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Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

Thumbs up Bharat (second from left) with his team and V.V. Ramanan (standing)

He was here recently to conduct the Amity University - The Hindu Young World Quiz competition and in the sidelight stole a few moments from the hectic schedule to talk about quizzing.

He said that schools should encourage the young minds to participate in quiz programmes, as it opens up many facets of the children. “It develops the reading habit, makes them observant, enhances analytical thinking and most importantly builds up the knowledge base. Today, we are progressing towards a knowledge society and such activity would have a long term positive effect on the children,” he opined.

Talking of the trends in quiz programmes the quizmaster V.V. Ramanan who also happens to be a part of The Hindu sports desk said, “The quiz programmes have come a long way. It started with a few programmes in the radio that were hosted by Amin Siyani in the 70s and the BBC - Mastermind. But the real fillip was given by quizzers like Siddharth Basu and Derrick O Brien. Siddharth’s Quiz Time in Doordarshan was a trendsetter and later Derrick’s Bournvita quiz provided the impetus. And today quizzing has become celebrity stuff with the advent of KBC.”

Both Ramanan and Bharat are alumni of the BBC Mastermind show and were avid quizzers themselves since their childhood. “It is our passion and we find some time from our busy schedule to stay tuned to it,” voiced the duo.

Bharat, who is into insurance broking set-up, an event management firm and a portal exclusively dedicated for quizzing in 2002 with four of his friends who shared the same interest and passion. But over the years, professional commitment and foreign assignments weaned the others away, leaving Bharat to team up with P.P.K. Rao, Ravi Seshadri and V.V. Ramanan. “We started with a firm called Let’s Quiz dotcom but later changed the name to Quizwallahs,” informed Bharat.

Though Ramanan is not directly involved with the Quizwallahs as he is on a full time assignment with the editorial department of The Hindu, he is the one who develops the contents and conducts the quiz on stage when it comes to The Hindu Young World competition. “Bharat lends all the logistic support for this mega event,” said Ramanan.

According to Bharat, quiz has become high-tech today.

“A good quiz session depends on two things: Content and equipment. Thanks to the advent of various gadgets, quizzing has become technology driven and more interesting. The package should be a mix of all subjects like sports, history, current affairs, latest pop albums, films and celebrities,” said Ramanan.

He takes about a month to develop the content for The Hindu Young World Quiz.

According to Bharat and Ramanan, the winner is the one who not only has the appetite for reading but also develops the skill of identifying the likely questions.

“All quiz buffs should practise and develop the ‘RMR’ (read, memorise and recollect) skill. Apart from that, before going to a quiz programme one should be thorough with the happenings of the last 15 to 30 days as current affairs play a major role in any quiz programme,” advised Bharat.

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