This is a Google-dependent world. What you don’t know is on the World Wide Web, and it’s yours for the searching. And when all knowledge is right there at your fingertips, available with a few taps on the keyboard and a few clicks of the mouse, is there then, any need to store it in your head ? Yes, there is. Knowledge deepens world-view. The ability to appreciate various cultures comes from the knowledge of their music or food or language. The appreciation for a work of art or literature comes from the knowledge of the author and his/her philosophy. And above all, the motivation to learn comes from the knowledge of all the varied disciplines that exist in the world.
It is a pleasure to meet well-read, knowledgeable folk who can talk passionately about what they know. Such people generally know so much because they were motivated to learn more. While all of us are intensely curious at some point in our lives, a requirement to learn during the younger years can expose us to the various opportunities that exist. Even a glimmer of a fact or theory or musical composition might be enough to spur a young mind into overdrive.
As a child and a tween I have taken part in many Quiz Contests, mostly academic, the kinds that used to flourish in Indian schools. And I’ve enjoyed watching them. Watching contestants pit themselves against each other in well-ordered mind battles has been a lot of fun – edutainment at it’s best. Bournvita Quiz Contest hosted by Derek O’Brien and Quiz Time hosted by Sidhharth Basu were two of my favorite shows to watch on Indian television. The BQC ran for many years – here’s something from the Cadbury’s website, a little out of date, but still :
The Cadbury Bournvita Quiz Contest, which started airing on April 12th 1972, is India’s longest running national school quiz contest. Starting out as a contest held in cities, and then on radio, the contest currently has been running for over 10 years on satellite television. It has over 500 episodes to its credit, and today the contest directly reaches more than 11,25,000 students, in 4000 schools across 66 cities and 7 countries – UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Nepal and India.
It seems eons ago, because this quizzing culture seems to be fading out of the schools and the mindset, and I’m not sure why. There’s been KBC, but none besides, which seem to keep the balance between information and glitz and glamor. BQC and Quiz Time were pretty low on the glamor, but high on entertainment. It would be good to have them back, which is why I’m supporting the “Bring BQC back” movement back. I received a mail from Rahul sometime back, with information on this and I paste a paragraph from his email below :
This started off about 2 months ago and the response has been amazing, with almost 160,000 people wanting BQC Back. It started off as something simple – an experiment of sorts. They are also sending out banners to people who want them – so far 85 people have written in asking for them. If you want your banner or if you have any suggestions on how we can spread this movement together you can email them on bringbqcback@gmail.com! Let’s start the golden days of BQC again!
Indeed, bring back clean, wholesome, entertaining and non-regressive programming back on TV! Bring back BQC !
