Pit your wits against this champion

Over the years, quizzing has gained a lot of popularity in the City.

A number of quizzes in various streams are held for people of all ages.

This culture has given rise to a number of talented quizzers and quizmasters in the City, who are not only aware of all the happenings in the world, but want to sharpen their skills all the more by reading up on things as much as possible.

Siddarth Pai, who passed out of St Joseph’s College of Commerce recently and is pursuing chartered accountancy, is one such person.

An avid quizzer and quizmaster, Siddarth was exposed to quizzing at an early age.

“I studied in St Joseph’s Boys School and we used to have many inter-school and interhouse quizzes. So as I started taking part in them, my interest in quizzing went up,” he informs. His love for quizzing continued when he moved on to college as well.

“Quizzes at the school level are more restricted. A team can only consist of two students from the same school. But at the college level, two students from different colleges can team up,” he adds.

 Being the son of the chairman of Manipal Global Education Mohandas Pai, ask him if he got the trait from his illustrious father and he says, “He used to quiz a lot when he was in school too and is a storehouse of facts.”

Siddarth is also a great quizmaster and has even formed a company called ‘I3 Quizzing Solutions’ (IQS) along with four of his friends.

“They are from Mumbai and Vellore and we actually met at the quizzing circuit and realised we have a common interest. That’s how we came up with this company,” he notes.

Formed in the beginning of the year, the company will be holding its first quiz at the National Law School (NLS) in May.

However, one of his most memorable moments was taking part in ‘Under The Peepal Tree’, the biggest quiz competition in Asia organised by the RV College of Engineering.

“When I was in class 12, I qualified for it and the next year, I won one of the segments out of six,” he recalls. According to him, Bangalore has one of the best quizzing scenes in the City followed by Chennai and Bangalore.

“You can say there is a stiff competition between Bangalore and Chennai just like how it is in the IPL. In fact, you could call it IQL!,” he jokes.

His favourite quizzing show is a British show called ‘QI’.

“It’s hosted by Stephen Fry and consists of four humourous people brainstorming,” he explains. His advice to all quizzers and quizmasters is to keep updating their knowledge.

“You have to read a lot — newspapers, books etc and be up-to-date with what is happening in the world and pick up from the people around you,” he says and adds, “And there are some answers that you will get with experience.”

One of the limitations he faces is limited exposure.

“Especially in open quizzes in which people of all ages can take part, I don’t know as much as a 40-year-old as I haven’t been exposed as much. They are definitely more mature, well-read and well-travelled. That’s why you need to be extremely well-read in this circle,” he answers.

So far, he has conducted one open-house quiz at the IIM-B and plans to conduct more in future including the one in NLS in May.

This year itself, he taken part in 65 quizzes! But he has not thought about a career in quizzing.

“I will continue quizzing for now and see how successful our company is,” he sums up.