Quizzing - perhaps my only real hobby past time ever

I was never really into much sports, neither indoors nor outdoors.

So the only competitive activity I indulged in was quizzing, and you could call it a hobby or a sport.

Even if I am not taking part I usually find it fun to watch either on TV, or in person live quizzing events.

And this runs in the family too, my brothers are into quizzing too, and between the three of us several championships and quizzing awards, and television appearances too.

For me this began in school when I was asked to attend a quiz and represent the school, and I attended quite a few without winning any.  Even for my elder brother, he happened to just pulled into a room after classes, where they said they were trying to elect the quizzing team for their college.

But the addiction began right away. Initially it wasn’t easy winning quizzes, but with experience and further reading this became more enjoyable.

The entire experience of taking part in a quiz event is worthy of being part of a sport. There are the eliminations to determine the finalists, and once you make it to the finals, it can go any which way, and every question, every second matters.

Like Derek O’Brien one of my favourite quiz masters (ok an article about him later – though, most quizzing folks don’t like him much) says “quizzing is like one-day-internationals – you cannot know the result till the last ball in the last over”.  And so it is.

And that’s why it is also fun to watch a good quizzing event where the finalists are equally good and till the last minute there is a nice fight to determine who’s the winner.

Quizzing has changed much since we first started – now there’s a lot more technology being used – even for your neighbourhood or school quizzing. There’s also a lot more opportunities to compete at the national and media events (which are mostly game shows, and not quizzing).

But within India quizzing has evolved fabulously, especially in the south where there are new, more innovative versions of questions and techniques being used from running a quiz to keeping audience participation high.  There’s also a new generation of quiz masters who help maintain the standards and enthusiasm high for this sport.

My participation in quizzing has reduced to nil, but I do try and watch any episode of a good quiz when I can, and of course, being a member of the quiz groups I get the questions from the latest quizzes. But what I enjoy the most sometimes is to attend a quiz and watch it live, and that offers the maximum enjoyment possible. Try it sometime!