Thiruvananthapuram: A student from Kozhikode is the World No. 10 in Junior World Quizzing Championships. Abhirami Girish, a student of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan School, Perumthiruthi, is now on top of the world after beating 153 quizzers from the USA, Belgium, Malaysia and India.
The quiz was organised by the UK-based International Quizzing Association which has been conducting World Quizzing Championships since 2004 and European Quizzing Championships since 2006.
That Abhirami loves quizzes would be an understatement. She loves it enough to defend the game, when some ridicule it as a mere memory test.
“Yes, memory power helps. But not always. Sometimes, one would not know the answer and needs to arrive at a solution using one’s logic and intelligence,” she says.
For example, one of the questions in the Junior World Quizzing Championship was to name the sport associated with a magazine named ‘64’. “I was not familiar with the magazine. But the number ‘64’ was a clue. The chessboard has 64 squares. It had to be chess,” she says.
Abhirami Girish has been taking part in quizzes since she was in class V. She fared poorly at her first quiz event, but continued participating as she wanted to prove that she could do better. “However competition is not the only exciting aspect about the game,” she says.
Another thing she likes about the quiz is that, in the game, one fact would lead to another. “I wondered whether the Garibaldi fish had any connection with the Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi. Then I learnt that his followers wore red shirts. You see the fish is orange red in colour,” she says.
She’s not one to miss a quiz competition, even if it should fall on the eve of her boards, comments Snehaj Srinivas, a friend of hers. He is not exaggerating.
“My class X exams are about to start in March, but I have spent most of my study holidays participating in quizzes. There is a quiz on February 28, a day before the exam, and I am most likely to participate,” says Abhirami.
Her family is likely to approve of it. “You would assume that being a quizzer, you would do well in studies. But some don’t. They chase after information that they are interested in, and neglect other topics. Their parents would not be okay with that. However my parents are very supportive,” she says.
She and her partner Alok Reon have been representing their school at various quiz events. Alok has got the 19th rank in Junior World Quizzing Championships.
