winter arc of twenty-five

I think the best December of my life is behind me. Life is never again going to present me an opportunity to roam around the country, engage in my favourite activities with my crew, while being completely carefree.

Maybe, even if it does — miraculously — I won’t be 22 again.

Winter of 2025 was a big bucket of memories. Here are some splashes…

twenty second

My birthday party was a heavy dinner at Lauriat, the most premium dining experience IITG can offer, with four of my close friends. This outing was a much-needed break, given that it was only a week before Day 1 placement interviews. At that time, companies were rolling out shortlists almost every other hour, and the unemployed would throng to that one poorly managed spreadsheet to check their fate…

Navi’s shortlist arrived while we were there, peacefully sipping our mocktails. My name was on it — my friends got excited — me, not so much. It is always good to have one more interview under your belt, but that company was anything but aspirational for me.

A loud knock woke me up the next morning. It was Shreyansh, just returning from an assessment.

“Tera Google me naam aa gya.”

I was elated. Before the placement season had even begun, I had been targeting Google, and this shortlist was one step closer to achieving that.

fifth

I had three shortlists for the first interview slot (0000 to 0600): Google, Navi & Meesho. My plan was to give Google’s first round and then move on to Meesho. Who cares about Navi?

The first round at Google went flawlessly, and it was immediately followed by the second. I didn’t go for Meesho because that wasn’t my first choice and I just wanted to be done with Google’s process and get the potential offer as soon as possible.

My performance in the second round was okayish. “You need to clutch it, c’mon!” I told myself as I headed for the final round after a short 15-minute break, during which I had inhaled some bananas.

I don’t feel like talking about my third round. It was abysmal.

I was done with the Google process by around 0400. Meesho, AmEx and a few others had already extended offers by then, and some of my hostel mates were already placed. I was sorry about my situation, but seeing my friends succeed was a pleasant feeling.

The Navi representative was asking me to show up for their interview and, since I had nowhere else to go, I went. The sun was already up by the time I was done with their first round and I was completely lethargic by then. My brain struggled to function and I just wanted to get the hell out of those corridors. I started bombing the interviews to allow them to throw me out early

Interviewer : I see that you don’t have any web development projects. You do realise that you’d be working with web stacks extensively in this role. Are you even slightly interested in this domain?

Me : If I had found it interesting before, I would have explored it and there would’ve been a project or two on my resume.

I came back to my room at around 0700, unplaced. Things had not turned out the way I had expected. My friends were expecting me to clear the Google rounds — they felt I deserved to get in. I could sense the worry in their voices when their calls came in at around 0600.

I slept for an hour or so, stuffed some more bananas, and was back on my way to the battlefield. “What’s gone is gone — it’s time to focus on the next point”, I told myself.

The second slot began and I found myself eliminated from two companies within a matter of hours. My brain had stopped functioning. I was not able to comprehend anything the interviewers were asking, let alone solve the problems — the sleeplessness was hitting hard.

Blackrock representative called me for the interview so I went there to try my luck. Two rounds of very open-ended discussions followed. Questions as random as “How would one explain the concept of multidimensionality to a five year old kid?” were asked while I was waiting for actual problems to solve. There was a hubbub near a desk hosting two HR executives — the natural next step after I was done.

“Are you giving out offers immediately?”

“What’s your name?”

“Udit Jethva”

“Wait, Udit, it’s looking positive for you … Congratulations! You have made it to an offer!”

It was around 1230 now. My mind was exhausted to the point that I could not process any feelings. I managed a weak smile, shook some hands, received a goodie box and headed out, calling my Mom on the way. Jatin, who had made it to AmEx a few hours earlier and was already in his casuals, was the first one to spot me with a Blackrock-branded box.

A new message made its way to our hostel group chat: “Udit — Blackrock — Sorted!” Endorphins spiked as I scrolled through my unread messages to the news of many more of my friends getting through.

I crashed back to my room. Udbhav ordered pizza for my lunch. I slept till evening.

It was over. I had survived IIT placements.

fifty eighth

trip

It was the first dinner with my tennis teammates and coach after the interviews. Sir remarked that it had been a while since he had last seen me this relieved. I went on to narrate my story, and the precarious nature of the affair was enough to stress out the sophomores, especially Idhaa. Sir, on the other hand, now expects insider trading tips once I join.

