The Renaissance

1998 to 2001 was one of the best times in Pune quizzing. People like Harish, Gaurav, Sujay & me were quite fortunate to be in COEP that time. It was a generation that enjoyed the recurring talents of Niranjan, the heydays of George, Kunal, Anand and the big boys of AFMC. The Four Musketeers from AIT, Navneet, Shrikant, Kapil & Samrat were plying their wares then. Swapnil ,Shankar and many more from nearby colleges and corporates made all contests extremely competitive - qualifying for finals was a tough and proud feat. The quizzes at Mensa, BCJ, the odd Verve & Shyam Bhat, Chakravyuh and Owl-in-the-Bowl were quite superb to watch and participate. Then came the dip in the cyclical fortunes - people left Pune for academic pursuits and employment relocations. The supply of good and more importantly, enthusiastic quizzers dried up. Quizzes became dodgy and BC quizzes were no longer taken for granted.

The last two weekends have done much to dispel the intermediate gloom. We have a new generation with us - principally from VIT and Fergusson College. We also have fresh faces from outside academics. Again, there is a sense of keen competition and no places on the starting grid can be taken for granted. A couple of interesting BC sessions have happened, and a great deal of chat on creation of questions, rounds, conduct is happening on the sidelines. Old faces & old combinations are back and firing away. Unknown names are emerging forcefully into the centre.

Thanks to everyone, things are looking up.