A Quiz That Couldn't Be Stolen

The girls’ hostel at VNIT buzzed with activity today. The term was coming to an end and deadlines were approaching. 

Engineers are notorious for being the laziest creatures; and girls though marginally better, were no exception. 

At the eleventh hour, they found themselves holding group study sessions all night long, trying to polish off 3000 pages long books. 

It was 8.00 AM and Garima was hurriedly brushing her hair, determined to attend every class that day to make up for her low attendance, courtesy all the bunks she had gleefully relished with her girl gang. She had to resist the temptation to sit in the library the whole day to complete the pending assignments. 

“The reason they are called deadlines is they chop your head off as they woosh past”, she muttered to herself. 

Just as she was about to leave, Ritu entered, the spring in her step unmistakable. 

“Garima! Guess what! The Technex is on! I just saw the Notice on the noticeboard.” 

Soon they were walking down the corridor with Reshma joining them midway. 

The colourful and vibrant notice could be seen from afar. “TECHNEX-94. Experience the thrill! Prizes worth ₹75000. Register now. 

Science can amuse and fascinate us all, but it is engineering that changes the world. Technex presents to you the 3- days events including workshops, guest lectures and Quizzes……” 

The girls didn’t read any further. Quiz is what they had been waiting for. The lectures and assignments were forgotten. They headed decided to sit in the canteen which would be relatively quieter in the first period and discuss. 

To their complete surprise, Machhar, Srini and Lambu were already perched on a table, with piping hot cups of tea waiting for the girls. 

The trio, Rohit Gupta aka Machhar, Amit Sharma aka Lambu and Srinivas Rao left no stone unturned to be around these girls. 

Srini and Ritu exchanged warm glances as she sat on a chair. “ So Ma’am is already in IIT Varanasi on stage facing the quiz master”! 

“Not before our master trainer has groomed the team. Hope we rock it just the way you rocked the debate at the culfest, Srini”, she quipped. The two had been going steady for a while now. 

However, Garima and Amit (Lambu) were in a now-on and now off relationship, that kept everyone including the two confused. 

Reshma was the object of Machhar’s affection, but far from reciprocating his feelings, she seemed to be blissfully unaware of his feelings. 

The six of them sat discussing the expected difficulty level of the questions that might be asked in the Quiz and the kind of preparation needed for it. 

Later they registered for the event and the teachers who had shortlisted the three long back were more than eager to accept their forms. 

A week later, the girls sat in their hostel room, boiling instant noodles, thick books and scraps of papers around them. 

Garima brought out a sheaf of papers and studied them. 

“Look at these. Amit printed out all these likely questions, brain teasers and puzzles for us. Isn’t that sweet? I mean we did virtually nothing for their election campaign that they had lost! Anyway, that was a really stolen election”, Ritu said. 

“ And he is confident if we do all these questions , we might not need to read anything else”, Reshma added. 

“What makes him so confident about it? I am going to take no chances girls”, Garima looked wary. 

“Garima!”, Ritu rolled her eyes. “Give the poor guy a chance.” 

“Given too many already.”, she retorted back. 

“Then end it for once and all”, Reshma couldn’t help chipping in. 

Garima sighed, picked up the sheaf of papers that Amit had given and started to read. The other two couldn’t fathom she was reading to prepare for the competition or distract herself from uncomfortable questions. 

Amit had studied the previous years’ questions and made an exhaustive list. Mid way while reading the questions, she recalled Amit grilling her in the canteen to judge her confidence. 

“ Who invented the light bulb?”, he had suddenly posed the easiest of the questions. 

“What? Who asks such simple questions? 

“Don’t get so occupied learning the tough ones that you are totally blank at the most basic questions, you dumbo! Thomas Edison it is. Your fifth-grader nephew won’t be sitting with you to bail you out there.” 

Before she could recover, he shot another one, “Which is the world’s tallest building as of 1994”. 

Garima smiled wistfully as she remembered this little quiz session with him. Every time juggling various balls became too stressful, Amit was there to provide some comic relief. 

It had been a long association with all six of them navigating life at VNIT. 

Chilling in the canteen with cups of coffee, sharing meals with totally unappetising menus, backpacking trips, cribbing, cursing the college system yet loving it to the hilt, they knew they had created bonds for life. 

She fells asleep, with the bulky questionnaire resting by her side. 

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

The auditorium at IIT, Varanasi reverberated with a thunderous applause. It was the last round of the quiz. Other teams had been eliminated in this format and only two were engaged in a duel of sorts. 

Team IIT( B) had scored another point taking its totally tally of marks to 140. The charismatic and somewhat quirky Quizmaster had enlivened the proceedings with his wit. The engrossed audience had added a unique energy. However it was the way the participants trusted their instincts under pressure that made the contest a nail biting event. 

Team VNIT had won hearts and they knew they were minutes away from glory. This was the time they felt no sweating in the palms or quickening of the heart beat. They were numb, mind focused just on the questions. 

“ My next question is for Team VNIT”, a hush fell over the audience as the quiz master posed the question. 

“You are in a boat and you throw out a suitcase. Does the water level increase?” 

“No! Water is already displaced by the weight and density of the submerged part of the boat’s hull”, was Reshma’s prompt answer. 

The audience was already clapping vociferously before the Quizmaster could even announce the answer to be correct. The conviction in Reshma’s voice was enough to convey that. 

Team VNIT : 150

It was IIT ( B)’s turn now. 

“What was the first animal into space?” 

“ A Dog”. 

“Wrong answer. A group of flies. Though often forgotten, the first living things sent into space were fruit flies in 1947. Team IIT ( B) stays on 150. 

He turned to VNIT again. 

“ Some planes can fly faster than speed of sound. True or False? 

“True”! 

Garima was finding it difficult to breathe now. The next question was the last for the quiz. It would be posed to the other team and only if they answer it wrong, it would be passed to them. 

 

“So………!”, the Quizmaster cleared his throat, “Team IIT(B), what is the most used kitchen appliance”? 

There was a momentary pause. A hush fell on the audience. 

One of the participants of IIT(B) took the mic and blurted out, “Blender”! 

All eyes now turned to the Quiz master! 

“And the answer is …….”

Garima sucked in her breath. 

“……. WRONG! The question passes to VNIT.” 

In a split second, Garima recalled Amit’s words, “Don’t be blank at the most basic questions……”. 

“It has to be a simple answer”, she thought to herself. “

“The sink/faucet centre”. She didn’t recognise her own voice. Yet she had answered. 

The scene seemed to be evaporating before her eyes. 

“ The humble sink/faucet is the most used kitchen appliance! You nailed it team VNIT. Ladies and gentlemen, the WINNERS! VNIT”! 

Euphoria acquired a new dimension as the girls hugged each other tightly, tension finally leaving their bodies after a gruelling 50 minutes contest! 

Victory was theirs! 

An ideal example of ‘esprit de corps’ this was a feat no one could have stolen from them!