To the Prince... I knew - RIP Varun

By Rajan (Casillas)

It was my final year of Engineering - two semesters and a few months as a active member of RV QuizCorp. While many of my seniors were around; it was and is just not the same if you are out of college - a feeling till date I have, whenever I attend (and so rarely) one of the RVQC hosted quizzes or the OTRs.

Back in the college, I loved sports quizzing over other topics and probably movies gave a good run to my otherwise heavy inclination towards sports. It was after the fresher's quiz in 2005 I met two bright students - both shy and had passion for quizzing and the excitement was to be seen if and when the question remotely came close to having a sporting connection.

I guess being a three-year senior didn't matter to us as 'sports' ended up being the ice breaker.

'Varun' as I called him lived close to my house. On most occasions he was my pillion while on our way back home. It was not a surprise that we talked a lot of about sports and I was impressed with the fact that he was ears when I went about talking. Over the course of few months in his first semester, we participated in quite a few 'Sports Quizzes' held in Bangalore. He became my teammate for two member teams and Aditya (Bagri) joined us for the teams of three event.

What do I recall? A shy, nervous guy of 18 years uttering the word 'Pickles' when asked to identify the dog's name on the screen. Probably, I remember the incident vividly as it happened to be our first quiz together and he answered it while I was struggling to recall the name correctly. We came second in that open quiz. He was excited like a kid and I remember the joy he had - while we were having some tea at his place that evening. His mum joined in as well. And not to forget him being a ardent supporter of Liverpool FC.

There is a tradition in RV QuizCorp - about not losing finals at the NLS Sports Quiz. NLS hosted one of the best sports quizzes in town and being in the final year - there were expectations. Let's say we nailed it as a team and I was happy to see these two 'young' sports enthusiasts would take 'the strong sports tradition of Quiz Corp' forward. That was 2005!

He visited my place often and we would end up spending a lot of them just talking about sports! We kept in touch after my college graduation. We met at the OTRs or the UTPT which I attended till 2008. I was out of India by the time he graduated in 2009. He promptly used to send me the sports quizzes he conducted, in particular the 'Game Theory' of 2009.  

Call it a three-year gap - I did not get to be an active part in his transition from a prince to be a guy known as the 'King' by his peers. To this day, I do not know the origin of his nickname but knew him a little to pen a few lines from my memory.

To Varun, RIP - You will always be remembered by me as 'the prince' and in who I saw a bit of myself whenever it came down to sports! 

UTPT: A chronology:Part Deux: Bisi

So I've been asked to pen down my thoughts about Under the Peepal Tree, again. I think they take this age thing a bit too seriously. But despite the exponential increase in waistline and fading memory, I think I can do a fair job of it.

Since 2003, I have incurred the wrath of various overlords who think quizzing is hogwash. Starting with my otherwise benevolent father, who believed that extra-currics will get you nowhere, to the world's best Spider Solitaire playing HOD, Jaggu - all of them were united in their inability to understand the contribution of Ernst Grafenberg and why these silly idiots from RV QuizCorp were going ga-ga over this now dead gynecologist. Even when I started working I made sure I was there to set the banner up with his Tearness - the King of Georgia. It involved blatantly lying about a dying relative but it was worth it. And now as I set myself to return to UTPT, this time as a participant, I can feel that familiar excitement again. In my honest opinion getting RV QuizCorp out of your system is near impossible. Let me tell you why.

RV QuizCorp gives you the chance of meeting absolutely "wela" people on a perfect Sunday afternoon on a rock in Cubbon Park. All of those who assemble there harbour hopes of being National champions at some random quiz in the future. All those hopes are thereafter systematically crushed by the burden of writing records of which Sine wave was obtained as output or by the sheer inability to mug up stuff from databases. Atleast I couldn't do either of these things. So I settled down to the next best thing instead. Drink beer at Guzzlers, find when the next quiz at SJBIT or Dr. Ambedkar's was happening and of course my favourite, make quizzes. To be honest QuizCorp lets you do your own thing and there was always place for non-achievers like me as well. So take my first piece of advice, if you are not Tata Crucible National Champion in the next one year, it is ok. There's a lot more to look forward to.

Hopefully you will find, a nice eclectic bunch to quiz with. Must mention Kryptonite, Lolitas and my own team Koramangal Pandeys here. I guess around our final year we were the only teams who bothered going anywhere - Kryptonites went strong for another year. His Tearness, King will be sorely missed at the banner setup ceremony this year. Very few people can cry when they get an aggregate which reads 82% at the end of the 6th term. This rare monarch can cry at the drop of a hat even when his much maligned Liverpool manage to overcome Manchester United. Soda I hope you have practiced the imitations.

