUNIL----------
8th Offline: Rajib's report
Dear All,
My apologies for sending out my part of the story so late in the week. Would not like to give any execuses. Just failed to write the write-up.
First thing first. I would like to thank Prakash and BQG for giving me the chance to host the quiz. Perhaps you all have no idea what it means to me. I live for this, to be honest. And to host a quiz in Bangalore and that even for the BQG, is simply have been a privilege. Thanks to all of you for making this happen.
As I dwell upon the quiz now, I feel happy that I could keep you all engrossed in the show. To admit honestly, I was apprehensive at the beginning thinking how would the questions turn
out to be. But I got more than I could ask for. With an answer rate over 70%, any quizmaster will feel delighted. I am targetting to improve that percentage by few notches next time.
I am a "quizzophillic" and suffer badly from this love.
Have skipped umpteen classes and tuitions just to attend or conduct a quiz. I assure you that any given day you want to have a quiz offline or online, just let me know. I will always be ready with one. Since Avinash has already punished me with one more quiz, I do not mind hosting two infact. SInce I am conducting 2 full fledged quizzes at IIT, I plan to run both the quizzes as it is at offline meets of BQG.
I hope you all will bear with me and give me the chance. I assure you that you will not be dissappointed. Just one wish I have, if we could have more members (non members) participating I am sure we will have more fun.
I am in Bangalore till Feb' 05 and would like to participate/host as many quizzes I can. And since I am new to the Bangalore Quizzing Scene I would be heaviliy depending on you all for
news and information about the quizzes. You can reach me at 98865xxxxx
Hoping to meet you all soon. May all of us have aprosperous new year.
Rgds
Rajib
Bangalore Quiz Group
My apologies for sending out my part of the story so late in the week. Would not like to give any execuses. Just failed to write the write-up.
First thing first. I would like to thank Prakash and BQG for giving me the chance to host the quiz. Perhaps you all have no idea what it means to me. I live for this, to be honest. And to host a quiz in Bangalore and that even for the BQG, is simply have been a privilege. Thanks to all of you for making this happen.
As I dwell upon the quiz now, I feel happy that I could keep you all engrossed in the show. To admit honestly, I was apprehensive at the beginning thinking how would the questions turn
out to be. But I got more than I could ask for. With an answer rate over 70%, any quizmaster will feel delighted. I am targetting to improve that percentage by few notches next time.
I am a "quizzophillic" and suffer badly from this love.
Have skipped umpteen classes and tuitions just to attend or conduct a quiz. I assure you that any given day you want to have a quiz offline or online, just let me know. I will always be ready with one. Since Avinash has already punished me with one more quiz, I do not mind hosting two infact. SInce I am conducting 2 full fledged quizzes at IIT, I plan to run both the quizzes as it is at offline meets of BQG.
I hope you all will bear with me and give me the chance. I assure you that you will not be dissappointed. Just one wish I have, if we could have more members (non members) participating I am sure we will have more fun.
I am in Bangalore till Feb' 05 and would like to participate/host as many quizzes I can. And since I am new to the Bangalore Quizzing Scene I would be heaviliy depending on you all for
news and information about the quizzes. You can reach me at 98865xxxxx
Hoping to meet you all soon. May all of us have aprosperous new year.
Rgds
Rajib
Bangalore Quiz Group
Avinash's note: "Regarding the next offline meet"
Dated: November 4th 2004
Hello All,
In the next couple of weeks, I think we would be having the next off-liner. Thus
I thought this mail would be appropriate. The art of progress is to preserve
order amid change and to preserve change amid order.
A few things,
1) Quite a few people confirmed to be at the last meet and didn't turn up.
I wouldn't want to go into details as I reckon that Prakash has already mailed
all regarding that.
2) Well, what I would like to bring to your attention is that a 15-year-old
kid spent 1 week preparing that quiz and expected at least a minimal turnout.
That didn't happen.
3) This group, I thought was formed with the initial idea to increase the
sphere of knowledge both amongst the young and the old. And if this is the kind
of response we dish out to the new kids on the block, I think it just doesn't
make sense nor does it send out the right message.
4) The Logistics: Most of the people on this forum do know the effort put
in by Prakash and his mother in hosting this off-liner. The least that the
people who confirmed could do was inform Prakash prior to the off-liner/or even
during the course of the off-liner. This in particular, I found disheartening.
Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners.
5) Most of us just sat waiting for the rest to turn up which I personally
think was totally absurd. It ended up being a waste of food, time, and people's
efforts and most importantly got the general morale down even before the quiz
started.
6) Please note: In the future, a small call or even an SMS would do just
fine. Everything you do may seem insignificant, but it's very important that you
do it.
7) For the New members who confirmed: This is a serious group and we are
pretty conscious about what our goals are. These off-liners are meant to be an
extension of our ultimate goal to enhance knowledge and add a personal touch to
it.
