Indians have a passion for a national pastime. The fervour for cricket, doused to a large extent by the murky goings-on and the general disillusionment with the likes of Azhar and Jadeja, has deflected the Indian's reins of sensibilities to yet another obsession - quizzing. The mass appeal and the reach for the grill game has become as intense as it was for the white man's sport. Dinner-table discussions, leisure-time chats in offices, party-conversation openers, all have one common thread running through them - KBC (Need we expand that?). What is it about KBC and quizzing that has caught the fancy of an entire nation? "The fact that it's a mindsport for the common man is what is appealing, unlike other games," says Akhsaye, a second-year engineering student at Bangalore. So, would he like to switch careers and take up quizzing as a profession? "Well, I haven't thought of it. I guess it's far easier to be a participant than to conduct a show," he says.

Siddartha Basu, whose KBC has become a household term, says, "The quiz-master's job is essentially one of a host, communicator, play-maker and referee. I don't see it as becoming a full-time career option in the foreseeable future." For him it started with a passion for drama. "Quizzing happened by accident when I was asked to host Quiz Time in 1985 by some of my former film-making colleagues. In time I produced the programme and went independent." According to a Bangalore-based quiz-master, Giri Balasubramaniam, quizzing for him "is not a hobby, it's a serious passion".

Giri was with the marketing department of Walt Disney Inc., before he decided to plunge into quizzing full-time. "It was, of course, difficult to tell your parents that you wanted to quit a good job and start asking questions to people and make a profession out of it." Though Giri decided to turn quiz-master only eight months ago, he has been in the quizzing business for the last four years. His company, Pickbrain.com, has supplied software for quizzes and now he runs an online quiz programme 'Quizbrain.com' for the portal, Indiainfo.com. Giri feels that quizzing requires all the skills of traditional product management. He says, "Quiz-masters are like product managers and quizzing is a product management tool." There's no doubt companies are building brands using this tool. One of the first ones to try this, and with tremendous success was, of course, Cadbury, with its popular programme, 'The Bournvita Quiz Contest' (BQC). Most of us have grown up listening to Ameen Sayani prodding the students to 'come up with the right answers'. Now, it's Derek O' Brien every Sunday afternoon. Derek was a creative director with an ad agency before he moved into the quiz-master's shoes for BQC. He reveals, "For me, quizzing started as a hobby. My dad was into quizzing. From my school days, I've participated in high-school and college quizzes. For eight years I was into advertising. In 1992, it started as a weekend hobby and became full-time later." Is the quiz-master going to be the next role model? Derek says there's enough business potential for 100 times the number there is currently. His company, Global Knowledge Portals (GKP), supplies content to quizzes. In March this year, GKP divested 10 per cent to Kaybee Group in Singapore to the tune of about $ 1.5 million. That's quizzing going corporate for you! The new stage Says Derek, "I hate the traditional quiz. I think it's six hours of getting bored. In India now, we have a core group of quizzers who make it fun-filled and entertaining." Quizzing, of course, has moved from being a parlour game to a mega stage-show with a lot of showmanship thrown in. The prizes are big and quiz programmes have niche players. For instance, film-star Govinda has been signed on for Sony's Chappar Phaad Ke and Sharath Kumar is already conducting Radaan's Koteeswaran, not to mention Amitabh Bachchan who leads the bandwagon of stars-turned-quiz- masters. What was earlier a question-answer session interspersed with a few guffaws has become a mega show. Giri feels the presentation has become very important. "There's a lot of innovativeness involved. And the fact that everything is computerised makes it more vibrant and innovative." Quizzing is becoming fashionable and the game is donning the garbs of a family and social programme like 'Anthakshari'. For instance, Giri says, a few months ago, he had a call from a business family in Bangalore asking him if he would be free on a particular evening.

When he asked them for which school or college the quiz had to be conducted, the gentleman revealed that it was for a wedding and he wanted him to conduct a 'Kaun Banega Lakhpathi' show. "And the prize was actually one lakh rupees." The contestants would be guests at the wedding! Giri was in a dilemma. "I fought between two conflicting thoughts. One, was it okay to commercialise the knowledge game so much and the other, if Shah Rukh Khan could display his talent and dance at a wedding, why shouldn't I?" At that point, however, Giri declined the offer. But he helped the family frame the questions for the show and sold it for a price. "They had their own compere to do the show." he says.

