GET QUIZZING

Sample these questions: “Which country held a parliamentary meeting under water to draw the world’s attention to environmental issues?” What are trans-fats and why are they a health concern? What killed Michael Jackson and Elvis Prisley?, By what proportion do diarrheal diseases come down if hands are washed well before meals?”. These were some asked in HOPE Quiz finals held in Lucknow on 7^th May in which teams from 45 schools participated.

Quizzing has always aroused the most excitement among students since HOPE startd reaching out to students in 2004. HOPE quiz 2012 started with an intra-school quiz that 75 schools of Lucknow hosted in April. The highest scoring 2 students were then invited to represent their school in a semi-final round, and from them the top 6 schools were chosen for the finals.

Most questions were aimed at assessing if the student had been reading the daily news-papers and probing inquisitively into health aspects. While almost everyone knew about the recent death of the great music maestro Jagjit Singh, few, for instance, knew that it was caused by brain hemorrhage due to uncontrolled high blood pressure? The issue assumes importance as high blood pressure is not uncommon among elders in most homes, and for students to be aware of the potentially fatal consequence of brain hemorrhage, if BP remains unchecked and ignored, may help prevent such events.

What students found most exciting was the video round, in which the template constituted short clips from movies. A scene from “Udan” depicted the hazardous influence of alcohol, tobacco and stress bringing on bullying and physical abuse. Another clip from “Vivah” was used to show how a carelessly fired rocket during Diwali, can enter a home through a window precariously left open, ravage a house, and plunge people into gloom.

In this keenly fought contest, St Agnes Loreto, represented by Bhavika Mehta and Advika Singh, emerged as the winner and Loreto Convent and La Martiniere for Boys as the runners up. But at the end of the day, everyone who attended the quiz was a winner as he went home with a handfull of new health messages that he would share with his friends and family back home.

As published in HT City ( Hindustan Times) dated 13 May, 2012.