Not Just A Quiz

 Not Just A Quiz

      

          Name the physicists of Indian origin who got the Nobel Prize? …. C. V. Raman. Who was the first human to go to space?  Yuri Gagarin. The first satellite..  Sputnik. The first woman to walk in space…  Valentina Tereshkova. Bijorn Borg, Billy Jean King….. tennis legends were also answers to the questions and so also the batsman who scored double century in both the innings in first class match… Arthur Fag, who holds the record of maiden overs spell.. Bapu Nadkarni. Cricket, science, history … we all explored in our own Kaun Banega Crorepati …….as kid and even today. The arrival of T.V. at Chandrapur in 1984 gave us an opportunity to watch Siddharth Basu asking questions and we all favoured questions on India… the obvious reason was the possibility of knowing the correct answer. We used to flock to one of the friend’s home and wait anxiously for the quiz time. With every correct answer we would erupt in joy and try to remember the answers Siddharth or any participant would give.

       The resources were very much limited. All of us relied on news papers. I still remember a G.K. questionnaire published in Tarun Bharat daily  in summer vacation. The tough question .. who took maximum wickets in a test match? How many? We would search for the answers.. no internet… no google …… yaahh he is Jim Laker,  19 wickets… but we always tried to preserve the answers published in future editions. Once the toughest one came .. Jim Laker took 19 wicket in ashes who took the remaining one wicket? I remember the toil that went in vain… finally answer was published …. Tony Lock. Cannot forget the answer and the desperation, hard-work…. now part of fun down the memory lane. The Nobel laureates would figure prominently. I can easily see the question, which scientist of Indian origin was awarded the Nobel  for the interpretation of genetic code? …….Har Govind Khorana… he shared it with Marshall Nirenberg and Robert Holley.

      In the Indian Express an article was published yesterday(today also) on Har Govind Khorana…Nobel prize winner of Indian origin, my mind went back 20-25 years in to the quiz time and news papers’ cuttings .. yaahhh he got it for research on genes. Then I suddenly realized it was an obituary… he died last Wednesday. I just started thinking about the question and the answer I knew, any time, may be, if I ever sat on hot seat and the question comes.. I certainly would not wait for the options as the answer is embedded in me for last 25 years. But then somebody deep inside me asked, did you have any idea that he was alive all these days? A serious uncomfort gripped me. I kept him only in quiz time, in answers of questions on Nobel winners, simply had no idea about his life, whereabouts and exceptional work. Now his work is just a mouse click away.. on Wikipedia, Google…….

       The genetic code was far away from us nevertheless were introduced to genes in biology, the subject with which, for some strange reasons, I could not get cozier. Now we have lot of research going on in this field, we so easily talk about cloning, seeds that are genetically manipulated, mutation of viruses; we are seeking origin of deadly diseases in the genes but the man who pioneered the research breath last at the age of 89 on 9^th November. Born in a family of Patwari in a village in Punjab(now in Pakistan) in 1922. The brilliant man from a small village influenced by great teachers at different stages attained academic excellence and his research in deciphering genetic coding revolutionized genetic engineering and paved the way for cloning. He went on to accept the nationality of U.S.A. The work he has done and legacy he has left behind is nothing short of an inspiration to all Indians.

     The thought of remembering the question and answer but forgetting the man……I got restless. What this quiz is all about? Going through all the books and magazines, reading and cramming questions and answers…  who is the first……? last…..? ….many questions….simple…., silly for more participation……, tough for blocking……and …...answers…straight, clear, unambiguous….. correct answer comes with joy ….or despondency  for wrong one … all part of the game we all enjoy but shouldn’t the questions start coming after answers…. Who was he? What inspired him to excel? What were the adverse circumstances he overcame? How could he maintain commitment to his work? More and more questions…. Answers leading to a world much beyond the scope of quiz, it is of knowledge, of wisdom  …not just one liner… a brief element of information.

     Participation and preparation for quiz is important, of great help in boosting confidence, in competitive exams but going beyond is a must. Quiz gives only information in just one line not even a glimpse of an area of concern. Unfortunately we misconstrue the questions and answers as repository of knowledge, the information, miniscule in character adorns the garb of knowledge and we miss the beauty, the same way I missed about Har Govind Khorana. I only knew his Nobel prize and research in Genetic coding but apart from the area of his research I was opaque to his modest background, his commitment to research, his other areas of interest, the significance of his breakthrough in today’s context perhaps I was too obsessed with the Nobel prize winning name than the man himself. Obviously I never explored his biography, remained oblivious to the fact that he did not retire intellectually at 60. He remained committed to research till age caught him up.

     Am I sounding against quiz? Not really. I believe quiz as a competition has everything in it fun, thrill, ecstasy, despair but taking inspiration from it, going beyond it on a voyage to look for personalities in  history, historical events and human angle associated is far more important in maturing one as an intellectual human being. I would insist, those who excel in quiz must use it as a path finder to expand the knowledge base. Then whether you become crorepati or not,  you experience the bliss of being blessed with persistent, perennial shower of knowledge.

      Life will then be different. The name Har Govind Khorana will then have all different meaning not just the Nobel prize winner for research on genes. He then will be an inspiring story of an intelligent boy from a very moderate family of a small village attaining the heights of academic success. He then becomes the man who was stubbornly intertwined to research, spending hours in laboratory, exploring new frontiers of science to conquer, the man who remained humble through his life and did not stop after getting the most coveted award. A role model for all, a human being nice and profoundly intellectual could not be unveiled to me because I did not go beyond the question and its answer…. Who won the Nobel prize……………..?                                        

                        Har Govind Khorana…….    ……1922-2011