And how paying is the profession? Says Basu, "At best as much as a show host can get, sporadically. It's not as if thereare round-the-year plum engagements waiting to be met." Derek, however, is upbeat about the profession, "Of course it is paying. I have 51 colleagues at Global Portals and we all get paid like any other MNC employee." He says, in any marketing game, it's always the top two players that rule the roost. Here it's the same, but the potential for others is 'huge'. The sponsorship money has been 400 per cent more this year than last year. "Like cricket, knowledge is a great leveller and we have found that the quiz business is not a fad, it's only getting bigger," says Derek. Giri on the other hand, feels, "There's an element of risk in the profession, just like any other in the entertainment industry. As quiz-masters, we are conscious of it." Reselling oneself is a big risk in showbiz and quiz-masters who have taken to the centrestage have realised this. Giri is very clear that quiz-masters need to have a back-up profession. "I advise young people not to get into it without completing their education." According to him, they should be able to digest the media glare. Regarding live shows, he says, "I've to create a comfort level with the audience. Quizzing and entertaining is a tough call. With my product management and advertising background it's not so difficult." A decade ago, a quiz was generally conducted by academicians. "This could be because of their proximity to the libraries. Now there is more showmanship and the glamour value is far more." Giri says that even parent encouragement for the game-shows has increased. "Before quizzes used to be very low-key and the noise levels seen now were absent then." What's the difference between a live show and a televised show like KBC? Is a televised show more exciting as the reach is tremendous? "As a quizzer you need to gauge the pulse of the audience. On a live show, you cannot afford to make mistakes. We have to be thorough on research." What does he think of KBC? "It's done a lot of good for the quizzing business as the number of people turning up for the quiz shows has increased tremendously." At least it's better than viewing people running around trees, he adds. Game points Reiterating his earlier point, Giri remarks that companies are building brands using this tool. "It's the convergence of talent and marketing ability. It's clean entertainment and more important, it's an alternative means of education," he states. He talks of the annual IT Quiz for school students initiated by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). Thanks to KBC, the shy-off factor for quizzing has come down. "For the IT quiz conducted by TCS, we had 1,800 children turning up this year, which is a massive number and this is definitely the KBC-effect," says Giri.

The IT quiz is unique every year. There's no replication of what happened last year. Computerisation is very high and there is an inclination toward awareness. The 'Hey, I didn't know this' concept has caught on with the students. According to TCS, they found that the best way to involve the student community and generate interest among the younger generation about information technology is through quizzing. It was felt that quizzes can be used not only as a supplement to the mainstream education, but also generate interest in an entertaining mode. It also simultaneously provides a platform for interacting and testing the awareness levels within their own peer groups.

S. Mahalingam, Executive Vice-President, TCS, says the IT business is all about attracting people and developing them. It involves young minds and the development of people. There is an enormous interest in quizzing in India. This oversized obsession for the intellectual grill-game has prompted Derek to start thinking of starting a quiz academy. He has also launched a CD version of BQC. The interactive game contains over 3,000 questions from the show. The game enables up to three teams to play against one another or against the computer. There are video clips of Derek conducting the entire quiz. The final reward is the 'BQC Hall of Fame,' which displays the winners of the CD-ROM game.

quizbrain quotient (QBQ) soon. "The quizzing community is highly repetitive and the compulsion for us to be different is very high," says Giri. Not to mention the fact that the corporates sponsoring the shows are also very discriminating. "Everybody wants to be different and there is fierce competition." What kind of people generally get into the action-packed quizzing scene? Says Derek, "Generally quizzers are more proactive, more aware, more quizzing and the game, mind you, is just the tip of the iceberg. They know that the knowledge game is much more exciting." According to Basu, "Typically a good quizzer is a good reader, has a sceptical mind, can distinguish between shades of fact, and can recall at will. And a quiz competition can be tailored to suit any or all spectrums of audience." The big names have entered the fray and the quest community is getting larger by the day. Whether the latter has prompted the former or vice-versa is a crore-rupee question. Care to answer this one?

By ANJALI PRAYAG

Home

More...