Nihilanth 08

Having spent the day dozing off moving from one room to another, and one city to another to add, I am just about in my wits to right this post. I just got back from Nihilanth 08, the inter IIT-IIM quiz fest. The fourth edition finally happened, after a few phone calls here and there. And some additional Visa money which had to be paid by some of us (which IIT B should pay for :). But all in all, it was a well organized event. In the course of the coming weeks, more and more posts will appear about the same and I hope that the account are not Rashomon -esque.

Cryptic references apart, I think IIT B do deserve a pat on the back for their efforts at Nihilanth. It is not easy to co-ordinate such a big event. The only regret that I have is, that I missed out on watching Arul's Lit Quiz, and Amit's Biz tech quiz. The other 3 quizzes which I did attend were quite nice. As for my quiz, the general feedback was that it had a range of many sports and was non-statistical. Now, for me, thats half the battle won, because those are the precise two most difficult things to achieve while setting a sports quiz.


The BQC team won the quiz, and were followed closely by the IIT B team (comprising Vaibhav and Co.). Anand Shivashankar gave out some crack answers to finish 3rd. A special mention for Shamanth's team, who answered some of my favorite questions, though they finished just outside the main podium. As for my old mates Prasann and Mukund, it was nice to have them on stage and score 195 points.

I support the concept of a quiz fest. After all, it is like the woodstock of quizzing, or a street basketball game. I mean, where else would you see such an arsenal of knowledge on display. Some 'critics' claim otherwise, here is someone's description of the quizfest. Now, I am not going to be judgmental here, but here are a few pointers:

1. The negatives section looks well researched, while the positives section looks like a page 3 column. After all, the negative bits are three times the positives.

2. A quiz can only be analyzed by a knowledge connoisseur. Which is why i dont think i would qualify best to look at a chinese literature quiz, though i can also try

3. Tech glitches even happen in the high end multi billion dollar NASA space shuttles, so, should man stop going to space, I ask?

4. Now, lots of websites say a lot of things. If IIT B mention an event of a scale never before, DON'T take it literally. You won't have characters out of Halo popping up and trying to answer questions.

5. Dress codes and delays in quizzes should not be talked about. It is blasphemous. I don't have a problem if someone wears a pair of shorts to a quiz, as long as they don't drop them (But Janet Jackson having a wardrobe malfunction is permitted). After all, it is not the All England Lawn tennis association, and even they allow men to wear shorts :P.

6. Nihilanth is organized by students, who have to take care of hazaar things side by side. This is no excuse for slip ups, but i don't think mic glitches should even be counted. Volunteers for a quiz can be hard to find, especially when it involves running around. The fun and games bit is asking the questions seeing them answered. The back end bit is a lot more difficult.


I would like to hear more about the sports quiz, and critics and connoisseurs alike are welcome. Most teams had trains/ flights/buses/camels to catch (no camels :) by the time the finals got underway, but the IIM A and IIT B teams did stay back, and for what its worth, i think they did like the quiz.

I think Rahul, Vaibhav and team do deserve a lot of credit. It is not easy to organize a fest over a weekend and go to class on Monday. I almost missed my flight, in fact i tried very hard to miss it. But here I am, back home, and wishing all the best to the next edition of Nihilanth.

Pornobgraphy!

Yes, there is a b in there, so we are all safe. And it just refers to the title of the KQ quiz last Sunday, 26th August!!

But before we ponder on the quiz, a dekko at the frantic-behind-the-scenes-mail-exchange which culminated in this quiz.

*******************************************************************************
Hi

The three of us, who used to quiz a lot in Delhi in the years 1998-2002 now want to do a quiz for Kutub Quizzers sometime this month. Can you let us know when?

Cheers,
Dhoomketu/ Kaustubh-Sumit-Taneja


Hi Kaustubh,

Good to hear from you and yes we would definitely like you to do a quiz for KQ!

We already have quizmasters lined up for Aug and Sept. But we would love to have you do the open in Oct - either on the 7th or 14th. Please do let us know which date would be convenient for you, so that we can freeze the venue accordingly.