I understand that this year there wont be any staying over at the auditorium, which is a real tragedy. Because most of the action happens late in the night, when you suddenly have a giant screen to play NFS on or to screen "educational" videos on. When Datta gets high by smelling beer and starts cycling around thinking he is Lance Armstrong at the Champs Elysees. When KK disburses gyaan on life and Shyam promptly regurgitates it out. When you start hiding the pile of cans, glasses and buds on seeing policemen in the vicinity. All these things are memorable parts of UTPT. Maybe we can raise hell in the IEM audi this year.

People who are new to UTPT and RV QuizCorp have some illustrious alumni to look up to. From the current ASP of Belgaum to the writers of one of the best articles on cricket, everyone who's been a member has taken some fond memories with them. There are also those who dream of setting up Pembur Bridges with funding from Google. On a personal note, all I ever speak about it any interview is UTPT and quizzing. Its the one thing that adds spark to an otherwise dull existence and I really hope some of you find those sparks at UTPT 2011. Looking forward to seeing all of you there.

Bisi

UTPT Nights

This post is intended for first year QuizCorpers. Congratulations, in advance, on your first “Under the Peepal Tree”. If marked a few truisms which you all might want to take a look at.

“Why do we need to stay over at night?”

That was my initial reaction when we, fresher QuizCorpers of 2004-05 batch, were asked whether we were going to spend the night, so to say, at R.V teachers auditorium on the eve of our very first ‘Under the Peepal Tree’.

I was happy to do my share of the work but why would I want to sleep on an uncomfortable plastic chair when I had a perfectly good, warm albeit empty bed waiting for me at home.

Sleep. That’s where I got it wrong.

For 3 nights of UTPT shut-eye would be a luxury. When there was so much fun to be had, so much work to be done, so many questions to be set and so many co-corpers to be chided, ridiculed and abused, where would one find the time to sleep?

Unfortunately, with internals happening the next day after the fest, I did not stay over during that UTPT, something that I regret to this day. I would only hear the stories of what happened during those nights – why you should always complete your lab records before UTPT begins, why the stage table is concave shaped and why, if a senior asks you to drape yourself with table-cloth, to run fast and hide.

Learning 1: Never make the mistake of choosing Internals over Nights. Mathematically speaking there is a maximum of 72 internals in 4 years but only 12 nights of UTPT. Too little of a good thing.

You always remember your first time. The first time a fundae, which you’ve researched and peter-proofread, goes up on the screen. Doesn’t matter if it’s easily crackable or a trifle too arbit. Your count has begun.

The next year I made it a point to stay for all 3 nights. There are some rituals you follow every year. First- attempting to hang the UTPT banner over the main gate. Usually assigned to the most ungainly bloke who has more chances of falling down. Second- suspending the RvQuizCorp banner over the projection screen. No mean feat, this requires advanced engineering minds with ingenuity. Then comes the mundane task of sticking posters on the walls. All these tasks made even more difficult, by our chronic cheapness when it comes to buying rope/tape.

Anyway if you fail at any of these tasks there’s always Bisi. He’ll do it.

Then comes the more delectable part after all the hard work. Ordering from Kebab Magic. A daunting task assigned to the bravest of first years. Forget any order and you might as well not return. If you have any doubts about the ruthlessness of your seniors, take a minute off to watch them devour 3 plates of kebabs with bones, you may well be inspired to join PETA.

Learning 2: Always order more Kebabs and Biryani than you think are enough. Shyam doesn’t share.

There may be a few bad habits that you could pickup at UTPT nights but if you are true to yourself and your principles you can last a whole 3 hours before diving right into it.

UTPT 2007 was a special one. My first year in charge of a whole quiz. As the kind of person who looks at responsibility as suspiciously as Shahid Afridi does a white cricket ball, this was a big deal.

Boy did it take a bite out of me. Things did not go as smoothly as planned. The computer (oh how I loathe that contraption) on which we had collected all our questions, pictures, videos crashed the day before the quiz.

Through some quick search and download we managed to collect back 70% of the raw material. But with 12 hours to go the quiz was yet un-PPT-ized and there was still the issue of the other 30%. But I still made it to the audi the night before the quiz.

