Q: A gentleman who began his career with the East India Company in Hooghly and then took over the reins of the Company in Patna for over 20 years and was later sent to Kassim Baxar, now Cossim Bazaar. He is inextricably linked with Calcutta.
A: Job Charnock
Q: A national park that boasts four varieties of big cats — tigers, leopards, snow leopards and clouded leopards
A: Namdapha National Park in Arunachal Pradesh
Students of classes VIII and IX participated in a quiz where questions were linked to the heritage of Kolkata, the northeastern states and Bihar. The idea is to help the young know, cherish and keep the heritage alive, said one of the organisers.
The format of the quiz was such that it kept both the participants and the audience engaged. For instance, the organisers introduced a round where singer Usha Uthup sang online a Bhojpuri song (from Bihar) and a song from Assam and the next questions were related to the two states. In another round, the participants on the stage were given a drink (sattu, a popular drink in Bihar) and they had to identify the ingredients.
The quiz on Wednesday was organised by Calcutta Heritage Collective (CHC), a group of heritage lovers, working towards “creating awareness of the architectural treasures of the city,” and co-hosted by South City International School.
“Children often see a beautiful building and walk past it not knowing anything about it or the history behind it. We want to ignite their interest to look around and ask about its heritage,” said Oindrilla Dutt, a member of Calcutta Heritage Collective. Kanishk Mukerjee of BDM International, one of the participants, said he wanted to visit St John’s Church.
“I have seen it but never really been inside,” he said. For Paramesh Paramarth Das of Mahadevi Birla World Academy said: “The quiz focused on eastern India and the Northeastern states. There were many things that I didn’t know.” Students from 10 schools participated and six of them made it to the final round. The first position was taken by Birla High School for Boys, Mahadevi Birla World Academy were a close second and BDM International came third. Other finalists were St Xavier’s Collegiate School, Garden High School and South City International School.
“The format of the quiz kept not just the participants but also the audience engrossed,” said John Bagul, principal of South City International School.