For Jeevana School, it will be a glorious moment to be remembered. Siddharth Rai Tharkeswar and Sam Victor, ninth standard students from the school, were the first from Madurai region to emerge the first runner-up in the 13 edition of The Hindu Young World Quiz, held in Chennai recently.
This is the first time that Madurai region found a place among the winners in the history of The Hindu Young World Quiz . Incidentally, Jeevana School was the first from Madurai region to enter the finals last year.
It has been nearly two weeks since Siddharth and Sam won the trophy for the first runner up and a cash prize of Rs. 40,000, and their excitement is still intact. Speaking to The Hindu , the two students recalled interesting moments from their journey to the finals of the quiz competition. “From the beginning we were confident that we will reach the finals. Young World Qui z was something we looked forward to every year”, said Siddharth, who had been a part of the quiz for the past three years.
“We learnt how to be patient as we took part in the several rounds of quiz. Besides, the questions that were asked by Mr Ramanan were comprehensive from all the subjects and made us read extensively. The whole thing was challenging, yet exciting”, Sam added.
Siddharth and Sam had a breezy win at the regional finals held in Madurai on November 20. For all those who witnessed it in Madurai, the team’s cool composure was something that was appreciated.
The team did falter in the beginning rounds of the finals in Chennai, but managed to get a grip from the fourth round.
“We were very nervous in the beginning of the finals. We did know the answers to most of the questions, but the team from Trivandrum was swift in answering”, the students said. Nevertheless the modest boys remarked that the team from Loyola School in Trivandrum deserved to be the winners. And the students could not stop raving about the refreshing manner in which Quiz master V V Ramanan conducted the show. “Whether it was the regional finals, the semi finals or the finals, Mr Ramanan ensured that the quiz was interesting. Identifying the people hidden behind the matrix, questions on Google doodles and then the anagrams were riveting”, said Siddharth. However, he confessed that the team found most of the questions on western music quite difficult. “We will guide our juniors next year. They will hopefully bag the trophy next year”, he added.
“We are extremely proud of our students. God has been extremely kind to us in the past two years. We are humbled”, said Nirmala Visveswaran, Principal of the school.