And I’m glad I did. Corpers might be some of the most individualistic, opinionated people you will ever meet but nobody can ever accuse us of being self-serving. Shyam made half my ppt, one hand on keyboard other holding a kebab, while later on that night Tony took yours truly and King back to his place where the 3 of us assembled the remaining of the quiz in time for the next day (well not exactly, but at UTPT we are always fashionably late).

Learning 3: Kebab grease makes the keyboard slippery. Don’t be cheap with the napkins.

The final year nights were the most grueling. It’s when you are in charge of logistics that you realize how “free-spirited” some of the younger corpers can be. Datta, I mean you.

But it was the one of the smoother UTPTs I have ever been a part of, not that I take credit for it, but when you’ve been through 3 earlier extravaganzas, where we make it a point of proving Murphy’s law every single time, there’s very little than can surprise you.

And that’s why UTPT always turns out so well. There’s never a crisis somebody hasn’t seen or learnt from in the past.

Learning 4: Keep your eyes and ears open especially at night, when it’s the hardest. It’s when you learn the most. That’ll come in handy in a few years.

Screw sleep. That’s what classes are for.

It’s after writing this post that I learn that RVDC won’t let people stay back at night. Do I feel like an ass. Anyways that makes ‘Learning 1’ all the more significant for the next 3 years.

UTPT: A Chronology: Bisi

by Quizcorp's 'seventh year', Nishant Biswal Bisi.

So it starts with a resolve to not repeat the mistakes made at school: In my mind I was gonna quiz more often, come rain or shine. And as if to answer my prayers there was Uncle Sam, demanding my presence at the Freshers' Quiz. In terms of a marketing event, the Freshers' Quiz was spot on. The fundae were mind-boggling, eye-ogling even. (It kinda helps when you qualify on your very first attempt as well) So there were the Gods/Demi-gods. I must be missing out on names but think here was where I first caught a glimpse of Bulla, Raghu Ray, Kodi, Khoj, Gang Rao, Sandy, Gowda, Santosh, Cadambi--Legends for junies like me. I think Kodi gave the presentation and even played a video showing RV QuizCorp at The University Challenge/ Something to aspire towards for star struck junies such as yours truly.

Over the next four years, a combination of unwilling faculty (who were always ready to bombard me with attendance shortage) and sheer lack of talent meant that I never got to meet Siddharth Basu. But then again, those four years gave me memories that'll last a lifetime.

I think it was Thursday night before the UTPT of 2006. KK Praveen is busy dishing out heavy gyaan to Shyam on relationships. And Shyam could only smile back dumbstruck. In walks Chitoor and little does he know the tragedy that is about to befall him. KK latches on to Chitoor and gives him the full discourse that he'd already dished out to Shyam. And before we realize it he goes on to empty the contents of his stomach on poor Chitoor. Quite a night of heavy philosophy and fun (for those observing anyway).

A statue should be erected in the honour of one Mr. Arun Nayak. The man was single-handedly responsible for getting sponsors, running around for ground work and what not. He even had a mad biker crash into his beloved Santro. But that would deter only lesser mortals. Next day Mr. Nayak was back, in Wagon R this time. Over the years, shady policies of his department meant that he could afford to spend less and less time with RV QuizCorp. But his legacy of being the Superman of UTPT 2004 remains and I doubt if it will ever be equaled.

In my third year I was entrusted with the task of picking Amuda up from the airport. In his usual nonchalant manner, he ruled that I was headed on a route that would take forever and instead directed me to drive through a shortcut. All said and done we reach his house and I am just blown away by the racks of books that were stacked up all around his room. I guess I must've picked up something that day at his house, because over the next two years I had to substitute for him at the Corp Quiz. Thanks to Amuda I can now hold a mike and speak in front of a audience without the fear of imminent doom. During another stint, I was chauffeur to one Mr. Quant of Pembur Bridge fame. The Pembur Bridge story has obscure origins and has too many versions/prequels/sequels floating around for me to narrate here. But Mr. Quant knows his way around Rajajinagar. I had to navigate my poor old Zen through a "shortcut" that passes through cow stables and dhobi ghats. All this while I thought Quant had left behind some of his ultra-precious sci-fi fundae in a pen drive which was lying at his house. Turns out Mr. Pembur Bridge needed to take a bath. I had to drive through narrow alleys and cow-riddled lanes so that Quant could take a bath! Quant you cheaaaappp guy !!!