Days until our flight to Chennai were mostly about practice drills in the evenings and good mess food, courtesy of the sports board. One Saturday was an exception, though — we went out for Zootopia 2, discovered it was Sibi’s birthday, had a scrumptious meal with a diverse array of drinks, wolfed down a dozen brownies and cheesecakes paid for by our fake five-star reviews, went to the ghat, drank some more, shared a few stories, danced like no one was watching, and finally called it a day.

Around a week later, after a three-hour flight in the morning, we found ourselves outside the domestic terminal at Chennai Airport. The rough plan for the day was to roam around the city and somehow reach Tirupati by evening. Sibi, as expected¹, took on the role of our guide for the day and first took us to the underrated — and hence, cleaner — Besant Nagar Beach…

Years had passed since the last time I had been to a beach — in fact, I had forgotten what it felt like to be at one. We spent hours getting washed by the waves in the windy weather, bought a few Bisleris to flush out the sandy aftermath within our clothes, had a refreshing tender coconut, and then went for lunch…

During this time, we had figured out that we could catch an evening train to reach Tirupati. When we reached the station, it was easy to spot a few other contingents showing up for the events at IIT Madras. We got onboard the train and bid adieu to Chennai by sunset.

Since it was a short two-hour ride, we did not bother going beyond the general sleeper ticket, and that “cost” us in a different manner. We were expecting to relax a bit after a long day and maybe play a few games to pass the time; however, fate had other plans…

The organising committee was supposed to receive us at the station but they got busy picking up another contingent and asked us to wait an hour. It is difficult to be patient when you are desperately in need of a good dinner and a comfortable bed to crash into. We hired an SUV and began the final 30 km stretch to the campus.

If I remember correctly, it was around 10 pm when we reached the front gates, which were in the middle of nowhere. We picked up our IDs, logged our entry, and entered the premises. We (boys²) finally reached our allotted hostel at around 10:30 pm. A banner sporting the mascot, Tejas, was hanging near the doors…

IIT Tirupati welcomes you to the 58th Inter IIT Sports Meet

tirupati

The first task after arrival was to get some food. We tried seeking some help from the volunteer who had shown us the way to the hostel from the main gates.

“The mess has closed now, but there are some refreshments in your room.”

“What refreshments?”

“One paper boat and a choco pie…”

We were pissed. We did not even try to hide it.

The volunteer sensed it and comforted us by saying that they would get food delivered from a not-so-nearby restaurant and asked us to place an order. We headed to our double-occupancy rooms on the ground floor — decently spacious, with comfortable beds, basic toiletries and, of course, Wi-Fi…

Extremely sound sleep followed after a cold shower and a not-so-great dinner.

It was a string of inconveniences and disappointments right upon arrival, but I don’t think I can complain about anything that followed after that³. Food-wise, the mess blew past my expectations: “It was perfect. Perfect. Down to the last minute detail.” The campus did not have a great deal to offer except four newly-built hard tennis courts, a cosy amphitheatre near the boys’ hostel and deserted rolling roads wider than those in Guwahati. The weather was pleasant — warm in the daytime but soothingly cool in the evenings — and the surrounding hills composed a scenic backdrop for the matches…

tournament

“You’ll be the water boy” - Sir

After years of failed trials, I had finally made it to the team in my final year, as the third player. You don’t need a third player to fill the matchups in the tournament because every matchup consists of two singles and one doubles. Sibi and Pranav were going to be our aces and, to be honest, I didn’t expect to get onto the court for any match. I was prepared to be the water boy.

Boys had Kanpur, Gandhinagar & Jodhpur in their group, while girls had Kanpur, Hyderabad & BHU. Kanpur was common to both.

Team IIT Kanpur was an absolute unit. Both of their teams were rock-solid, and the boys were defending that year. Girls’ tennis throughout the tournament was haramball⁴, except for that one girl from Kanpur who was the only one playing the game the way it was supposed to be played.

matchday 1

Boys had their first match against Kanpur and, as expected, were defeated in straight matches. Sibi and Pranav, while great players, were inexperienced at the Inter IIT level, and Kanpur’s experience showed in their game. That day, the girls had their match against BHU, which was a walk in the park.

matchday 2

Boys were up against Gandhinagar next. This was a virtual knockout match because it was apparent that Jodhpur was going to get “belted”⁵ by everyone and Kanpur was going to belt everyone else in the group. Sibi had picked up an injury from his singles against Kanpur, so Pranav was going to play the first singles.

