IIM-B - an outsider's prespective

I had the opportunity to visit the pristine IIM-B campus yesterday, for a quiz contest that I was taking part in, as part of one of the numerous fests hosted by the institute, VISTA-2008. The verdant greenery surrounding the campus, is indeed soothing to the eyes. You feel transported to a totally different world,as soon as you pass the main gates and enter the precincts of the institute. From the dusty and chaotic Bannerghatta road, to the serene surprise awaiting you,as soon as you are past the entrance, it is indeed like chancing upon a paradise. That was my first impression and it was definitely, a most favourable one.

What wasn`t so impressive though, was the way the event was conducted, which I thought, could have been planned better. The prelims of our quiz, which was scheduled to start at 4, as per the notification on their official website, ended up being delayed by almost an hour and a half. This lapse, from one of the lesser institutes,, would have been acceptable, but coming from one of India`s premier institutes, was a bit surprising. After all, when you are Indian Institute of Management, Time is also something which you should be able to manage efficiently. That was definitely not on display, as, the organisers themselves appeared to be at a loss,as to what was expected of them.

After a lot of running around, we were finally ready to get cracking. The questions in the prelims were quite simple, so it was a little surprising, when we learnt that the top score was 30, out of a possible 40. We, unfortunately, failed to qualify, as we missed more than we should have. Most of the people present seemed to be bosom buddies, as they were all regulars on the quizzing circuit. Indeed, the excitement was so palpable, that even I, who gave up active quizzing almost 8 years back, felt a frisson of anticipation, creep up my spine, and got caught in the maelstrom of emotions that cascade through the psyche of an ardent quizzer.

Finally, the finalists were chosen and boy, was it close! 4 of the top teams all got the same score and the other 2, a point less. The team names too bordered on the extreme-sample this, there was a team called N2C2E(name too complicated to explain), and a team which had a very offensive name, which the quizmaster, Barry O'Brien, was not too gung-ho to reveal. After a bit of coaxing, he agreed to reveal the initials of the team name, which was TM. I`ll go one better, and tell you, that Harbhajan would have easily figured it out.

While the responses of the prelims were being evaluated, we decided to explore the campus. We came upon a group of 7 people, who were so engrossed in a quizzing session, that they were totally oblivious to the gigantic mosquitoes, that call this campus their home too. IIM could be ,Indian institute of mosquitoes too. These guys were so good, that , among them, I think, they know everything in this world. The surge of adrenaline, that I felt, when I answered a question, that this elite group couldn`t, will flow within me, for a long time to come.

Barry O'Brien was a revelation. The consummate quiz master, he combined easy humour with serious quizzing, to create an ambience, that none of us present are ever likely to forget. Blessed with the gift of the gab, he kept the audience in splits with his one-liners. There were audience questions too, which was something, that Barry enjoyed tremendously, as by his own admission, he likes to host a quiz amongst a large gathering, than be cooped up within a studio. The quizzing was of the highest standards, with most questions being answered, within seconds of them being asked. Some of the questions, for those of you who might be interested were, - What is nomophobia, what do you understand by the word co-preneur and In relation to a company, what is it`s Elvis year. The answers are quite interesting too, Nomophobia is quite simply, no mobile phobia, a fear of being totally out of mobile reach. Copreneur, is a husband-wife combination that sets up an enterprise, and an Elvis year is one, in which the company has its most profitable year.

The quizzing went on well into the night. Unfortunetely, I couldn`t be there to watch it in its entirety, because I had to depend on the BMTC for conveyance, which is notoriously conspicuous by its absence after 9:30 in the night. So, with quite a few longing glances, we trudged our way out of the campus, to the concrete jungle awaiting us. My tryst with IIM-B albeit, a short one, was quite a revelation, and something I will not forget in a hurry.