8) I think it would be appropriate if all the enthusiasts who want to be a
part of our future meets in Bangalore to send us your mobile numbers. The reason
being, for this meet, many new acquaintances confirmed but didn't turn up and
there was no way Prakash or me could get in touch with them.(Prakash, kindly do
make note of the numbers of all the new members who send confirmations for the
next meet.)
9) Thanks all for understanding.
Rgds,
Avinash
Bangalore Quiz Group
Hello All,
In the next couple of weeks, I think we would be having the next off-liner. Thus
I thought this mail would be appropriate. The art of progress is to preserve
order amid change and to preserve change amid order.
A few things,
1) Quite a few people confirmed to be at the last meet and didn't turn up.
I wouldn't want to go into details as I reckon that Prakash has already mailed
all regarding that.
2) Well, what I would like to bring to your attention is that a 15-year-old
kid spent 1 week preparing that quiz and expected at least a minimal turnout.
That didn't happen.
3) This group, I thought was formed with the initial idea to increase the
sphere of knowledge both amongst the young and the old. And if this is the kind
of response we dish out to the new kids on the block, I think it just doesn't
make sense nor does it send out the right message.
4) The Logistics: Most of the people on this forum do know the effort put
in by Prakash and his mother in hosting this off-liner. The least that the
people who confirmed could do was inform Prakash prior to the off-liner/or even
during the course of the off-liner. This in particular, I found disheartening.
Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners.
5) Most of us just sat waiting for the rest to turn up which I personally
think was totally absurd. It ended up being a waste of food, time, and people's
efforts and most importantly got the general morale down even before the quiz
started.
6) Please note: In the future, a small call or even an SMS would do just
fine. Everything you do may seem insignificant, but it's very important that you
do it.
7) For the New members who confirmed: This is a serious group and we are
pretty conscious about what our goals are. These off-liners are meant to be an
extension of our ultimate goal to enhance knowledge and add a personal touch to
it.
8) I think it would be appropriate if all the enthusiasts who want to be a
part of our future meets in Bangalore to send us your mobile numbers. The reason
being, for this meet, many new acquaintances confirmed but didn't turn up and
there was no way Prakash or me could get in touch with them.(Prakash, kindly do
make note of the numbers of all the new members who send confirmations for the
next meet.)
9) Thanks all for understanding.
Rgds,
Avinash
Bangalore Quiz Group
The 5th Offline Quiz : Prakash's place: Saturday October 30th 2005
Unfortunately, I cannot find any written record or minutes of the meeting of this meet.
If anyone has anything related to it, please send it to me.
Thanks.
Prakash Subbarao
Bangalore Quiz Group
If anyone has anything related to it, please send it to me.
Thanks.
Prakash Subbarao
Bangalore Quiz Group
4th Offline Meet at Sandhya's place
3rd Offline Quiz
Sadly, I don't think there was a write up. If anyone has anything connected it, please do send it to me.
Thanks.
Prakash
BQG
Thanks.
Prakash
BQG
The 2nd Offline Meet - 2nd October 2004
Avinash has the most un-findable house in Jayanagar!
He had sent me directions (which I circulated to all concerned). By
way of abundant caution I decided to do a dry run this morning to
try and find his place.
I failed.
A SOS to him ensured a map in the mail.
I sent the map out to all the participants but it turns out that it
never got to them. (Murphy's Law in force!)
A concerned Avinash called me a little after 7 pm to ask me whether
things were on schedule. "It's all systems go" I reassured him.
Just as I was leaving for his place my ISP gave me haath. Couldn't
log in to Yahoo to check the map that Avinash had provided. He gave
me directions on the phone and I made it to his place at 8 pm.
His cell phone was soon buzzing with calls from the others who, in
the absence of a map, were criss crossing Jayanagar in search of his
place. Since most of them had never met each other, there is a
strong likelihood that they would have passed each other again and
other in their quest for the quiz venue.
Anuradha Goyal says she reached the venue in a singularly unique
fashion - she turned right every time Samuel asked her to turn left.
This is, I am told, being featured in RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT.
Gradually they straggled in in ones and twos and soon a quorum was
reached. Three teams were formed.
Team A: Mithun, Prakash, Sudipta
Team B: Anurag, Anuradha and Goldie
Team C: Kartika, Samuel and Thomas
Avinash did the honours as quiz master. Raghav was his scorer.
Raghav is a brilliant 10th standard student of St. Pauls, J.P.
Nagar. He is also an avid quizzer and has won many awards including
a cash prize of Rs. 25K a few days ago!!!
The quiz got under way with the conventional format. Soon it turned
into an AV delight with Avinash showing us a clip from the Hindi
film "Munnabhai MBBS" and posing the query "Why is Circuit called
Circuit in the movie?". This had us all scratching our heads; all of
us had seen the movie several times but the answer eluded us.
Another deadly visual question was the Arabic cover of a children's
book with the question "who wrote it?" To reveal the answer would be
to take away the shock and awe, so wait for Avinash's quiz to arrive
And on it went, till about 10.30 PM............a great quiz
conducted in a warm and friendly atmosphere.