Gandhinagar’s player was consistent — he knew how to rally well, keep the ball in play, and go for winners at the right moment. He was almost on par with Pranav in terms of skill, to be honest. It was going to be a good match.

If I remember correctly, Gandhinagar had taken the first two games of the first set and were leading 2–0. Pranav stepped up then and, after a great fight, the set concluded 6–4 in our favour. Things were looking good in the second set as well, until that damned game when Pranav was serving — there were at least ten deuces. Tennis serves are physically exhausting to execute, and one could easily notice that Pranav was running out of steam as the game progressed. He eventually got broken and was never able to recover in that set. Second set: 4–6.

In the third set, the match was neck and neck as both players had resorted to haramball tactics to conserve energy. It was not a delight to watch, but I enjoyed screaming and cheering at the top of my lungs. The final set’s scoreline eventually evolved to 5–4 with Pranav serving.

The match had attracted attention from everyone on the courts at the time, given how close it was, and the crowd had now grown beyond just the Gandhinagar contingent and us. The Kanpur boys’ team was nearby, betting on who was going to make it. I remember this game very clearly. Pranav was trailing 0–40 and it looked like the set was going to be extended. Then came three cracker serves — absolute bangers. 40–40. Deuce.

“Bhai crazy clutch mara hai” - some guy from Kanpur

Two more points followed and it was boys’ first match win in the tournament. Gandhinagar’s second player was not as strong as their first; the doubles match was wrapped up easily.

Girls’ next match against Hyderabad was a must-win as well. Similar picture in their group: Kanpur would belt everyone, BHU would get belted by everyone. Hyderabad had only one player who knew her groundstrokes; the second player lacked basic fundamentals altogether. We knew that we were going to go through — the question was whether in two matches or three.

Idhaa has the potential to beat the heck out of every girl who was in that tournament. She is physically superior and her technique is sharp. It’s only she who can stop herself — and that is exactly what happened. She gets nervous on courts, very nervous. She’d blow up a single point and her entire game would collapse, as if she forgot how to play.

During the first singles against Hyderabad, everyone was continually shouting from the sidelines, trying to keep her morale up in difficult moments. She tried her best but eventually lost. However, the girls got the doubles after exploiting Hyderabad’s weak link, and then Krishna sealed the victory in the deciding singles match.

More or less, both teams had made it through the group stage.

matchday 3

Now, Jodhpur were an easy opponent and Sir wanted to rest Sibi for the quarters. It was finally our turn — the third and fourth players would finally make some good use of their racquets. We had two options:

1. Pranav plays the first singles and Hans/Me or Pranav/Sibi for the doubles.

2. Hans plays the first singles and Pranav/Me or Pranav/Sibi for the doubles.

We went with the first option. The Jodhpur player was an easy haramball merchant and Pranav got the better of him in straight sets. Hans and I were up next. Now, we are both decent players, but this was the first time we were stepping on the court after that short practice session on Day 0. We lacked rhythm.

We started off well and took a 4–2 lead in the first set. Then it went catastrophically downhill. We were missing volleys, our groundstrokes were going out or into the net, and nerves caught up with us badly. We lost fucking ten games in a row. Final score: 4–6, 0–6. I feel ashamed of myself writing this, but yeah, I now have a 100% loss rate at the Inter IIT Sports Meet. Hans has three more attempts ahead of him — he’ll do better, I’m sure.

They gave us one bagel and Sibi returned them two in the deciding singles.

After the match, we discussed that option 2 might have actually won us the matchup in straight sets.

Girls had their final group stage match against Kanpur. The Kanpur girl, who was easily the best singles player in the tournament, took down Idhaa in the first match effortlessly. For doubles, Kanpur’s second player was not as strong as the first, but she knew how to keep the ball in play. Also, during the match, Idhaa and Krishna got into a dispute, which didn’t help either. Kanpur beat us, as expected.

quarterfinals

Girls vs IIT Madras

Everyone who was present at the meet, including the coaches and officials, detested IIT Madras. Here’s why.