I've spent countless hours in Hyper's house setting quizzes. Somehow we always found the time to find a unique Koramangal Pandey level fundaa for the department fests. But sadly during our year in charge we never could devote adequate time for the Main Quiz. It will remain one of those regrets I'll always carry. But what I don't regret is the dinner this malnourished hostelite had the privilege to indulge in when at his place. I highly recommend the Dosa at Hyper's. Maybe when he comes down for his imminent marriage we can all invite ourselves over(@Hyper: No we are not ordering from outside).

And since we are on the topic of team-mates, I must mention Ze Lolitas here. No offense to Arpan here, but Hyper claims that Varuna was "stolen" away from us. Call it the clash of departments or of cultures but I personally had a great time sparring with them Lolitas. It's a treat watching them shut each other up on stage. You have the Iceman's alter-ego residing within Sneha. She is the epitome of coolness in the chaos that ensues every year during UTPT. And her ability to go into deep freeze in any air-conditioned surrounding is unparalleled. Mother Superior handled the press and the rest of her bachcha log with elan over the four years. Do not cross roads with her, 'cause she WILL ensure its the last time you ever do so. And Varuna was stuck in the middle of these two. I must convey my gratitude here for the umpteen lifts the great man has given this writer on his Scarlet Scooty. Judging by the size difference that exists between us this is no mean feat. Sadly that is how under-represented our year was with just the five of us from my batch. But with company like this the four years went by in the blink of an eye.

Here's Bisi's list of things you may want to do on or around UTPT so that you may be condemned to eternal damnation :

1. Change schedule without consulting anyone else.
2. Slime the rest of your outgoing batch and run away with the Best Outgoing Quizzer certificate.
3. Finish your finals ppt, hidden backstage, while the prelims are going on (In my opinion this is par for the course but some of your fellow QCorpers will lose hair over it)
4. Scream expletives into the mike (I think this is fun to do by the way)
5. Forget to arrange a splitter for the projector.

UTPT was once been bandied about as Underneath the Banyan Tree. I assure you we do not indulge in undergarment marketing here. We do however, break curtain rods in auditoriums; we do wake up the neighbours in Jayanagar. We fight with each other and think no end of ourselves and love blaming someone else for being late. But we patch up just as quickly. Scientist, my Kinetic rusts in peace now but it'd kick your Kinetic's behind anyday. Vikas Tiwari will never be forgiven for making me run around for a fictional Jiju George. Pondy's and Casillas' Amul round gets my vote for best round at a quiz ... EVER !!!

UTPT means many things to me. It provided means to escape from the drudgery of classes. It signaled a minor coming-of-age for me. It provided us a chance to catch Datta do his tipsy cycling trick. Pulling up banners since 2004 and getting to abuse King simultaneously. These are the small joys of life that UTPT affords us. And I am not qualified to judge the quality of fundae that will be on offer over the three days. Most fundae tend to fly way above my head. I can however, guarantee some dazzling revelations and moments of true enlightenment that can be obtained only Under the Peepal Tree.

Can't wait for it!!

Remember The Time?

As UTPT 09 approaches and incidents tailor-made for long-term infamy and near-fatal-laugh-sessions happen each minute, we asked them wise seniors to share a few stories from those times. They did, and how!

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Siddhartha Vaidyanathan aka Bib:

A few hours before UTPT 2002. It's around 2am in the morning. Fatigue is in the air. Loads left to be done. I think everyone was looking for a blade and blaming the others for losing it. Some 2-3 jobless guys (I remember Gang Rao and Khoj) were discussing all the schools that were invited. Obviously they were talking about girls schools.

And then it happened. Paavi (the legendary Srikrishna Swaminathan) suddenly enters the discussion and blares out: Hey, you guys invited Sophia Loren school right?

For two secs, we didn't even understand what he was talking about. And then it hit us. Sophia's had suddenly became Sophia Loren school.

I still remember Khoj rolling on the stage, in uncontrollable fits of laughter. Gang Rao started drumming some chairs. And the rest of us were in similar states of madness.

I don't think we found the blade. I don't think Sophia's turned up either

-----------------------

Rajan aka Casillas:

It was in 2005, the India quiz was on. Amazingly, this was done by 4 people.... I was doing my round, the first three questions went boom, boom, boom-- straight & correct answers, I was like, ok. Never mind.

4th Question, which was one of my favorite questions kept the teams puzzled for a while.... when the third team was about to answer, the answer slide is shown on the screen courtesy Quant (The genius who designed, financed and built the famous PEMBUR BRIDGE). I was so livid.... With the mic close to my mouth, i shouted 'f***' and then kept the mic low and said 'you'. The audience was delirious.

