IIT Madras has been my quizzing pilgrimage for the six years now. I was kindof depressed because I could not make it to Saarang this year, partly because I was trying to convince myself that it was time to come out of the college-quizzing mode and partly because of work, loads of it. I was in Madras the last day of Saarang, for the Odyssey quiz, but I didn’t go to the college. Maybe someone up there was trying to keep my record intact – two weeks ago there was a personal mail in my inbox, and an official quiznet mail, both saying the same thing – an open quiz at IITM. In adherence to my no-arguments-with-Fate policy, I decided to attend.
The train journey was the same as most train journeys are, when you have a good travel-companion. The only problem was that our tickets, mine and Anil’s weren’t confirmed, so we had to use the same berth. At one AM, the TTE wakes us up from our heap-y slumber and directs us to proper berths. As I drifted off to sleep again, I could hear a lot of ticketless dumbheads, the ones who had been happily occupying the berths we were sleeping in, arguing with the TTE, and he saying things to the effect of “Naansense!”
I woke up twice in the night, once when a lot of coins in my pocket fell out, jangling to the floor, and the other time when my cellphone fell out of my other pocket and got stuck between berths.
IIT Madras ( The heat! ) was fun. The quiz ( The heat! ) was held in the SAC which is short for the Students Amenities Centre, and I had this mental image of how the SAC of an institute should be, based on my four years hanging around an SAC in my college. (Oh, the heat! ) Well, the IITM authorites certainly know that a fully equipped auditorium is a Student Amenity. Here I was, expecting a slightly-bigger-than-normal room where you would need to sit crosslegged on the carpet and answer questions, and here was this gigantic hall that’s bigger than the (Oh, the heat! ) average college auditorium.
It’s a little hot in Chennai this time of the year.
Beatzo – redefining understatements everytime. Any time.
Five minutes before the quiz was due to start, we find out that Dhaaji, our third teammate and the only guy who knows our fourth teammate, is in Hyderabad instead of Madras ( where he’s supposed to be doing is summers) , and the guy who was to be our fourth teammate has a team of his own. Freakin’ cool. Thank God for errant IIM Calcutta passouts who come to quizzes Just For Fun, we got ourselves a third partner just in time.
Yeah, the quiz was good. Except for the brief power struggle in the middle of the prelims, that made the students go gaga trying to shout out questions aloud. (Oh, the FRIGGIN heat! ) The finals began well, with a 77-visual connect ( which we cracked midway ) Loads of sitters interspersed with fundoo questions followed. The quiz ended at about 9:30, with us getting the third prize. A firm belief – it’s only in IITM that you find questions with words like macha and hajaar fundaes popping up from time to time. It’s the only place where the preferred mode of questioning is “modified” infinite bounds ( the scheme by which if team X gets a question and none of the teams answer it, the next question goes to team X again. ) Did I tell you that there was a Hattori Hanzo sword on the poster advertising the quiz? We loves IITM quizzes. We also loves hanging around in IITM campus after missing all trains to Hyderabad, swigging Appy and coffee and talking fundaes.
Amusing Anecdote from the IITians: The logo for the quiz was a question mark and an exclamation mark, arranged as your familiar communist symbol – the question mark as the sickle and the exclamation the hammer. The usage of this symbol caused some priceless moments with the Dean ( “If you want to express your political idealogies in a quiz, you can go look for sponsors yourself!” ) and other IITians ( Somebody scratched the words “Headquarters, CPI(M)” on Shamanth’s door, Shamanth being one of the quizmasters )
Menacing voice calls Siddharth up just before the quiz.
MV: Hello!
IITM Guy: Yes?
Is this IIT Quiz?
Yes, we have a quiz on Sunday.
What is the subject of your quiz?
It’s a general quiz, sir.
No, no, what is the subject?
It’s a general quiz, open to all.
Is it Communist party quiz?
*Blink* Oh, no, no. That’s a question mark and an exclamation mark.
Oh. *click*
Monday was Landmark-and-Ritchie Street day. The Day Kill Bill Volume One:The DVD was bought. You know what? It’s not like I am a pirate by choice or anything. I wanted the damn thing, and it wasn’t on sale in a normal outlet, so I had to go buy it at a shady place in a shady street.
True to the IITM quizzing spirit, I did not opt for a reserved train ticket while coming back. Bought a general class ticket, paid a coolie 20 rupees to “reserve” a seat for me, and sat on a wooden chair for fourteen straight hours. Finished T Coraghessan Boyle’s Road to Wellville and Gaiman’s Coraline on the way.
A weekend well-spent!
Nagpur dehydrated me. Guess Chennai would evaporate me.
*hair de hair hair*
Me has fond memories of quizzes in the SAC too. Me spent an entire night on Marina beach and had to rush back for a quiz at 9am. Of course, two team mates fell asleep during the prelims, which meant, no chance of qualifying for the finals (not like there was much anyway!)