However, their girls’ team, though “mutant”-powered, was like any other girls’ team in the tournament. They were beatable. It was the quarter-finals and Sir did not want to bet on Idhaa this time, so Krishna played the first singles.

It was a good match, even though the scoreline suggested otherwise: 2–6, 2–6. Krishna gave her absolute best. “I like what I’m seeing here, bro.” I remember Sibi mentioning this as we watched from the sidelines. The reason she lost was that the opposing player was tactically superior and was able to exploit Krishna’s limited agility with drop shots. During this match, I also remember participating in a fun cheering 1v1 with a Madras guy, and I also recall that the chair umpire was an asshole⁶.

The doubles began, and once again, Idhaa’s game started to crumble. The match was swinging in Madras’ direction, but out of nowhere, Krishna twisted her ankle — badly. She removed her shoes to reveal a swelling the size of a potato. She was unable to walk after the limited medical timeout, and the team had to concede the match.

No one wants a match to end due to a player’s injury, but that is how girls’ campaign ended.

It was an improvement in position from the previous year, but our team — especially Idhaa — is full of untapped potential, and I know they may well win a medal or two in the coming years if they work at it throughout the year. I even got Idhaa to commit herself on camera to putting in extra hours on the court, provided she bags an internship.

We spent the next hour or so at the courts while Krishna received preliminary treatment and underwent check-ups. That night there was a gala dinner, so all of us dressed up and made our way to the venue. As we were leaving, we overheard that the quarter-final doubles between the Delhi girls and the Kanpur girls, which had started 6–0 in Kanpur’s favour, had somehow reached a deciding tiebreak. We switched on the live stream to witness peak haramball — haramball that would put Simeone and Arteta to shame.

Unluckily for Kanpur, Delhi took the doubles and forced a deciding singles. Delhi had deliberately wasted Kanpur’s best player in the first singles by pitting her against their weakest. Delhi’s best player played the decider and was good enough to win it for the team.

It was an upset. Kanpur girls were out.

Boys vs IIT Delhi

Delhi’s main player, Vaibhav, had a forehand that tested the limits of the tennis ball — give him a ball at the optimal height and he would punish you. Sibi had a game plan in mind: slice, slice, and slice. A lower ball would mean he would have to compromise on speed to get the ball over the net.

This battle of two very contrasting playing styles was pure cinema. People from Roorkee, Bombay, Kanpur and a few others joined as the match unfolded. They were calling it the best match of the tournament so far. After two sets of brilliant tennis, the match was level: 4–6, 6–3. We had also developed an off-court rivalry with the ear-splitting cheerleaders of IIT Delhi (their girls’ team).

“If she doesn’t stop then I am going to pop that bitch off.” - Idhaa

The final set was as intense as the previous two — a close fight, but it swayed Delhi’s way, 3–6. The doubles match started on a poor note, with Delhi leading 3–0. I should also mention that at this point, Sir was not with us. He was in the city with Krishna for a hospital check-up. I did my best to give tips to Sibi and Pranav as the first set slipped away, 2–6.

However, they found their rhythm in the second set and Sir had also joined us by then. Both pairs were playing almost at par with each other, but our boys edged them slightly, and though I don’t remember the exact scoreline, we had a set point. We did not convert it, unfortunately. Eventually, it reached 6–6 — time for a tiebreak. We started well in the tiebreak but could not see it through.

Delhi took the doubles 2–6, 6–7, and with it, the semi-final slot.

In the end, though we were returning empty-handed in terms of championship points, Sir was proud of the performance the team had put up. With the experience Pranav and Sibi had gained over the week, I am fairly confident we have a real shot at the podium next year.

timepass

After we were out of the draw, we joined a nearby trek organised by the volunteers the next morning and then spent most of the next two days spectating. The first singles of the Kanpur vs. Bombay semi-final was a legendary match. Talk to me if you want to hear about it — I am incapable of doing it justice in mere words. Eventually, Kanpur took the overall matchup and advanced to the finals against the doubly “mutant”-powered IIT Madras.