Team B won by a whisker; it is alleged that they won as they had
two "A"'s in their team - Anuradha and Avinash. They turned their
A's into aces and won Gold (due to Goldie being in the team)..
The other participants slunk away in defeat, head hanging
dejectedly. Vowing to return and fight another day.
That day will be two weeks hence at Anuradha's place.
Avinash will be emailing me the quiz questions and I will put them
online ASAP.
The best question of the quiz? IMHO it was about the dead ball. In
cricket, that is. It seems this dude was running up to deliver a
ball during the Boer war (or is that the boring war? Which may also
explain why he was playing cricket instead of fighting in the first
place) when a shell aimed squarely at him (in punishment for not
having played fair and square?) hit him between the shoulders. His
grip on the ball was so tenacious that though he was blown to
smithereens, he did not let go of the ball. When even crowbars
failed to get his hand to release the ball, the umpires declared that the
ball was as dead as the bowler (not as the dodo, mind you) and that
gave rise to the term "dead ball".
Glad you liked the story. Exaggeration is entirely mine!
Offline pics are in the OFFLINE folder under PHOTOS. In the 2ND
OFFLINE MEET folder actually. I am sure that you will find it.
One thing that disturbed me was that several people who were
supposed to turn up just didn't show up.
They didn't even bother to call in and tell their host, who was
waiting for them with a great spread, that they couldn't make it.
This is not cricket. It is not gentlemanly. If this happens again, I
will immediately unsubscribe the offending member from this group.
Be warned.
Regards,
Prakash
Bangalore Quiz Group
He had sent me directions (which I circulated to all concerned). By
way of abundant caution I decided to do a dry run this morning to
try and find his place.
I failed.
A SOS to him ensured a map in the mail.
I sent the map out to all the participants but it turns out that it
never got to them. (Murphy's Law in force!)
A concerned Avinash called me a little after 7 pm to ask me whether
things were on schedule. "It's all systems go" I reassured him.
Just as I was leaving for his place my ISP gave me haath. Couldn't
log in to Yahoo to check the map that Avinash had provided. He gave
me directions on the phone and I made it to his place at 8 pm.
His cell phone was soon buzzing with calls from the others who, in
the absence of a map, were criss crossing Jayanagar in search of his
place. Since most of them had never met each other, there is a
strong likelihood that they would have passed each other again and
other in their quest for the quiz venue.
Anuradha Goyal says she reached the venue in a singularly unique
fashion - she turned right every time Samuel asked her to turn left.
This is, I am told, being featured in RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT.
Gradually they straggled in in ones and twos and soon a quorum was
reached. Three teams were formed.
Team A: Mithun, Prakash, Sudipta
Team B: Anurag, Anuradha and Goldie
Team C: Kartika, Samuel and Thomas
Avinash did the honours as quiz master. Raghav was his scorer.
Raghav is a brilliant 10th standard student of St. Pauls, J.P.
Nagar. He is also an avid quizzer and has won many awards including
a cash prize of Rs. 25K a few days ago!!!
The quiz got under way with the conventional format. Soon it turned
into an AV delight with Avinash showing us a clip from the Hindi
film "Munnabhai MBBS" and posing the query "Why is Circuit called
Circuit in the movie?". This had us all scratching our heads; all of
us had seen the movie several times but the answer eluded us.
Another deadly visual question was the Arabic cover of a children's
book with the question "who wrote it?" To reveal the answer would be
to take away the shock and awe, so wait for Avinash's quiz to arrive
And on it went, till about 10.30 PM............a great quiz
conducted in a warm and friendly atmosphere.
Team B won by a whisker; it is alleged that they won as they had
two "A"'s in their team - Anuradha and Avinash. They turned their
A's into aces and won Gold (due to Goldie being in the team)..
The other participants slunk away in defeat, head hanging
dejectedly. Vowing to return and fight another day.
That day will be two weeks hence at Anuradha's place.
Avinash will be emailing me the quiz questions and I will put them
online ASAP.
The best question of the quiz? IMHO it was about the dead ball. In
cricket, that is. It seems this dude was running up to deliver a
ball during the Boer war (or is that the boring war? Which may also
explain why he was playing cricket instead of fighting in the first
place) when a shell aimed squarely at him (in punishment for not
having played fair and square?) hit him between the shoulders. His
grip on the ball was so tenacious that though he was blown to
smithereens, he did not let go of the ball. When even crowbars
failed to get his hand to release the ball, the umpires declared that the
ball was as dead as the bowler (not as the dodo, mind you) and that
gave rise to the term "dead ball".
Glad you liked the story. Exaggeration is entirely mine!
Offline pics are in the OFFLINE folder under PHOTOS. In the 2ND
OFFLINE MEET folder actually. I am sure that you will find it.
One thing that disturbed me was that several people who were
supposed to turn up just didn't show up.
They didn't even bother to call in and tell their host, who was
waiting for them with a great spread, that they couldn't make it.
This is not cricket. It is not gentlemanly. If this happens again, I
will immediately unsubscribe the offending member from this group.
Be warned.
Regards,
Prakash
Bangalore Quiz Group