I remember lots of people imitating this; especially Anu and Pingu for the next two days.....

A Journey Under the Peepal tree

The second edition of UTPT, ever since I passed out from college is in the proximity.

Thanks Aditi for inviting me to contribute on this blog, which I must admit has become a favorite past time when ever I want to kill time.

There were editions that were close to me like the debut one in 2^nd year. (I missed the first one, because I was out of station). The whole euphoria of quizzing in me erupted during my 2^nd year engineering. To be fair, I started to quiz only from 2^nd semester.

PESIT Quiz and not surprisingly it was a Sports Quiz. I just entered the hall, just to see how the quiz is and to participate solo, since I didn’t have any team.

Pondi (Puneet) called up and asked me to join his team. The first thing I did was to erase all the answers they had written and fill the right ones (except for the Cyclops funda). Raghuray was our third team mate. We didn’t quali, but cracked a lot of questions from the audience. I guess, this was my debut for Quizcorp, and this day also happens to be the day, Abhay christened me, ‘Casillas’. Now, I was very much a part of Quizcorp.

4^th Semester happened to be my first UTPT. I remember the quiz setting days at Kodi’s place and later at Quant’s place. This was the edition which marked the innovation of using a human’s voice for an audio question. Quant…. That was kick ass man…..

6^th Semester was a challenge in terms of money management, event management and more importantly man-management. Lots of things, one would say ‘hungama’ during this edition….. But overall, this edition took the ice for being the most successful edition inspite of many dramas. Somehow things just happened, irrespective of the differences. Like an old adage in Bollywood, “in the end, everything seemed so perfect.”

The rain on the eve of corporate quiz just took the hell of everyone. Konga’s car was hit by a tree when all the seniors were enjoying the party thrown to them by Quant.

The highlight….. Spoof on Saturday Night Live – Starring Jim Carrey (Chittor), supported by KK and PK… Poor chap Soundarya was in the middle…. The video was somehow went missing… Pondi you did it again…. I took the video and was so proud about it.

8^th Semester, Well, this one’s my personal favourite. First and foremost, I would thank Amuda, for spending a lot of time in getting the website reorganized, and for his other inputs.

I have lots of them to share. I relocated my place for 2 weeks near to Teacher’s college. Why? (Just for kicks)…. This enabled me to work efficiently since Amuda’s place and other things were just at a grasping distance. I was pumped up... you see… I love being a Superman, when situations come….

Anucheth, KK, Pingu and PK…. Man, these guys slogged hard during that time. Aditi, sneha, bisi, Shankar, varuna contributed in their own to make this edition run.

We did run into a lot of things, the whole basic set up had to be changed and for once I even cried in class (coz I feared whether the event would happen or not). Well, I wasn’t that brave back then, but it doesn’t matter now, it’s humane to cry….

Sponsorships were the biggest threat to undo all our preparations and enthusiasm… I know literally how my batch mates went around places to get things sorted out. It was a challenge for everyone and thankfully we had juni’s who ran around, ensured that the event would go in a smooth way. I guess it’s a common thing; the sponsorship nightmares which 4^th year students get every edition.

Finally, the days came and went in an interesting way…. Personally, I would say, I had set one of my best quizzes (Sports) ever and I had seen one of the best quizzes ever (Sci-tech). That day, it gave me a relief. I remember myself looking in a mirror as if the horrors were buried. But we had one more day to go. The next 24 hours played an important role in my life.

It was sad, things to have end in a dramatic way. But, who cares. I know we didn’t get appreciations for having pulled off a great fest…. Whom to blame? No one… Sometimes, things are meant to happen a particular way. I guess, we 4^th years felt it, in Atria when corporate quiz was happening.

I guess, I do understand, how Indians would have felt after losing in the Sydney Test match early this year. Was it fair? Who cares? It’s the end result that counts and I am the first one to admit that the saving grace was the quizzes we did just like the way Indians played. (I am a sports buff right). Some people would have just appreciated the way Indians played during that test match… whereas some appreciated Australia for having won the Test match.

We didn’t end it on a happy note. That’s something I guess we have to live with.

It was a good change for me to be a part of UTPT the next edition (2007). I didn’t work for 2 days (bunked work) and it was great seeing the enthusiasm among all the juniors. This was my first edition after having passed out in 2006. I feel, a fest is remembered the way it ends. I enjoyed the way things ended in the most spectacular way possible@ KSCA stadium. It was a victory to Quizcorp and to me personally, last edition would go down as one of the best concluded events one would get to see. Claps, appreciations... wah…

Guys and Gals responsible…. You all did a great job.

