The questions did not fly thick and fast as action at quiz competitions normally go.
They came at a sedate pace and, instead of the usual rush for answers, what the hall at the Trivandrum Tennis Club here witnessed on Monday was an easy paced affair as the participants responded to the quizmaster who took them effortlessly through questions relating to India’s cultural heritage.
“What we are trying to do here is to create awareness in the youth and thereby bring about an inter-generational equality,” said Shaji Krishnan, convener of the Thiruvananthapuram chapter of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), explaining the rationale for the inter-collegiate cultural heritage quiz.
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Scores of students from different parts of the State and across the border from Nagercoil, representing some 25 colleges, were present at the hall for the quiz.
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Said Anjith J. Nair, a student from Government Engineering College, Barton Hill: “I didn’t know about INTACH at first. It was only after taking part in this quiz that I came to know about the organisation and its activities. Such programmes are necessary to make our generation aware of our rich and vanishing cultural heritage,” he said.
Nerupama Y. Modwel, Director of Intangible Cultural Heritage, a division of INTACH, expressed her happiness at seeing so many college students join them in their first venture in Kerala.
First step“Youth do not know about the cultural heritage of India, or that we are losing a bit of heritage every day. Awareness is the first step towards preserving our heritage. We thought a quiz contest would be the best medium for this, as it can create awareness by engaging the minds of the youth,” she said.