School students participated in a quiz that tested their knowledge about the heritage of Kolkata and about states like Jharkhand, Odisha and Chattisgarh.
Where, in Kolkata, would you find the inscription: Heaven’s Light Our Guide?
The answer: At the main entrance to the Victoria Memorial.
A team on the dais answered it correctly. Before giving them the marks for the correct answer the quiz master asked a packed audience, comprising students and teachers, to raise their hands if they knew the correct answer.
Some hands went up.
The quiz for Classes VIII and IX was organised by Calcutta Heritage Collective, a group of heritage lovers who have been tirelessly engaging all sections of the society to spread awareness, educate and inculcate in them the love for built heritage, at Vidya Mandir auditorium on Wednesday.
“We want children to appreciate heritage. They should not walk past a heritage structure without looking or noticing what it is about,” said Oindrilla Dutt, a member of Calcutta Heritage Collective who conducted the quiz for the most part.
A total of 18 teams from 11 schools participated in the quiz. Of the 18, six teams made it to the final round.
Besides the traditional quiz format, the organisers introduced a round where questions were based on live performances.
For instance, a dancer performed Odissi on stage and the next questions were related to Odisha.
In another round, the participants on the stage were given a food or drink from one of the states (Jharkhand, Odisha and Chattisgarh) and they had to identify the ingredients.
Birla High School emerged as the winners. The first runner-up was a team from Indus Valley World School and the second runner-up was Delhi Public School Ruby Park.
“Not just students but the adults too pass by various monuments every day but only a few make an effort to try to find out more about these structures? There is so much of information around us but we tend to overlook them,” said Loveleen Saigal, principal, Birla High School, who was present at the event.