This year…. Well… Slightly off schedule…. But I am confident; this would be a cracker…. So guys… buckle up…. I am Quizcorp will strike in a grand way….

I would have loved to share a lot more with respect to events during UTPT… like searching for food in the middle of the night, setting quizzes after my original ppt is deleted from the computer after being infected by virus… And I actually ended up making a question on the virus (Anna Kournikova)… Guess, this was all part of a wonderful journey, which I hope never culminates and continues to excel in years to come……

I wish you guys all the very best in making this year’s UTPT a grand success.

To: Shetty, Bib, Khadiya, Mihir, Saigo, Suzy, TechRaj, Bulla, kanti, Raghuray, Khoj, Kodi, Monkee (I hope there are no Aussies out here), Abhay, GangRao, Sandy, Jalan, Nag, Ashanka, Gowda, Reddy, Cadambi, Quant, Paavi, Pondi, Chittor, KK, PK, Anucheth, Pingu, Keith, Sumukh, Naini, Sneha, Aditi, Bisi, Shankar, varuna, Bob, Soundarya, Anal, madhu, Shyam, scientist, Honey, Saranya (thanks for the lemon juice), Arpan, Varun, Arjun, Subhash, Tiwari, Bagri, Harry, Sneha, Preethi, Brinda, varsha, Ashfaq (hammer throw champ, I am not sure about the name)

I hope my memory is right to have included everyone who was there till my final year.

If missed, I am pleased to say… I am a man after all… not Superman all the time….

Memories

Ladies and Gentleman,the ferocity of pending work one is confronted with after three days of bliss that is UTPT,is simply not amusing.Finally one recognises(or is made to recognise)existing family members and other sundry associates who deserve(or demand) one's attention.One's college professors wait with glee to mark out one's hapless attendance status,and then turn one out of class for "gross misconduct".For the above,and much more,one begs pardon from all our regular readers(!!) for another instance of gross misconduct!!
Anyhow,that apart,UTPT is done.Sigh,if only it went on for another week.No regrets.For three magical days of our lives,we quizzed loads,drank lots,ate little,and slept littler still.For three days,we laughed,we danced(well,not really),and we were generally merry.For three days,we entertained,we rewarded,and we drank to our hearts.Such was UTPT!
Anyhow,now for the all important results.

Sports Quiz Winners:BMSCE (Keep Distance)

Sci-Tech Winners:

General Quiz Winners:IIT Madras

India Quiz Winners:IIT Madras

Open Quiz Winners:Swami and team

Corporate Quiz Winners:Swami and team

Congratulations to all our winners,and all those who helped make UTPT possible.Until next time,or next post,Adios.

The Wonder Years

Hi all ,
One of the junis aked me to put some senti on the group ... so here goes ... i ain't such a good
writer ... i dont know if it's senti enough .. but these are some of my experiences in
quizcorp... (for those of you already bored there's a quiz at the end of this - so feel free to
skip to that)

Quizcorp .. wonderful quizcorp ... it gave me knowledge .. it gave me pleasure .. it made me
responsible ... it let me escape the mundane routine of college ... most importantly it made a
better man ...

my first tryst with quizcorp was before i even joined college .. it was a KQA quiz conducted by bib, ganja and shreeram ... and i thought "man ! these guys are GOOD" ... i still remember the "american beauty" funda ...

my memories of 1st year in college are kinda hazy but i remember that in all the NLS quizzes that year all the 6 teams that qualified were from QuizCorp !!! later i found out this had been the case all along .. of course we being in 1st year had no chance whatsoever ... it didn't matter tho ... we were learning from the masters themselves ... that years' UTPT rocked ... pingu and i were the "welcoming commitee" for the outstation students ... that meant riding at 4 am from CV raman nagar to majestic ... freezing our butts off ..and trying to keep warm by the fire lit by some beggars on the pavement near the hotel ... oh ! i also learnt a whole bunch of new words like "obi", "puttax", "peter", "funda", "8-piece connect" , etc.

2nd year was better quizzing wise .... we had gone to iit bombay fest ... the look on their faces
when they realised that we were Quizcorp was just priceless ... they were scared shitless ...
apparently thatha or someone had gone a few years earlier and belted the living daylights out of them... i had a kickass time during UTPT 2k4 ... too good ...

