The Quiz I Lost!

Well I was a brainy kid. Used to looove my books(still do!). Used to enjoy talking politics and stuff with adults(still do!). Well let's just say I was above average. And my classmates knew this. So I was called "nerd", "geek" and other things.(Let's not go in to what else I was called k... please!) Was one of the toppers in my class(not any more! :P). And generally was one wise guy and so it was a natural consequence that I would be part of the quiz teams around.

Well I was good, but not the best. There was this other chap that was around and he was brilliant. Not scholastically. But in 'GK' he was unassailable. We were in the same class... so we couldn't be partners. You had to have a guy who was one year junior to you who became your partner. I still remember when Derek 'o' Brian came to Kuwait and I was representing my school. The other chap was there too with his team-mate. And though I'd scored more than the qualifying mark we couldn't come on stage because the rule was only one team per school and the other guys had scored more than us. Anyways.. let that be.

No- this is not about that. This is in fact about a quiz that happened in the next year. We were in 9th... and the brilliant chap and his team-mate were gone from school. It was an inter-school quiz... and quite naturally we were favourites running in to it. Now, there were 4 teams, but right from the beginning it was a 2 way fight... between us and the team immediately adjacent to us which had a girl in my class and a junior guy.

Now if I was nerd, then this girl was super-nerd. No doubt about it. She'd read her books in the break. Basically any discussion you had to have with her had to be about your studies and nothing else. And she was also called "nerd" and "geek".(Not the other things though.. those were mine exclusively!)

So the quiz started and as usual we were slow starters. Took some time for the brain juices to get mixed and come up with the right concotion. But once in gear... we were just zooming along. It was the penultimate round...the speed round. Till then we were trailing the other team. I smashed it and we took the lead.

So now it was the final round. We had a lead of about five points... and we were "in the zone". It was an option round... you had to choose one from four answers. We were the last team to be questioned... the other 2 teams got their answers, but they were anyway irrelevant. Then came the girl's team...and bang... they answered in their first shot and got maximum marks.

So now they were in the lead...we needed to answer our question within the first two shots or else we'd loose. So the question came... and it was some famous quote that no one had ever heard... and we were asked who'd been quoted. So I gave my first attempt.... and I was wrong! I gave my second attempt... and I was wrong again...finally it was one of two... I gave my third attempt and that was wrong too!!!! So we lost the quiz!

Well.... you have to take these things in the sportsman spirit. (I went back home and wouldn't talk to anyone... I've never spoken to my quiz team-mate since... and I still think it was some kind of conspiracy that they came up with that question at that time. So yes, I took it like a true sportsman.)

Well... I'd have left things there... but for this incident that happened not too long after that quiz. I was sitting in class and we guys were discussing something. Adjacent to me was the same qirl who was my quiz nemesis. You see she might have been a nerd, but she was also very hot... and I got that place after much quarrel and persuasion. :) So we were sitting around and I was tripping on a friend that he didn't know the capital of China. He told me that most people wouldn't know... and just to irk him I called out the quiz girl and asked her the capital of China. She looked apprehensive, very nervous... and after pondering over it for some time she said.... "Hong Kong!".

I fell over from my chair laughing... this was cruel... and it was funny... I'd just lost a quiz to this chick... LOL. Apparently my antics didn't go down very well with her and I was termed a 'snob'. A year later we became friends. Few months after that we started going out. It' been 9 years since!

Moral of the story: It's k to lose a quiz to a hot-looking chick. :)

And sweetheart... so that it is in writing.... the capital of China is "Beijing!".