Me finally did qualify for WTGW (4 of the other 5 qualifying teams being from IIT-M!), but had to return to Bangalore for tiresome classes at college on the day of the finals.
*sighs* Those were the days…
Was that during Saarang? So far as I remember, Saarang quizzes are held at CLT/PhLT/ChLT/OAT. Which one was held at the SAC?
Yep, during Saarang. This was some Entertainment Quiz or something. The only one held in the SAC. Right after that there was a talk by Shobha De, so people started filtering into the SAC even while the quiz was on. Or maybe that was the next day. My brain was so fuddled, I don’t remember!
Aiyyo! I remember that! But that’s the CLT, not the SAC. The CLT is airconditioned, and it has a small stage, so you need to squat on the floor when quizzes are going on. The SAC is located pretty far away from the Saarang mainstream, no events, AFAIR, were held there before this quiz.
whoops!!
sorry there… posted the reply to your comment instead of the journal… begging your pardon, sir!
!!spoohw
Wait till i tell my mommy B-)
Re: !!spoohw
Would that be Sir’s mommy?
Re: !!spoohw
Mem-Sir’s mommy, yes.
Hot cup of moccacino, eh?
moccacino sir?
:o
:((
Button Eyes
So what did you think of Coraline?
It reminded me of this other “scary novel for children” I read last year – Clive Barker’s Thief of Always. Both have this classic case of children being imprisoned in a fantasy world they have always longed for, where there is something treacherous afoot. Gaiman gets the tone dead-on, though – Coraline is a perfect story to read aloud to a child. The right length for a children’s story, too short to get really involved, and ergo, scared. The McKean illustrations freaked me out!
You’ve read it, I presume. Reactions?
“Coraline is a perfect story to read aloud to a child” Not.
What age group are we talking about here, 3-7 years? I have a younger sister who is 10. Wouldn’t think of reading it out to her as yet. And, in any case, wouldn’t have to read it out to her either. She’s old enough. Also, would wait for a year or two before I suggest that she read it.
Coraline doesn’t really fall into a “Goosebumps” category. It isn’t really a prosthetic medusa-like monster head oozing blood scary. Which kids find extreme enough to be unreal and funny.
As for the McKean illustrations, I read the Brit edition which doesn’t have them.
Otherwise, a gratifying, chilling read.
Can’t seem to find anymore of Gaiman in B’lore though?
Reading aloud – it’s easy to read the story without having to worry about explaining too many things like “what’s that word” or “what just happened here?”. Especially in a classroom.
Are you worried about kids getting scared by the story? I think not. Kids are more scared by loud noises or OUTRIGHT scary stuff, like heads dripping blood. Coraline is scary to adults because we are freaked out by a stony-faced woman with Button eyes. Kids would find it interesting. Even teddy bears have button eyes, for that matter. :)
Basically, the tone of the story is that of a storyteller who’s recounting it to a wide-eyed kid, without the obvious attempt to make it *whoo scary* kind of scary.
How much did you pay for the Brit edition? I remember one edition being priced something like 350 and the other 180. Stupid indian pricing!
I remember seeing Gaiman’s Stardust in Gangaram’s a month ago. Also American Gods. IF you’re really interested in American Gods , drop me a line. Should be a copy available at good ol’ MR.
Don’t remember how much I paid for it. Picked it up from Premier, so little chance that Mr. Shanbag fleeced me.
American Gods, interested.
MR? /Ainnh?/
Hyderabad, my dear fellow, is a cornucopia of pleasures, primarily due to Best Book Stall and MR Book Stall. I was referring to the second of those, which is a major source of Gaiman novels at prices less than a hundred rupees.
All fine that you could get me the book for less than hundred rupees. Would I have to bear courier charges?
Quizzing in IITs
My experiences quizzing at IITB were quite good. However IITK was hilarious.
Me and 3 more guys travelled from Lucknow to Kanpur in the “lumpy wooden chair” Electric Train (sirf chaudaah rupiya saahab!!). On reaching IITK, we went to the lecture hall that was supposed to be the venue, and saw that some kinda play was going on.
We asked a bloke whom we had seen dabbling in quizzing on our previous visit – “Err, when is the quiz starting?”
The fellow answers “THAT IS WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW!!!”
We said “Oh sorry, we though you are an organiser.”
He said “I am. I am the chief coordinator for the quiz. And I would like to know when it will start!!!”
Gaurav
http://gauravsabnis.blogspot.com
p.s- after typing the whole incident i realised it isnt very funny. ah well.
Ah, the trials and tribulations of being a Quiz Organiser. I heartily sympathise.
“Kill Bill Volume One:The DVD was bought”
Aap mahaan hai !! *gettin together metal_storm’s eleven to raid yer place*