Food is one universal aspect of life that keeps people connected. A sumptuous meal not only has the power to satisfy hunger, but also acts as a great mood lifter. But unfortunately, most of us, especially the kids of today, do not end up choosing the most nutritious foods for our meals. This leaves parents worried. One innovative way to push children towards mindful eating habits is having them participate in a well-orchestrated food quiz.
Taking this into account, HT School and Slurrp, in association with Lupin recently conducted Lupin Aptivate Achchi Bhook School Foodie Quiz 2022, India’s largest food quiz. This Pan-India online tag-team quiz saw students of grades 1 to 6 team up with their parents to participate in its two rounds, the Prelims (held on 30th October) and the Finale (held on 5th November). More than 10,000 kids registered for the Prelims and as many as 160 parent-child teams contested in the Finale. The Finale was an hour-long session held on Zoom by distinguished quizmasters, Dr. Navin Jayakumar, Mr. Avinash Mudaliar and Mr. Meghashyam Shirodkar. This round had 35 questions in both type-in and multiple-choice formats.
Following the announcement of the winners, HT School had tete-a-tete with the top 5 champions, all basking in the glory of their success. Here is all they had to say about their journey through India’s largest food quiz.
Dakshita Mishra & Sumit Kumar Mishra, Haryana
Rank: 1
Being an avid quizzer, 5th grader Dakshita has participated in many quizzes before. However, the Lupin Aptivate Achchi Bhook School Foodie Quiz 2022 was her first food-themed quiz. “I follow History TV 18 and Discovery channels on TV regularly. OMG! Yeh Mera India is one of my favourite TV shows that helped me prepare for the quiz. I had a lot of fun participating in this food quiz. It increased my knowledge about different varieties of food,” she says. Her father Sumit, on the other hand, talked about the types of questions, which, according to him, were a balance of both easy and difficult ones. “The question on Undhiyu was an easy guess while the one on cinnamon was confusing for us,” he shares. Science and Maths quizzes pique little Dakshita’s interest besides food quizzes such as these.
Champion’s tips: Watch TV shows and read about different quizzing topics on the internet. Stay tuned to HT School’s social media handles for quiz-worthy information.
Anjishnu Nag & Subir Kanti Nag, West Bengal
Rank: 2
Little did Anjishnu imagine while registering for the Lupin Aptivate Achchi Bhook School Foodie Quiz 2022 that he would end up in the Top 5. With a 97% accuracy in the coveted finals of India’s largest food quiz, the quizzing enthusiast came out with flying colours. Expressing his thoughts on the quiz, the grade 6 student says, “I am a foodie by heart and it was a fulfilling experience to participate in my first online quiz. The questions asked by the quizmasters were a holistic mix of interesting food trivia, and the clues they shared made the answers workout-able.”
Anjishnu liked the cinnamon question quite a bit while he was left clueless while answering the Do pyaza question during the Finale. His father Subir also had a lot to share. He says, “We read the Manorama Year Book, Wikipedia and Encyclopedia while prepping for this quiz. Anjishnu’s involvement in the quiz clubs at his school also proved helpful.” When asked about other preferred genres of quizzing, the parent-child duo agreed on Maths and Sports.
Champion’s tips: Read up on the etymology and origin of things. Take part in free online quizzes on Slideshare and Kahoot platforms.
Atharv Pai & Trupti Pai, Maharashtra
Rank: 3
Grade 2 student Atharv was thrilled to be among the champions of this food quiz. Unable to qualify for the Finale of ClassAct 2022, The Hindustan Times Republic Day Quiz, young Atharv was quite disheartened. “This win made up for it. I love to read a lot, thanks to my parents who keep encourage me to read all kinds of books. I am always eager to know more about things. That’s how I developed my knack for quizzing,” shares the young quizzer.
His mother Trupti, who is herself into the food business (she is a professional baker), further adds that hey together try to find answers to all kinds of questions and spend a lot of time doing so on the internet. “We love to solve word puzzles and riddles, that further help us enhance our knowledge,” says the proud mother. The budding quizzer found the Baba Budan question quite tricky. Their preferred genre of quiz? Science and space studies.
Champion’s tips: Reading is the best option to learn about everything under the sun, while watching fact-based documentaries comes in handy.
Ananya Nipun Rajan & Nipun Rajan, Delhi
Rank: 4
Ananya, a grade 4 student, has been deeply involved in the world of quizzing ever since her kindergarten days, thanks to her father Nipun, a seasoned quizzer himself. “I have been watching Kaun Banega Crorepati on television with my parents for years now. My father has also participated in many offline and online quizzes and brought home trophies. Quizzing, it seems, is in my DNA,” quips the avid quizzer. Nipun also went on to say how their ardent interest in watching cooking shows (such as MasterChef) helped them prepare for this quiz apart from surfing through the Quizverse section on the HT School website.
Thanking the quizmasters for helping out through the Finale, the Ananya also mentions how the Motimahal question was her favourite, besides the one on Chicken 65. Unfortunately, she and her father couldn’t figure out the Mooncake question, but were thrilled to know something new and fascinating. “I would like to take part in a quiz themed India,” says the budding quizzer.
Champion’s tips: Just keep your eyes and ears open. You will often discover that you will learn new things every day, from the most unlikely sources.
Annika Mandal & Anirban Mandal, Haryana
Rank: 5
Although new to quizzing, second grade student Annika has been a bookworm since her toddler days and her first ever quiz was ClassAct 2022, The Hindustan Times Republic Day Quiz. Having performed well in the junior category there, she felt motivated to register for yet another quiz. Incidentally, it was on one of her favourite topics: Food. Her father considers this recent feat as another milestone in his daughter’s short quizzing journey.
“I love exploring varieties of topics and read all kinds of books available to me, be it at home or at school. I also enjoy going through several online quizzing portals. This is what drove me into quizzing,” shares Annika.
Being foodies, the father-daughter duo knew a lot of answers right away, while some questions left them guessing. “The Sambaji and sambar question was easy for us, whereas the Ben & Jerry question had us pondering,” mentions Annika. Mythology is another topic that she would love to quiz on.
Champion’s tips: The more you read, the more you know. So, just keep reading!