RV QuizCorp - No Hype and Great Quizzing

Friday Evening and i happened to browse through my list of communities on Orkut. Stopped by to see what was the latest at my alma-mater - R.V College of Engineering - Community and thats where i came to know of the RV Quiz Corp organising its 10th Year of Formation with their annual quiz event.

Got a couple of my friends - Venkat, Sourabh to join in for the team.
Sunday Afternoon - 2 A.M was pretty hot, but we managed to reach on time only to realise that the quiz was postponed by an hour due to some unavoidable circumstance. We walked down to HOTEL CHALUKYA and downed a few masala dosas and few fresh juices.

3:00 and back at Hotel ATRIA, the quiz hadnt started. So we waited patiently for another half an hour and finally the prelims started. The Quizmaster - Avinash Mudaliar, quite a character in my college days continued to maintain the same cheekiness in his introduction and appraised the audience that there was a dip in the number of contestants from 72 to 17.

The Quiz started on time and the questions were challenging, workable and FUN. Amateur Quizzers that we were, managed to work out 8 odd questions in the time given.

A Tea-break followed the prelims after which everyone gathered for the Finals.

The Pattern of the Finals was professionally organised by the students.
Some great questions were part of the finals and the audience along with the participants were left spell-bound with the answers. Connection between a photo of lord clive, Basanti - the herione in Sholay and Dhaka was just too good ( Lord Clive's claim to fame is the Battle of Plassey derived it name because of the place being famous for PALASHEY flowers, PALASHEY flowers give out Basanti Colours when dried and extracted and the Word "Dhak" in Bangla means Palashey ).....Arent u saying WOW!!!

Avinash Mudaliar was entertaining all along and did a great job of Quizmaster.
The Organisation - though delayed - belied the fact that it was organised by Students of the College. The Presentation could have given even the Brand Equity guys a run for their money . Kudos to the Team for a great show. Next Time guys, give it that bit of Hype and keep up the Good Show - I had a blast of time at the QUIZ. See you next year.

Banks and CONNECTIVITY

One Unfortunate day, On one of my regular visits to the Bank, i noticed the regular efficiency with which the transactions were carried out sadly missing. I found out at the Reception desk, that this was due to problems with "CONNECTIVITY".

Further enquiry revealed that the particular branch was facing problems in Internet Connectivity with the Head Office, resulting in the disruption of normal service.

The Bank obviously in a bid to improve productivity and customer service, must have shifted to computerising their records and centralizing their databases with the Head office.

More people started pouring into the branch and the air started to fill with the word CONNECTIVITY. Somehow everyone young and old realized that CONNECTIVITY was very important in the Bank's Current scheme of things and the situation they were finding themselves in. Most of the customers were patient and the impatient ones let out their frustration and left.

The Staff members, not missing out on the blessed break, headed out in groups of 2/3 for Coffee breaks. We waited patiently for 30 mins, but still no signs of CONNECTIVITY around.
An Old man sitting next to me ran out of patience and started telling me about the days of old, when those big registers mainted all details of bank accounts and how he would never have to face a problem like this ever then.

I wanted to tell him, that then he would have had to take extra care of his deposits and cross-check the pass books to ensure there was'nt any human errors. However at the very same moment someone announced that CONNECTIVITY IS OKAY.
So everyone including the old man cheered up and i thought better off than telling the old man my mind.

5 Mins of smooth work later, *darn my luck* problems with Connectivity resurfaced.
This time i hung around for 5 mins, but lost my patience and started to leave.

However as i left, i felt *DISCONNECTED*(Discontented) with the bank in terms of their infrastructure and commitment to service.

Brand Equity Quiz - All Fun and Poor Quizzing.

The Brand Equity Quiz for 2006 kicked off in "Namma Bengaluru"( Bangalore ) last weekend. This was my first time at a Corporate Event. Having been a moderate Quizzer in my college days, i expected to be way out of my league, but nevertheless was excited given it was organised by one of the popular Quiz-masters of the country - Derek O Brien.

The First round started with a Written Preliminary. The Questions were Easy, Straightforward and didnt leave me with a "Wow - What a Wonderful-Question" feeling anytime. More often than not it was a case of " Is that the answer ?? Cant be that straightforward ?". At the End we were left ruing not going for the obvious and trying to think a bit too much.

The Second and third rounds with 6/4 teams was fun.
However, The Quizzing got lost in Derek's histrionics as a Major from Russia and his penchant for Double meaning and Vulgarity. The Questions were sadly not a good match for his entertainment. ( Wonder if this is a fall out of the reality shows where the impetus on Entertainment is so much, that Entertainment becomes the primary focus and Skill ( Singing ) becomes secondary ).

I wont deny having had a good time laughing at his antics, but quizzing wise sadly no.

Whats the Fuss about ?

Frankly, i dont understand what the fuss is all about with Bush visiting India.

From what the TV Channels say, i gather he is here to possibly start talks on some kind of Nuclear Treaty, talk to a few Management Graduates from ISB and meet a few film-stars and politicians over lunch/dinner.
To add to the non-stop coverage by the TV Channels, the communists parties are holding a protest of their own against Bush's *conquest of* Iraq. I even heard they were protesting in the form of blogs ( Funny !!! Given the leftists are againsts proliferation of technology since it is an impediment to their vote banks of Trade Unions ).

Maybe the prospect of decisive policy-making by administrators of both countries is what excites the print and the telivision medium. Dont quite know if the Left parties think this could be a way of catching the nation's attention.

However, catching a glimpse of Bush on his arrival and watching him indulge in his regular histrionics - Waving to the Crowd or talking to Prime Minister, i wouldnt be too excited about the outcome of his visit.

I think Mr. and Mrs. Gates visit was more interesting for the sheer amount of money they pump into the country vis-a-vis their business interests ( Microsoft ) and philanthropic interest ( Melinda-Bill gates Foundation ).