Shall wait for your confirmation!
-KQ

Hi,

Unfortunately, we can't wait till October to do the quiz as Taneja's (who I am marking on this mail) is leaving town in September first week. So, it's either August end or it can't happen. Can we exchange slots with the QM for August?
How many people attend the quizzes? If it is around 20, we can do it at someone's place etc.
Let us know.
Cheers,
Kaustubh

Hi Kaustabh,

Point taken.

Working to see if we can juggle the schedule around a bit and do your quiz in Aug itself. We will have to check with the previously scheduled quiz master (actually quiz mistress would be the mot juste) to check that she does not have any problem. The tentative date would be the 26th.
-KQ

Kaustabh,

Can you confirm ASAP that you and Anand Taneja can do the quiz on 26th Aug (next Sunday)??
We think we can schedule it but we need a confirmation from you ASAP before we officially do any rescheduling.
-KQ

Hi,

I tried to reach Taneja but couldn't reach him as his phone is out of reach. I will confirm with him and Sumit tomorrow. Incidentally, I am on.
Taneja/ Gogo, if you are also okay with 26th, please confirm.
Cheers,
Kaustubh

Hi,

26th sounds good. Count me in!!

will try to call up T and let him know as well.

sumit aka Gogo

Ok,

Am I to assume then that the Quiz by Kaustabh and Sumit and the yet unreachable Taneja is ON on 26th Aug?

Need this by Monday first half so that we can put this up on the mailing list/website etc.
-KQ

Hi

The Taneja has been reached. As far as he knows, in his partial separation from the fabric of this world, the quiz is on. For further details, do feel free to contact Kaustubh, who is far more closely enmeshed the warp and weft of this material world. The answer, as always, in Baba Bulle Shah.

-Taneja

All,

Heavens be praised.

By the grace of Baba Bulle Shah, the triumvirate is now complete. The elusive T has materialized through a wormhole in the space-time continuum and the quiz is now officially on.

Unsuspecting victims shall be sent the innocuous invitation pretty soon.

-KQ

*******************************************************************************

And so the innocuous sounding invitation was sent. Appended with the trivial piece of information that one of the triumvirate is on the most-wanted list of some mall managers in Mumbai for trying to conduct Guerilla quizzes in their premises.

Coming to the quiz itself, for which most of the regulars turned up, it was decided to scrap the prelims and directly proceed to the finals with 8 teams of 3-4 members each. The questions were refreshing with the emphasis being on "How much can you work out?" instead of "How much do you know?". This whole concept of workoutability of quiz questions must be taken with a pinch of salt as someone once remarked: "If you know the answer, you can always work it out!" Udatta, Thapa and Shambhu gelled brilliantly to crack some tough nuts to comfortably romp into the first position with Abhinav Kishore, Rajiv Gopinath (who singlehandedly conducts the Okhla Quiz on every wednesday with unerring regularity), Supratim and Pradeep beating Doc, Kunal and Ajit Shenoy to the second spot.

All in all, a fitting tribute to a well-known "Quiz Master" whose influence was alluded to, both by the name of the quiz as well as through some of the questions, by the Quiz Masters!!

When: Aug 2007
Quiz Master(s): Kaustubh aka dhoomk2, Sumit "gogo" Roy and Anand Taneja.
Winners: Sabyasachi aka Thapa, Udatta, Shambhu
Questions: Download some selected questions from the quiz here

Past KQ Quizzes

A synopsis of the quizzes held under the aegis of Kutub Quizzers, till Aug 15^th 2007, in chronological order is presented below. Wherever possible we have included urls from where some of the questions asked during the quiz can be downloaded for consumption:

Setting the ball rolling: The August Moon Quiz

Kutub Quizzers did its first quiz under the banner of 'The August Moon Quiz', named after a Chinese festival. It turned out to be quite a quiz with about 20 teams showing up for the prelims, including the likes of Senjam Raj Shekhar of Fundamentals fame, Bala(ex president K circle), and Mrs. Archana Garodia Gupta (winner of the Mastermind 2001 competition). The quiz was eventually won by Bala, Sabyasachi Dasgupta (aka Thapa) and Abhinav Kishore after a long session of trading punches with the St Stephen's team of Ritam, Gautum Das and Justin Thomas.

When: Aug 2006
Quiz Master(s): Dr. Bhattacharya, Kunal Malhotra
Winners: Bala, Sabyasachi Dasgupta, Abhinav Kishore
Questions: The search is on!

