The citys water secret!

CHENNAI: Madras, or namma Chennai, is loved equally by the young and the old. To bring alive the spark in every Chennaiite, the Murugappa Madras Quotient Quiz for school students was conducted today. The team “Day’s men” from Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan, Nungambakkam, emerged as the champions, lifting the Quiz trophy and taking home many prizes, including Hercules cycles and gift hampers. Conducted by leading quizmaster Dr Navin Jayakumar, the written preliminary rounds had 96 teams attending out of which,  six top teams went on to the finals. They were “It’s OK machi finals la pathukkalam” from Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary school, “Madras-in Al Qaeda” from AMM Matriculation Higher Secondary school, “2 mistakes our parents made” from Balalok Matriculation Higher Secondary school, “We told Rajnikanth Victoria’s secrets” from Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram and “Jumping amazing super optimistic noodle squad” from St. Bede’s school.The finals comprised three sections: Madras Past, focussing on the origins and history of the city; Madras Present, dealing with present day Chennai; and Madras Forever, containing questions that captured the essence of Madras, its culture, communities, customs, traditions and lifestyle. Audio-visual and buzzer rounds kept the excitement high.The questions ranged from the popular (how would you be travelling if you were going by “Nataraja Service” - answer by walk) to the wacky (etymology of the Tamil slang term Osi) and cryptic (which eatery was started by Manoharan after learning recipes from Nayagathammal of Madurai - answer Murugan Idly Shop) with the quizmaster keeping the questions probing, thought-provoking and just a little bit naughty in places.The team “It’s OK” from Vidya Mandir SSS school and team “2 mistakes” from Balalok MHSS school emerged as the runners-up. All the finalists won gift hampers.  A total of Rs 1 lakh worth of prizes were given away to the quizzers. The enthusiastic members of the audience who answered the questions both in person and through SMS also won prizes like gift vouchers and branded merchandise.The prizes were distributed by the Chief Guest P Ramachandran (President, TI Diamond Chains), who, in his speech, drew the attention of the audience to various interesting facets of Madras. The event was also graced by the co-founders of the Madras Week celebrations S Muthiah, Chennai Chronicler, and V Sriram, journalist.