Quiz: The General Quiz
Date & Time: 21 Jan, 2024, 3 PM
Venue: Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Pune
Fest: InFest 2024
Format: Prelims+Final
QM(s): Anisha Karnail, Akshay Parale, Charles Mathew
Results:
1. Rajiv Rai, Vibhendu Tewari + Anannya Deb (draft) - 170 (Team 5)
2. Abhinav Dasgupta, Prithwish Datta + Anmol Dhawan (draft) - 155 (Team 3)
3. Joint second - Brajendu Bhaskar, Ranajeet Soman + Pranjal (draft) - 155
Other Finalists:
Debanjan Bose, Bedbyas Datta + Annway Ghosh (draft): 130 (Team 6)
Samrat Sengupta, J Ramanand + Suraj Menon (draft) : 135 (Team 2)
Shashwat Salgaocar, Abid Abdullah + Suvajit Chakraborty(draft): 135 (Team 1)
Report -
The charge of the yearly general quiz at Infest, the last quiz of the weekend, was given to the youth this year - with Akshay Parale, Anisha Karnail and Charles Mathew setting the quiz. Almost everyone who had come for the fest stayed back for this quiz and the QMs delivered on those expectations.
The prelims were a breezy affair of 25 questions with some excellent fundae, some expected questions, but no run-of-the-mill peters. Although the cut-off for the drafts was 19, there were enough tough questions in the prelims to separate 9 teams without too much fuss.
The finals started with an interesting written round on people who passed away in 2023, a round which certain visiting quizzers from Mumbai were overjoyed to see. Then there was an infinite rebound passing round, where everyone was more or less bunched up around the same score.
After the second written round with the theme of birds, there was a clamour for leniency on certain answers or additional clues in the questions, but the QMs remained phlegmatic and let the din die on its own.
The second IR round saw teams taking more risks, with pounces more frequent. Rajiv, Vibhendu and Dada had gone into a healthy if not comfortable lead, with Teams 3 and 4 following closely behind. Some questions might have yielded more points, or at least guesses, if the QMs had added a small clue here and there. But generally, the questions were answered and were interesting enough to hold everyone's attention at the end of 2 full days of quizzing.
Team 5 emerged deserved winners, not getting any negatives on wrong pounces, something which Teams 3 and 4 failed to do and rued together afterwards.
General hilarity and banter was going on during the quiz, which is characteristic of the laid-back nature of quizzing seen at Infest. The quiz ended within time for everyone to leave without being late, and to leave with a warm, contented glow after spending two days full of food, quizzing, in some cases drinking, and enjoying the temperate climes of Pune in January.
There was plenty of local support and attendance this year, and out-of-town support also continued from across the highway. Hopefully, when Infest 2025 comes along, these will have grown.
Until, then, don't panic, and carry a towel.