We went to the finals to cheer for Kanpur, but unfortunately the mutants got the better of them without breaking a sweat. Everyone felt for Kanpur boys. Their team deserved nothing less than the top spot on the podium. An eerie silence had blanketed the arena when Madras clinched the match point. No one cheered for them. I suppose the silence was to mourn the violation of the spirit of the Inter IIT Sports Meet. On the girls’ side, Madras had beaten Delhi in the finals the day before, taking the seventh⁷ match point of the game.

Though most of our time was spent at the courts and resting in our rooms, we did find ways to make our time more memorable. We spent time together in the common room playing Spy, danced till the end of the gala night unlike everyone else, played Contact and Truth or Truth on the last night on the amphitheatre stage before some dogs went wild for Sai and garnered everyone’s attention.

So, did I enjoy that week in Tirupati? The answer — well, it depends⁸ — just kidding. I will cherish the time spent with these people forever…

eighth

I took a late night cab directly to Chennai airport from the campus, accompanied by Sai, and boarded my flight to Kanpur. The final stint of my winter was here…

It was time for the Quiz Cup at the Inter IIT Cultural Meet, one last time.

cantonment

After spending a week in temperate Tirupati, Kanpur’s cold was hitting hard when I arrived in the afternoon. I reached my room where all the “uncs”⁹, except Shreyansh, were supposed to stay. The bedding took up most of the room’s space, and the rest was filled with our scattered luggage. I buried myself in the sea of blankets for a much-needed nap.

The organisers had foolishly not arranged mess services on Day 0, so all of us went out together for dinner. Moving around IIT Kanpur’s campus felt like time-travelling to pre-independence India. The buildings, their architecture, the whistle-equipped security personnel who acted like entitled British officials, the dusty atmosphere and the overall vibe of the place felt very archaic. This did not mean that the campus was stripped of facilities — it had a fucking gas station inside.

We went to one of the very few places open to participants before the event: the open-air theatre, which also happened to have some decent food joints. After the gang feasted on shawarma biryani, we camped on the topmost stairs and started playing the OG quiz club game: Contact. Hilarious conversations spilled out as the fog around us grew denser by the minute. Dear Thapki, we still remember you <3

chase

Our track record at the Cultural Meet was anything but impressive. So, the way these quizzes work is that each institute brings six teams of three members each, totalling around a hundred teams which compete in the prelims, of which the top 8 or top 10 (depending on the quizmaster) advance to the finals.

We struggle to qualify for the finals, let alone claim a podium finish or win the quiz. The year before, in Patna, we managed only one qualification across all six quizzes. We’d often miss the cutoff by the slimmest of margins due to careless mistakes — failure was a familiar acquaintance to all of our members.

Every year, we’d hope for the results to change, even a bit.

This year was no different.

chances

There were seven quizzes in this year’s edition and the venue for all of them was this ginormous lecture hall which looked a little too new for the building it was in…

tlc

The first quiz of the event was TLC (Travel, Living & Culture). We had built a reputation among all the IITs as the “TLC people” because it was a new addition to the catalogue of quizzes and we had never failed to get qualifications in it at past inter-collegiate events¹⁰, while mostly failing to qualify elsewhere.

I was paired with Joyeeta & Kaustubh. Now, we were not the A-team, but we gave it our best — it was an enjoyable set which had its 26 answers in alphabetical order. We scored around 17, as far as I remember. When we all came together after the answers were displayed, two of our teams had strong scores of around 22 and 22.5.

After everyone had tallied their scores, the most nerve-wracking part of any quiz arrived: had any of us made it through? All the institutes would send one mole close to the volunteers compiling the results to sniff out any information about the cutoff. Baidurya’s small frame allowed him to squeeze through crowds easily — he was our guy.

This quizmaster was going to take the top 6 directly to the finals and conduct semi-finals among the next 8 teams, so we were hoping for at least one team to get through. “Cutoff 23 lag rha hai” — the initial report had spoken.

*Instant Depression*

Our faces drooped, but we asked him to check again. We stood there in silence as Baidurya disappeared into the crowd. He emerged a few minutes later.

“Dono teams ka ho gya.”

Frenzy followed. Never in the history of our club had two teams qualified in the same prelims. Though it was not the finals yet but only the semi-finals, it was a victory in itself. We cheered with wide grins as our teams’ names were announced. I headed out for lunch just after the results were declared and was not there to watch the semis.

