21 days is what it took from the first call to wrapping up the shoot for a one a kind gem in the world of school quizzing in India. The reason for congregation of 43 of the smartest minds of school quizzing in Delhi-NCR in early January 2020 was a celebration unique. It was the launch of Know Your Constitution – An inter-school quiz show that tests the awareness about the Constitution of India. From the 43 teams that took the written round, 16 teams qualified for the in-camera shows.
And then, Peter Drury and Martin Tyler inspired, Lights Camera Action.
Semifinal 1
Modern School, Barakhamba Road started the quiz on the frontfoot as they got into the lead straight away. A lead that they maintained even after Round 2 while Navy Children and Arwachin, both tried to play catch up. The lead was enough for them to play the wait and watch game in the final round as others kept faltering around them while they benefited by default. Final scores – Modern: 61, Arwachin: 42, Navy Children: 25 and Lancer’s: 5.
Semifinal 2
The quiz began with Tagore International and Laxman Public calling the shots, but that too long as Mount Abu and DPS jumped straight into action in Round 2 making their presence felt in the quiz with Tagore maintaining a slender lead. The final round saw a lot of aggressive buzzer action from all corners but it was Tagore who held their nerves and made the way into the final. Final scores – Tagore: 62, Mount Abu: 40, DPS: 35 and Laxman: 20.
Semifinal 3
This semifinal saw edge of the seat action right from the outset as all teams fought tooth and nail. After the 2nd round, the scoreboard read 22, 35, 22 and 20 with DPS trying to hold on to it with all their might. But their might gave up on them at the very last question where they missed a true false question which meant Silverline qualified and their labour of sleepless nights came to a fruition. Final scores- Silverline: 57, DPS: 45, Indirapuram: 35 and Amity: 22
Semifinal 4
Cambridge and Maharaja Agarsain had a wonderful start as they latched on to the easy questions round 1 was sprinkled with. But Cambridge couldn’t sustain the momentum while Maharaja Agarsain did and so they built a comfortable lead by the end of Round 2. And so it was only a matter of when and not if the quiz will come to a close and Maharaja Agarsain qualifies. Although Sun Valley did come close to unsettle them but lost the quiz on strategy. Final scores – Maharaja Agarsain: 52, Sun Valley: 50, Cambridge: 17 and NK Bagrodia: 10.
Final
The first round gave a good taste of what was to follow, as lots of positives and negatives were distributed all around. But even then Modern and Maharaja Agarsain ensured they didn’t head into round 2 with any negatives. In Round 2 Maharaja Agarsain leapfrogged far ahead of others as they answered half of the questions in this round, much to the dismay of others. A small not of appreciation for Tagore too, as they had near misses on a couple of them as their retention power failed them when they needed it the most. Now to the final round, Modern, who had put breaks on their score in the previous round, started the round with 15 pointer throwing the challenge right back at Tagore. But, Tagore, who were already battle hardened by now were up to the task as they collected a 15 as well. Maharaja Agarsain, as was clear by now, was playing the waiting game. And then came the moment of the episode, don’t ask me how what why, just jump to 22:57 and see it to believe it. How all of them missed it, is beyond me. And so, even with the negative, Maharaja Agarsain ensured nobody challenges their supremacy. The last question was only played for a small matter of identifying the runners up, which Tagore pounced on convincingly. Final scores: Silverline- -5, Modern- 22, Tagore- 35 and Maharaja Agarsain- 52.