The Great Indian Media Circus

This does not involve any sort of discourse on the sensationalistic and yellow nature that most papers and channels are acquiring. It instead involves the tight-rope walking and hanging upside-down from a trapeze trying to contact the media to cover the ACE quiz 2008. Asha taught me the basics of media more than three years of an undergrad degree in Journalism could teach.

All's well that ends well. So channels did turn up to cover the event on D-day. Papers did carry bulletins on the ACE quiz in the run-up to the event. The crazy number of phone calls and e-mails paid off. Hallelujah and Hark! The Herald Angels sing!

However, an accident ho gaya moment in the media circus came on June 14th when a reporter from a channel asked if she could speak to a few participants on the ACE quiz experience. "Sure! Let me go inside and check, if any participants are willing to speak to the camera!" I opened the door and saw two participants whom I knew. "Hey! Here are a couple of participants!" And I turned to the reporter, just about to introduce them to her, when a zero-watt bulb did a little fire-fly dance in the dimbulb brain. "Oh! And these participants are leaving!" I announced cheerfully to the reporter, avoided meeting their gaze and walked on inside, found other people who agreed to speak and led them out. A near disaster was averted. It was unarguably a slightly blonde moment. The participants whom I earlier met near the exit, were from another local news channel. :-o

Thank you.

Finally iRevna, the team from Chennai blew away the competition 2nd year in a row. A big thank you to all the participants, sponsors, media folks, ISB, audience members & volunteers. The day started brightly and finished in a somewhat chaotic manner. Here is a quick summary:

Thumbs up -

• Phase Forward team (Rajiv, Saroja and team) who were very supportive throughout, managing to do the TV interviews at such a short notice and even finding time to treat the RUPS kids to idlis, dosas & pastries.
• Dance programme by RUPS kids
• Packed audi for most of the event
• Spectacular quizzing - engaging questions and where-did-that-come-from answers
• ISB arrangements (everything laid out properly) & support staff (very prompt and professional).

Thumbs sideways-

• Late start to the quiz. We started around 2 pm.
• Mini-confusion while handing over the check to RUPS. Everyone except Ravi (myself included) were kind of rooted to the spot.

Thumbs down -

• Saying "thats all we have for you today" twice before the show actually was supposed to end

That's all from me. Not sure whether this blog will continue or morph into something else. Its been fun, no?

Lights, Camera, QUESTION!

Calling all ye quizzing mavens from lands far, wide & from lazy suburbia,

Calling all seekers of answers of arcania,

Drop all your weekend chores,

Head towards the Gachibowli shores,

Hasten, don't be late,

for Phase Forward ACE 2008!


There, now you have rhyme along with reason. What are you still waiting for? :)

High Fives - answers

1. Which English word owes its origin to a Hindu God and the legend of his unstoppable chariot?
Ans - Juggernaut from Lord Jagannath

2. Bhoot Jalokia is the name given to a food item grown in some parts of North East India. What rare distinction does this item have?
Ans - Bhoot Jalokia is a variety of chilly. Recently, it was found to be the hottest chilly in the world.

3. Connect the Hollywood star Guy Pearce, the film actress Jyothika and Aamir Khan.
Ans - The connection is the Tamil film Gajni. Guy Pearce acted in the English original. Jyothika is married to Surya the actor who played the lead in Gajni. Aamir Khan is making a Hindi version of Gajni (or Memento).

4. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. However which city did it start its journey from? Think Doordarshan :)
Ans - Albuquerque, New Mexico. I remember there was a news reader in Doordarshan with the last name. Never did figure out how to spell it out though!

5. In business terms, what is a cold chain?
Ans - Cold chain refers to the supply chain processes devised to preserve & transport perishable goods over a long distance. For e.g. McDonalds sources its raw materials from farms all over India, like lettuce from farms in Pune. To ensure freshness, the company has to provide cold storages, refrigerated trucks etc.

This is the stuff legends are made of

To,
The Contributors of
A Quiz for a Cause blog,

Dear Sir/Madam,

All cultures have their own legends about the origins of this. In ancient Persia, it was taken from the heart of rock by a hunter’s misdirected arrow. For the Dakota Indians, it was struck from the Earth by the claws of a jaguar-god. For the Aztecs, it originated from the Sun. In Polynesia, Maui is said to have brought it up from the bowels of the Earth. According to some Australian tribes, it was discovered by women while the men were away hunting-they then hid it within their bodies when the men returned.** According to the Greeks, it was brought down by somebody who chose not to ally with the Olympians. What are we talking about here?





Tell, tell?







Think, no?





No, we are not looking for an incendiary answer. (Or are we?)






Alright, give up?




Answer: Sex. :D

This was an answer given by one of the participants at an internal quiz conducted by Asha volunteers (Yamini, Siddharth, Ludwig and Pavan), at a company recently, for selecting teams to the final edition of ACE 2008. The answer, Fire, is workable even if one has not heard the legends. Extremely creative responses were dished out to the twenty questions set. But this one was unarguably the most hilarious! We sat in Yamini’s car cackling and hooting with laughter for at least five minutes. Alas, we don’t have the original copy with us. It would have made for a good souvenir.:) However, the absence of evidence does make this incident a Legend. “Long, long ago, when our forefathers were young, four volunteers conducted an internal quiz at…”:p

** We read this line out in the car after the quiz and truly went bonkers this time around.:)

Spot-o the typo

Some of you may have seen the poster we have designed for Phase Forward ACE 2008. There is actually a cute-sy little spelling mistake there. Because of lack of time, we could not get around to fixing it.

Lets see if you can spot it! :)

High Fives

Now that we just have 1 day left for the quiz, here are some teasers to get you into the mood -

1. Which English word owes its origin to a Hindu God and the legend of his unstoppable chariot?

2. Bhoot Jalokia is the name given to a food item grown in some parts of North East India. What rare distinction does this item have?

3. Connect the Hollywood star Guy Pearce, the film actress Jyothika and Aamir Khan.

4. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. However which city did it start its journey from? Think Doordarshan :)

5. In business terms, what is a cold chain?

Watch this space for answers!