I was about to return to the hall when a message popped up on my phone.

“Both teams into the finals”

History was made. Our club had struggled to get even a single qualification, and getting two spots out of ten was something we couldn’t have imagined before coming here. It was an unbelievable start to our campaign. Finals began, and they played well, finally placing 6th and 9th. We did not complain; we had already matched last year’s performance. It was only upwards from here.

helm

HELM stands for History, Etymology, Language and Mythology. This was the first time this quiz was being hosted at the Cultural Meet. We had a strong lineup in our A-team — practically nerds in these areas. We were expecting them to qualify, at the very least.

However, the quizmaster turned out to be a dumbass. He did not know what to put in a HELM Quiz and just put in whatever he felt like.

“What is history, anything which happened two seconds before is also history if you think about it.”

“Wait, WTF dude?”

This quiz set was going to be a disaster, and I could tell immediately. As we (me, Divyam, Lalitya) went through the questions, we realised these questions were not suited to our A-team because they lacked knowledge in India-related trivia, of which the set had plenty.

Once the prelims were done, we all agreed that the set was anything but a HELM set. After the scores were tallied, our A-team underperformed as expected. However, the B-team (Yash, Ishana, Rachit) had scored a hopeful 22 — they ended up missing the finals spot by a single point, with no semi-finals this time.

Another “honourable mention” to add to the belt.

We were disappointed because a few avoidable mistakes had been made, but we also knew the set was poor and we had simply been unlucky with the quizmaster.

india

Expectations were extremely high for the India Quiz, because of our new recruits Kaustubh and ADC bhaiya — who we believed were capable of pulling through the prelims single-handedly. Imagine pairing these two with Lalitya, who had established himself as the best India quizzer in our club.

To put it simply, they were the Galácticos of the India Quiz.

I was sitting this one out, along with Kirhen and Bhagawati, since I was no “Dhurandhar” in India quizzes. We were on standby for the group chat to light up. It was taking longer than usual. “Maybe the set is long.” Tushif called back after seeing the missed calls. The set was indeed long — the round had just ended and they didn’t even have their scores yet. He said he’d update us. Minutes passed, and the three of us headed to the hostel canteen to grab some tea.

I think my phone was on silent, because it didn’t ring, and Kirhen was already on his phone. He was sitting right in front of me when he blurted out, with an awestruck expression…

“They topped the prelims!!!”

I was stunned. Out of words. Holy Cow. Wow. What on earth had just happened? All of a sudden, that coveted Inter IIT podium didn’t feel like such a distant fantasy. They might actually pull this off. Kirhen and I waited patiently in the hostel and got busy preparing for SBT the next day. I called for updates after an hour or so.

“Bohot kharab chal rha hai. Baad me baat karte hai.”

Teams like Madras, Bombay, Delhi and Kharagpur were regulars with decent experience in Inter IIT Finals. For us, going into the finals as prelims toppers was an astronomical change; something no one would have predicted in their wildest dreams. The most experienced member of our Galácticos team was Lalitya, a sophomore. It is an enormous amount of pressure when people expect a great deal from the team and you are effectively in charge of making the difficult calls on whether to pounce or not.

They finished 9th — out of the points.

They looked dejected when we regrouped in the canteen. This team has potential. The results will follow. I am sure of it.

chaos

sbt

Finally, it was my turn to be in the A-team (me, Divyam, ADC). At the last Nihilanth, (me, Divyam, Kirhen) had missed the finals by a single point. This time, we wanted to get over the line.

Divyam and I have teamed up on multiple occasions and we know how to present ideas and brainstorm with each other. ADC bhaiya, on the other hand, was something of an extension to our pair. This was the first time the three of us had sat together, since I had to leave for the Sports Meet before our practice drills were in full swing.

We ended up with a score of 21 after the prelims. Before we got any intel on the cutoff, we knew this was going to be on the edge. The cutoff came in at 21, with 5 tiebreaking stars.

We had 21 and 4 tiebreaking stars.

