It was a birthday gift wrapped in love and sorrow. And delivered posthumously. Former students of Mahatma CBSE School here conducted an inter-school quiz programme in memory of S. Gnanashankar, a quiz enthusiast, who was drowned in the Thunga in Sringeri on June 5.
The 17-year-old, who was waiting to join the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, was on a visit to Sringeri with his parents and sister when he drowned in the river while performing Sandyavandanam.
He was a regular in all quiz contests and always wanted to popularise quizzing, recalled his classmate G. Sivamurugan. Gnanashankar went to Chennai for his higher secondary education after completing tenth standard in Mahatma CBSE School. “These children spent most of their time in the library than in classrooms and won laurels in many quiz competitions at the State and national levels,” said Subha Manikandan, Vice-Principal.
The children remained in shock on hearing the news of death for two days.
On the third day, they swung into action to organise a quiz on Gnanashankar's birthday, June 29, as a fitting tribute, said the mother of one of the organisers. Seven of his friends, who joined together to start 'The S-Martini's,' an event management entity, conducted the quiz at the Mahatma CBSE School with the help of local sponsors.
The response in terms of sponsorship and participation was overwhelming.
One hundred and eighty students participated in the quiz, which was topped by R. Abhinav Karthikeyan and A. Rangarajan of Mahatma CBSE School.
Prizes were distributed to the winners by Gnanashankar's mother S. Geetha in an emotion-filled final session. V. Sanjeev Kumar, one of the organisers, said that the Gnanashankar Memorial Quiz would be held on June 29 as an annual event.
