With an energy charged performance, Gulf Indian School decisively retained the top spot in the 8th IDF Interschool Health Quiz 2017 organised by the Indian Doctors Forum, Kuwait.
Friday, the 10th of November witnessed a flurry of high voltage brain activity as school teams battled it out for top honours in one of the benchmark quiz events of Kuwait. The Indian Embassy auditorium, Kuwait, was packed with students, teachers, parents and members of the general public eager to watch the keenest student minds in action.
Conducted for senior students of the Indian schools in Kuwait, six teams were selected for the final onstage competition after a challenging written preliminary round. The schools which made it to the finals were: Carmel School represented by Reshma Varughese and Joel George, Gulf Indian School represented by Sanjay Samuel Mathew and Barath Kumar Bhaskar, Indian Central School represented by Mahfuz and Al Ameen, Indian Community School (Senior) represented by Abhiram V Kurup and Mohammad Mishal, Fahaheel Watanieh Indian Public School (DPS) represented by Dania Elizabeth Eapen and Adithya Ashok and United Indian School represented by Nimisha Susan John and Abhiram Balamurali.
Dr Pooja Chodankar was the graceful MC of the event. The main quiz was preceded by a quiz for the audience conducted by the energetic doctor couple Dr. Vinod and Veena Warrier who entertained the spectators with stimulating questions and fascinating nuggets of information.
The main quiz began at 6 pm after a welcome address by the President of the Indian Doctors Forum, Dr Abhay Patwari. He welcomed the Charged affairs, Indian Embassy Mr. Rajgopal Singh and First Secretary Mr. K.K.Pahel, sponsors from Centerpoint (CEO Mr. Saibal Basu), Baharah Trading Co (Mr. Hamza) and Airtec (Mr. Binoy representing CEO Mr. Peeyush Jain), Principal, staff and students of participating schools and IDF members and their families.
The main quiz conducted by the quiz masters Dr. Sebastian Mathew and Dr. Ananthapriya Vaidya, featured eight scintillating rounds starting with an ice breaker round. FAIPS went into an early lead after two rounds but Gulf Indian School, the defending champions raced past the leaders in the buzzer round seizing every question with lightning fast reflexes and spot-on answers. There was no looking back for Gulf Indian School from then on and they dominated the later rounds building up an unassailable lead. FAIPS maintained a steady stream of answers and came in comfortably at second position. United Indian School secured third position with some well thought out answers.
The quiz featured novel and unique rounds like the link round, the carpe diem round, the video round but the crowd favourite was the Do or Die round which presented emergency situations and how to handle them. The final round was a tense rapid fire session where each team could answer a maximum of twelve questions in one minute. The quiz masters enlivened the show with their informative quips, boosting praise and humorous asides. The quizmasters were ably assisted by Dr. Kannan Shreeram, Dr. Reji Athyal, Dr Vinod Warrier, Dr. Veena Warrier and Mrs. Tessa Sebastian in logistics, research and scoring.
The glittering IDF Rolling Trophy was presented to the winning Gulf Indian School team by the Chief Guest Mr. Rajgopal Singh, CDA, Embassy of India and Mr. K.K. Pahel amidst loud cheers and applause. The second prize was presented to the FAIPS/DPS team by Mr. Saibal Basu of Center Point, the third prize awarded to United Indian School by Mr. Binoy and Mr. Hamza. The remaining finalists were given consolation prizes by IDF Office Bearers and past Presidents of the IDF.
The program also honoured the children of IDF members who excelled in the Class X and XII examinations of 2016-17. They were given Certificates of Merit and prizes. The vote of thanks was presented by Dr Renu Gupta (Vice-President, IDF).