Derek OBrien - The Bournvita Quiz Contest Collectors Edition: Volume 1

It became one of the most popular English-language programmes on Vividh Bharati. Listeners all over India made tuning in a Sunday habit. My association with the quiz started in the early 1990s. In 1992, Cadburys sponsorship of the Bournvita Quiz Contest on radio came to an end, and the company wanted me to conduct fifty stage quizzes in five cities. The fee was Rs 2.5 lakh for the year. In 1994, Cadbury told me it was not going to renew the contract.

It had decided to take the programme to television and was discontinuing the stage quizzes. The television quiz would be designed and shot by a production house in Mumbai. It would hire a presenter and outsource the question setting to a third party. As a quiz professional, I knew the three aspects could not be compartmentalized. This formula would not work. Soon Cadbury and the production house realized this too, and asked me to set the questions.

I refused to do it for another presenter, who would simply read from a script. Either I would set the questions and be the quizmaster, or I wanted no part of it. Reluctantly Cadbury agreedbut I would need to do a screen test. After all those years of conducting quizzes, I went to a Mumbai studio for the test. It was a nervous moment, but I passed. Next, Rila Banerjee and I were hired, on behalf of our company, to go to Mumbai, research and set the questions and have me present the show.

I was paid Rs 5000 per show. In 1994, it seemed a big amount. A year down the line, the technical crew working with the production house realized that Rila and I were running the show. Gyan Sahay and Dongrej Gor came to us on behalf of the crew to say, Take over the quiz. Do a contract with Cadbury. Well work for you.

So, from 1995, BQC became entirely our baby. It was the third flagship show on Zee TValongside Rajat Sharmas Aap ki Adalat and Annu Kapoors Antakshari. Our show later moved to Sony Entertainment Television. Having been off the air for a few years, the Bournvita Quiz Contest made a comeback in 2011 after Bring BQC Back, an overwhelming movement on social networking sites, stormed cyberspace. Cadbury India Limited and Derek OBrien & Associates responded to the call. The new Bournvita Quiz Contest was bilingualin English and Hindiwith the super-talented Saumya Tandon as my co-quizmaster.

This time the quiz was aired on Colors. The still growing popularity of BQC led to the show being launched in Tamil in 2013, with my young and bubbly co-host Nisha Krishnan helping me take baby steps in Tamil on Sun TV. Keeping with the times, and to meet the demands of the digital age, in 2015 the show moved from television to YouTube, and in the following year, became an exclusive mobile app. As exciting as the television shows were the city finals that we conducted in a hundred cities, hosted by my colleagues from Derek OBrien & Associates, in order to select participants for the TV show. Over the years, more than 2000 schools from different parts of the country have participated in the quiz. Many schools from Dubai, Muscat, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Kuwait and Qatar have also been a part of this iconic programme, which has consistently provided wholesome edutainmenteducation and entertainment.

A number of celebrities from the fields of cinema, music, sports and politics have also made special appearances on the show. But the true heroes and torchbearers of this iconic quiz show in the past two decades were not us, but the principals, teachers, parents and students who gave us their unending support. Thank you ever so much for being a part of this glorious journey, for helping us take the Bournvita Quiz Contest to such great heights and for joining us in our continual quest of making knowledge interesting to help people grow.

ANIMAL KINGDOM

Why do bees perform a complicated movement called the waggle dance? a) To teach young bees to fly b) To tell other bees where to find food c) To warn other bees about other hives d) To attract other bees Which are the only big cats to live in groups called prides? a) Lions b) Tigers c) Jaguars d) Cheetahs Which animal secretes a reddish oily fluid sometimes called blood sweat? a) Zebra b) Elephant c) Rhinoceros d) Hippopotamus Monarch, Red Admiral, Green Hairstreak, Grayling are types of... a) Hummingbirds b) Butterflies c) Snakes d) Jellyfish What is the national heritage animal of India? a) Lion b) Elephant c) Deer d) Camel The famous Keibul Lamjao National Park in Manipur is... a) Scorpion b) Mosquito c) Spider d) Ant The name of which animal comes from a Sanskrit word meaning the spotted one? a) Cheetah b) Jaguar c) Giraffe d) Zebra A rabbits tail is called a scut. a) Scorpion b) Mosquito c) Spider d) Ant The name of which animal comes from a Sanskrit word meaning the spotted one? a) Cheetah b) Jaguar c) Giraffe d) Zebra A rabbits tail is called a scut.