WHAT SRK'S DAUGHTER TAUGHT ME ABOUT TRIVIA

THE PAST few weeks, I have been swept up in a storm of dealing with trivia. It was a tryst with the other kind of mindsport (I wrote about puzzles and the like on this blog a few months back), as I researched and fact checked and dug up questions to ask in Dare 2009, the IIPM and 4Ps Business and Marketing Quiz, the finals of which were superbly hosted by none other than Shahrukh Khan. He was at his charming, witty, entertaining and cheeky best lighting up the Saturday afternoon of August 1, but I digress. I want to talk about trivia and quizzing, something that has had me hooked since my General Knowledge classes in Standard IV. But what exactly draws us to trivia? And is trivia really knowledge? The two books I have read on the subject recently happen to think so. Ken Jennings' 'Brainiac' and Mark Mason's 'The Importance of Being Trivial' are terrific texts if you are looking for the context of trivia and the whole sport of quizzing, whether in a pub or on an American television game show (Jennings was a contestant on 'Jeopardy' where he won a record number of times).

But personally, what does it give us? Well, I had a fulfilling time researching questions because it opened vistas unknown to me. More interestingly, I was drawn towards newer subjects and issues as I hunted for material, often serendipitiously as I hopped from one website or book to another. Where our sense of wonder about all that's around us and the delightful experience of a serendipitious revealtation meet, I think that's trivia. It may not be 100% useful all the time (does it really help to know that Baskin Robbins was the
first ice cream consumed in space?) but it perhaps reinforces the existence of your inquisitive gene - without which I think you're better off dead than alive. And, although I use mostly empirical evidence here, most people with heightened inquisitiveness often go far. Don't get me wrong here; I am not a quizzing geek. And, I am sorry to say this, but I despise those trivia geeks and quizzers who seem to know all the 'facts' without a
disposition for learning. I have seen it happen before. When the 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' swept the country, suddenly an entire nation (not to mention a whole bunch of relatives who seemed least bit interested in 'knowledge' before the mention of Rs. 10,000,000 as prize money) wanted to find out what the currency of Mongolia was. They would gobble up facts like a marathon runner would gobble up carbs a day before his race.

But that's where I'd like to present a counter argument. Quizzing is not a sport where a burst of activity and frentic 'training' can get you success. It has a lot to do with your state of mind, and your attitude towards learning. In the Dare finals, Shah Rukh asked one of the teams, 'What is the full form of MAC, the famous cosmetics company?' The teams (the best six, filtered from 200 odd worthy contenders, mind you) didn't have an answer. Mr. Khan passed it on to the audience, and the 600 odd people seemed clueless as well! I knew the answer, but that's only because I had set that question. Otherwise, don't even expect me to know that MAC is cosmetics brand, let alone its expansion. But the silence was broken by a little girl's voice who shouted out 'Make Up Art and Cosmetics'! The correct answer! That's exactly the moment trivia lovers live for. The girl was Shah Rukh's daughter Suhana, and I have no idea how she knew the answer. But she did! And once again, what I believe about trivia was reinforced - knowledge can belong to anybody who's curious enough. And I am sure Suhana's curiosity had a big say in that answer. Surely, she may have seen many MAC products, but how many 6 year olds would look for the expansion of that name? Next time you are at a pub attending a quiz, or on a game show about to land a big prize, or just challenging a friend to a fact, remember that its not only about what the answer is, but how you got to the answer that should delight you the most.