3rd year was even better ... we (pompoms) got to do the whole ent quiz for utpt .. thats when i
realised what it meant to finish at the 11th hour ... we finished setting the quiz and went
outside the audi to brush our teeth and realised they had already started the registrations for
it !!! that year i also learnt what it takes to make those 3 wonderful days happen ... the
sponsorhip madness ... the publicity stunts .... the late night dramas leading upto it

the 4th year was the best ... had a ball of a time .. great quizzing ... awesome utpt .... will
never forget the 3 days of absolute chaos ... yet somehow it seemed to fix itself and pass
smoothly .. the thing i'll remember most is kodhi coming upto us and sayin "great quizzes guys !
reminds me of the mihir-khadiya-bib-ganja-shreeram old school quizzing days " .. man ! thats the best compliment i've ever got ...

and girls ? hmm ... 1st year we had 2 .. next year 4 ... the year after that 7 ... last i checked
it was 8 ( i think ) ... phew ! thats unheard of ... "you've come a long way, baby ! " . Indeed.

And through all these years i may not remember the number of quizzes won or the quizzes conducted or the quizzes themselves... but i will never forget the joys of taking part in one .. the feeling you get after cracking a "funda" ... or the joys/pains of setting a utpt quiz ... or the
camaraderi of all the Quizcorp members ...

Kevin Arnold, the kid from The Wonder Years, summed it up best:
" Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you're in diapers, the next day you're gone. But the memories .... they stay with you for the long haul ...... And the thing is, after all these
years, I still look back, with WONDER"

Those were truly the WONDER YEARS. SO LONG AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FUNDAES/FUN-DAYS !!!

i never posted a quiz when i was in coll .. but what the heck .. better late than never ....
answers in a week.

1.This person has the unfortunate distinction of being the only person whose Bharat Ratna (
awarded in 1992) has been later withdrawn (due to a technicality). Who ?

2.This film is supposedly inspired by the following poem written by Dushyant Kumar
Aaj bhi jiska khoon na kholaKhoon nahi woh paani haiJo desh ke kaam na aayeWoh bekaar jawaani hai.
which film ?

3.This was supposedly first used in the film "distant drums". Ben Burtt the Star Wars sound
designer later found it in a studio reel labelled " Man eaten BY an alligator" and name it after
a minor character in "The Charge at Feather river ". What ?

4.The title of the film was taken from the Battle Hymn of the Republic, by Julia Ward Howe :
"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord,He is trampling out the vintage where the _____ __ _____ are stored,He has loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword,His truth is marching on"
Fill in the blanks .

5.______ was appropriately incorporated on April Fool's Day, 1983, when six businessmen with absolutely no previous restaurant experience got together and decided to open a place they couldn't get kicked out of. Soon after, on October 4th of that year, the doors to the first
______Restaurant opened in Clearwater, Florida. Which restaurant chain ?

cheers
anucheth

On the Rocks

UTPT Nostalgia - 2

The first thing that strikes one about Ganj is that he's tall. Tall, dark and the symbol of understated coolness to all his peers, juniors and his many fans. His dream job is owning a library in the Caribbean, reading Rushdie on a hammock.... sipping a pineapple drink with that fancy umbrella. He's getting there.

The mentor to many a fletchling team, Ganj's discourses in front of the canteen made one realise as a junior that QuizCorp was much more than a bunch of guys in a car pool headed to the next college quiz. I have had differences of opinion with many seniors in QuizCorp, over many different issues, but, never with Ganj. In QuizCorp, Ganj stands tall.

This is what he has to say about his experiences at UTPT.

"Bib's article sums it all up...I cant write better than the professional that he is. But hell...it did inspire me to blab a bit....its the kind of rambling I do everytime I get all emotive about La Cosa Nostra ...............Quizcorp.

Most of the junies who were around when I was in college have probably been subjected to this yearly sermon of mine...... but I have so much to say and just cant keep my mouth shut. Apologies to those troubled souls (Khoj's, Jalan's and Panicker's batch) who had to sit through one of these....on the rocks...at the canteen..or in the "hallowed" portals of that Teacher's college.

If you were to ask me what my role was in those fests was....I did a quiz each year....actually about less than 1/3rds of a quiz each year for my three years there. Now, I never was a flamboyant quizmaster (as in ..the types who floored audiences into a respectable hush when the funda was revealed)....I used to be better as a Quizzer...if I was awake at all. But the best I have ever pushed myself into being was as an Organiser at the Peepal Tree. I found myself heading what we decided to call, rather fancifully, the "Infrastructure" committee....which basically meant chairs, backdrops, mics, lecterns...the previous night's not-so-romantic-ugly-nitty-gritties.

