"I know you all will hate me for this, but I'm sorry to say that it is a part of this competition. You have to answer this questionnaire in the absence of your partners... all alone... So here we go."
He settled behind the desk and fiddled with a few keys of the laptop. Immediately, a question appeared on the display screen behind him.
"It is quite a simple round. A right answer will fetch you 10 marks and a wrong answer will deduct 5 marks. Shall we start?" He looked around him. His juniors looked quite forlorn without their partners, as if they had lost their anchors. He smiled at them to boost their confidence. It was quite natural to feel scared, he knew it very well. As his eyes scanned the 6 teams one by one, he saw varied reactions. Some were plain scared, while others were trying to control their emotions.
Just when he glanced at the last team, he was surprised to see the look of utter calmness on the face of the girl. Even though her partner was not there, she was quite cool and appeared unconcerned about it. A small knowing smile was playing on her lips, as if she knew that this was coming. He felt disoriented...how can a junior see through their plans and be relaxed about it. He remembered how shocked he had been during his time when his seniors had grilled him during the quiz sessions....and that too when he had such a long experience of quizzing to his credit. And this girl was totally unperturbed, controlled and at ease with this stress that he was trying to put on them.
Suddenly, he found his curiosity rising. He was quite intrigued with this girl. He also felt it to be challenging. He hadn't realized when he had stopped paying attention to the quiz. It was only when Hinna poked him that he came back to reality. "What happened Raj? Are you all right? You don't seem to be in your senses."
'Uh...oh no...m all right Hinna..."
"Are you sure?" she was not convinced about it.
"Perfectly...Don't you worry."
"But..."
"Oh shut up Hinna...Let me start this round.." He snapped making her go quiet. He knew it was not her fault. He was just taking out his irritation on her, because he did feel irritated. How can a junior put up with the stress he was putting and still be unruffled?
"Ok guys...so here we go...1st question for team 1 - the Champs... "Sense and simplicity is the tag line of which company?"
"Philips."
"Right answer. Plus 10. Next question for team 2..."The End of Economic Man" is the famous book written by whom?"
After a few minutes of silence..."Pass."
"Team 3???"
"Pass"
"Team 4???"
"Pass"
"Team 5???" His gaze rested on the girl who appeared quite unconcerned of all the previous rounds and the stress he had been putting on them since morning. It was late in the evening and the hectic schedule had taken a toll on her, but she was alert as ever. He was curious to see her performance.
"Peter F drucker." She replied.
"Good. Plus 10." He tore his eyes away from her with the greatest difficulty. "Next question for team 3..."India's Family Store" is the punch line of which brand?"
This time also, it was she who answered... "Pantaloon"
He was happy with her performance. She was proving to a good quizzer. "Next question for Team 4..."Net Safe Credit card" is introduced by which bank?"