Strike 2: Aurora

Next up was Aurora, conducted by Brijesh Nair, an army Doctor and quite an avid quizzer who is currently posted in Jallandhar. Brijesh did an excellent quiz which was very keenly contested by three teams. At the end, Dr Bhattacharya, Praveen Dass and Kunal Malhotra ended up winning by a hair'd width, followed very closely by Bala, Saurav Jha and Thapa and the third placed team of Udatta, Sambhu and Abhimanyu.

When: December 2006
Quiz Master(s): Dr. Brijesh Nair aka Meshugah
Winners: Dr Bhattacharya, Praveen Dass, Kunal Malhotra
Questions: Download the Aurora prelims from here

Third time lucky: The Ides of March

Then we had the latest kids on the block, Udatta Duarah and Shambhu Rathi doing a quiz, aptly titled 'The Ides of March'. this quiz also had quite a good turnout, and the venue was the newly renovated SSS audi in JNU. Doc, Kunal and Bala swept the quiz comfortably with the college team of Vasudha, Arjun Sinha and Aranyaka coming in second. The quiz had some fabulous questions, but the one which proved to be icing on the cake was a connect involving the battle of waterloo.

When: March 2007
Quiz Master(s): Udatta Duarah, Shambhu Rathi
Winners: Dr Bhattacharya, Bala, Kunal Malhotra
Questions: Download the Ides of March prelims from here

The fourth horseman: Mahaquizzer plus

There was a mini quiz on the day of Mahaquizzer 2007 in May. This quiz had decent participation with almost everyone who turned up for Mahaquizzer staying on to avail of the double bill and was conducted by aplomb by doctors. Kunal teaming up with Archana and Rajeev Gowda, one of the founders of KQA, won the quiz, closely followed by Udatta, Shambhu and Neha.

When: May 2007
Quiz Master(s): Dr Bhattacharya, Dr Brijesh Nair
Winners: Archana Garodia Gupta, Rajeev Gowda, Kunal Malhotra
Questions: The search is on for this one!!

Five, famous?: Art and more

Next up was a quiz by Bala and Ajai Jaisinghiani. The quiz was focused on art and culture with sprinklings of other topics as well. The two quiz masters gelled brilliantly to compose a quiz filled with quizzical gems. The quiz was a very close run thing, with Doc, Kunal and Saurav Jha almost pushed to the last round by Four horsepersons Minus one: Aishwarya, Shreyas and Aranyaka.

When: June 2007
Quiz Master(s): Bala, Ajai Jaysinghiani
Winners: Dr Bhattacharya, Saurabh Jha, Kunal Malhotra
Questions: Download some of the questions from here

Sixty seconds and still here: History and Culture

We had the pleasure of having Archana Garodia Gupta, one of India’s top notch quizzers and winner of the Mastermind 2001 competition conduct a History and Culture quiz for Kutub Quizzers. The quiz had some 15 teams turn up and take the eliminations with some well known personalities like Joy Bhattacharya, Rathin Das and Ajit Shenoy showing up. This was the closest result in Kutub quizzers history with Joy, Doc and Kunal scraped through into the first position, with Ajit Shenoy, Rathin coming in second. The difference was a princely 1/4th of a point!

When: July 2007
Quiz Master(s): Archana Garodia Gupta
Winners: Dr Bhattacharya, Joy Bhattacharya, Kunal Malhotra
Questions: Download the prelims questions from here

Se7en: The Ajit Shenoy blitz

Ajit Shenoy did a special round of questions on in August, 2007 and this quiz saw a record turnout of sorts with over 25 teams taking part. Doc and Kunal won the quiz on a canter with Prashant from NTPC, Abhinav and Sharat coming in second. A team from IIT Delhi finished third.

When: August 2007
Quiz Master(s): Ajit Shenoy
Winners: Dr Bhattacharya, Kunal Malhotra
Questions: Download the prelims questions from here

First Blood

This is a the first post on Kutub Nama and our sincere attempt would be that it won't be the last, for a long long time to come!

The accompanying picture is from the Babur Nama. Which is quite apt, considering the fact that the inspiration for the name of this blog derives from the first Mughal emperor's biography.