The effort to the run up was monumental...three days without sleep, one meal a day usually at 3 am in some dingy KR Market hotel (the only one open in Bangalore at that time of the day...the Taj was never really an option). The chaos was wicked...I thought myself to be a John Constable in my attention to detail when I got the oil, the wick, the candle and the lamp all in place for that wretched formality of an inauguration ceremony.......hell.....we forgot matches. Sure as hell someone had a lighter. But imagine the respectable men in Safari Suits wielding one...the thought or rather the aftermath sent shudders. Run my boys...to the nearest shop.....all shops closed that early in the morn...well fly then...so what if your stomach hurts and your leg aches...a corner shop a good half a kilometer later.......and a matchbox and a candle were positioned with a pronounced artistic angle on the lamp table just before the Chief Guest got to it (oblivious to the stifled gasps and sweaty foreheads).

Crop the visuals for the 8th question in the round while we are asking the fifth ..hoping the bitches on stage dont know the answer...buying time...biting nails...egging the man with a laptop and Adobe Photoshop on.

I think we have come a long way from that infant madness, but a dosage of it is required to make the boy a man and the occasional (quite unfortunately) girl a woman. The pressures, the sighs, the worries, the sleepless nights, the cruising over the stumbling blocks of people and their attitudes.....they are the stuff that maketh the man/woman. (clothes dont...the fest t-shirt...maybe an exception)

The feedback comes to you in all forms...like the words of a cribby co-organiser, a grumpy junior who didnt get a chance to reveal his balding forehead in the limelight, a spat with a best friend, a critical sponsorer, a generous NLS "enemy" who shook his head in disbelief, went upto the podium and declared he had never sat in a quiz fest as "Super" as this one, a senior who watched the whole three days and said "It was absolutely professional"...(I almost died when I heard that..the matches or rather the lack of them, had burnt me deep enough to think the whole event had been a collosal failure) and ofcourse your own weakened legs and weary eyes tell you that they will hold out for you just to make the moment last.

Plunge into it guys...what you will learn is something more than the fundae dairies of yours can take in.

Wish I could be there too........now did I hear Ashanka wince at the thought of having to listen to another of my "moral lectures"? You bet....I did.

A very proud member of the family, Ganj' or (as I have always prefered to be called) Dhivakar Janarthanan."

UTPT Nostalgia

Received the following mail from Siddhartha Vaidyanathan, a QuizCorp 'old boy'. Siddhartha (or "Bib" to us), is known in QuizCorp (and outside it) as the funniest guy to walk the planet, the guy who could solve The Hindu Crossword in a little below 45 minutes, the guy who got copped up by Wisden at the first possible opportunity. Even Harsha Bhogle had a thing to say about Bib.

"Hi,

Memories, thoughts, ramblings, crap etc on quizcorp,utpt, college, life etc.

Not many 18 year olds join an engineering college for quizing. Surprisingly I didn't repent the decision at 22. It was partly because of quizzing, partly because of quizcorp that was an extension of family, partly because of an annual chaos that we eagerly awaited, partly because of a combination of all of this and partly because one found a group of like-minded losers who had joined engineering for exactly the same reason.

Quizzing wasn't a step towards enlightenment, it wasn't an elitist passion that only a select few pursued and it wasn't an activity that intellectuals indulged in. It was s simple sport that didn't require too much effort to enjoy. Read what you want, watch any films you want, listen to any music you want, think the way you want and come and quiz. Sometimes we won, mostly we lost, but generally we enjoyed it and that was probably what mattered. It was gully cricket at its best - play the way you want, and the fun will follow.

UTPT taught one to screw up. Where are the sponsors? We don't have cash? Publicity? Infrastructure? Chief guests? Cello tape? Prize money? Oh super ... the sponsors backed out. Let's go have a fag at least. Of course, there were moments when things went off smoothly, when you were shocked that nothing screwed up and when you were being patted on the back. Wasn't that what all those fags were for?

But the most poignant moment came when I had left college. When UTPT hit me like a cyclone in a desert. When the HR head of I-flex technologies (my first company) told me that one of their teams had come for the corporate quiz in RVCE and had been so impressed that I-flex decided to relax their policies of visiting only IITs and NITs and chose to take students from RVCE. It hit me so hard, that I left the place a few days later (for entirely differnet reasons of course).

Quizzers, I repeat, will always remain losers."