I was genuinely heartbroken, because I knew that realistically I would never again get a chance to sit in an Inter IIT semi-final or final. There was also a blunder on my part: I wrote the answer to one question as “Blockchain Beach” rather than the more commonly known “Bitcoin Beach” and all our other teams had got that one right but us. I was pissed at myself and just walked out of the hall.

mela

After the trauma⁸ of the MELA Quiz the previous year, a comeback was needed to banish the ghosts of the past — especially for Shreyansh and Yash. I teamed up with Divyam and Akif and, from the very beginning of the prelims, Divyam and I were simply enjoying the game — cracking jokes and laughing at the made up answers of the questions we didn’t know. Apart from that, we thought a qualification was possible in this one as well, since even we as the D-team were getting a lot of answers.

Turns out, we scored the most of all.

An ordinary score of 18 was the highest of all. Divyam was furious because, as Secretary, he is answerable to those above him who expect championship points from the club’s large contingent of 22 people, and the performance in this quiz was unacceptable. He stormed out of the hall in anger and I accompanied him.

It came down to the final day.

sports

A spot in the finals had long been overdue for Tushif. It felt somewhat like the way everyone felt football owed Messi a World Cup before 2022. I was in the B-team with Lalitya and Palash; A-team was Tushif, Divyam & Maulik. Major (QM) had announced before the prelims that this was going to be like a general round with a flavour of sports.

Most of the questions were crackable, but some required exquisite trivia — like the fact that Louboutin is known for their red-bottomed shoes — knowledge that was clearly out of our A-team’s wheelhouse. We performed all right in the prelims, but all eyes were on Team A.

They had 23, after getting an easy question about Pankaj Advani wrong. We were at 18.

Baidurya was sitting this one out, so we simply waited. Major stepped up to the lectern with a bundle of sheets. Only eight slots were available for the final. We had our fingers crossed.

"The cutoff for the final was ..."

"The cutoff for the final was 24."

"There was one team which came very close with a score of 23. Divyam, Tushif and Maulik. 757-A. You're from..?"

"IIT Guwahati"

"Well done. Better luck next time"

general

After the heartbreak of the sports quiz, we were attending the general quiz purely for the love of the game. No team of ours had come anywhere close to the general cutoff, so by the trend, we weren’t expecting anything. I was with Ishana and Kaustubh and I really enjoyed the set and my team was fun too. We scored around 23, if I remember correctly.

Divyam, Medha and Kirhen’s team had scored a solid 28. We were not expecting anything, but getting through wouldn’t hurt. Major was opting for a semi-final format in this quiz — taking the top 7 teams directly, and the top 3 from among the next 10 semifinalists.

Baidurya did his job and signalled a thumbs-up from the stage!

They were through. For the first time, I believe, one of our teams had made it beyond the prelims in Major’s general quiz. We cheered loudly as our name was announced — the club loves to celebrate even the smallest victories. The semi-final followed, and they performed well with some very impressive cracks. They finished 5th or 6th out of the 10 semifinalists, just missing out on the final.

My last Quiz Cup at the Inter IIT Cultural Meet was over.

camaraderie

As we all came out of the hall to head for dinner, I took on my responsibility as an “unc” and made a toast about how things would only improve from here — because even though we had scored similar points to last year, the fact that we had qualified more than one prelims, topped one of them, and gotten two teams into the same final was proof of significant growth. All of us went to a pizza joint on campus to celebrate Rachit’s birthday.

Amidst all the quizzing, there were some moments that will stay with me for a long time — especially that vivid late-night discussion that started with Aishwarya Rai and Sonali Bendre and somehow blew up to include likes of Mamata Banerjee. I also remember that peaceful lunch on one of those days, when we mocked some nukkad natak participants putting on a show of goofy moves, while sitting on the lawn stuffing Subway sandwiches.

On the last night, I was down with a cough, chest congestion and a headache, and my room had been converted into a theka to celebrate the end of the event. I shifted to where the third-years were staying because I had a morning cab to catch the next day. Though I had taken some meds before sleeping, I woke up at six in the morning struggling to breathe — the fog and dust had finally caught up with me. I also woke Dubey unintentionally with my sirening lungs. He was kind enough to accompany me to the hospital, where I got nebulised.

I woke up later — just in time to catch my pre-booked airport cab. Though my breathing had improved, it was still a struggle to travel on a long connecting flight with a terminal change in Delhi.

The plane landed at night and I stared out of the window. It was finally over.

The most wonderful and most fulfilling winter of my life was behind me.