History made easier with the Quiz Master
Published on: Friday, April 29, 2016
CYBERJAYA: Indian Quiz Master Phanindra Ivatury was back in town recently to host the "Corporate Quiz on Prominent Indian Men" at the Tech Mahindra Global Solutions Centre here, and as usual it was a highly enriching and entertaining evening.In Mahabharata, after Arjuna and Karna, which warrior accounted for the killing of most number of soldiers? Who is the prime minister of India often referred to as "Chanakya" or father of modern India? During what occasion this picture of Swami Vivekananda was taken?
ADVERTISEMENT
Though the quiz was all about Indian history, I made it a point of attending the event. In fact it was the third quiz hosted by Phanindra that I have attended.If there is anything that I have learnt from Phanindra's quizzes is that it is the easiest way to learn or brush up one's knowledge in world history. Since attending the first quiz on Indian Independence History, I have been telling my fellow colleagues and students who say history is a boring subject that a good quiz master will be more helpful in learning the Malaysian history than just reading the history texts. Unlike the straight forward question and answer quizzes, Phanindra has taken quizzing to a whole new realm.
ADVERTISEMENT
He not only provides the answers but also the interesting facts and trivia that many may not be aware.A good example is the question on who addressed Mahatma Gandhi first as the Father of the Nation.
ADVERTISEMENT
In elaborating the answer, Phanindra pointed it was Indian freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose who first mentioned the epithet in his condolence message over the demise of Gandhi's wife Kasturba. He went further to point out that there was also a theory that says Gandhi was the first one who called Subhas as Netaji (respected leader).Another thing that I noted that evening, like in all the previous quizzes, the Indian nationals fare better when comes to general knowledge and history. That evening, no question went unanswered. What the contestants could not answer was answered by the enthusiastic audience.Malaysians who loathe learning history should note that the Indians have to learn more as their recorded history predates five millennium and there are thousands of personalities and events that have shaped the nation of 1.3 billion people. Phanindra's quiz that evening was truly reflective of this fact as he took the contestants from Indian mythology and history, modern history, socio cultural and economic, current affairs, and sports and cinema.Phanindra finds quizzing an interesting and unique way of sharing knowledge. He has hosted more than 200 quiz programmes on various platforms across the globe since 2002. The last three Southeast Asian countries that he hosted quizzes were Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. The auditor working for the Government of India does his homework well in delivering his quizzes competently. Often it's a family affair, with his wife Ratna handling the screen and audio presentation while his daughter Poojya does the scoreboards and hands out the goodie bags to the audience who get the answers right. "I don't borrow questions from any quizzing websites or books. All the questions I pose are my very own creations. The questions-answers should be interesting, relevant, useful, without ambiguity, without multiple answers, not too easy or not too difficult," he said.Phanindra says the trick to keep the participants and audience engaged depends on the novelty and uniqueness of the questions and answers. The questions should be interesting and thought provoking. "Also you must have noticed, I always try and give away some interesting story or trivia along with each answer. The whole exercise in not just to pose a question and extract an answer. It is to learn about a thing, or a person or a concept," he added. The added anecdotes make the whole event interesting as well as informative. People feel they have gained something in terms of knowledge at the end of the show.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
