Of brands, boardrooms and balance sheets

THE HINDU Nearly 50 teams participated in the quiz which was a mash-up of concepts associated with business — Photo: V. Ganesan

TOPICS

Many years ago, banks used to issue porcelain tiles to customers, which had the name of the customer, bank and credit limit written on them. And that gave way to a monetary term, quite frequently used today.

When a question regarding this was asked at Cerebration, the Hindu Business Line Quiz 2013, it took TCS employees R. Jayakanthan and G. Srikanth less than 10 seconds to get it right — going broke. “The tile is broken when the credit goes beyond limit,” answered Jayakanthan. The team was even faster in recognising the international group, ‘The Elders’ from a picture of peace activists, Nelson Mandela, Ela Bhatt, Kofi Annan and others.

“I started quizzing only seven years ago,” says Jayakanthan, a 29-year-old quizzer from the city, who has won almost every quiz in Chennai. “Winning is only a recent phenomenon. I have lost many quizzes to reach here,” he adds.

Jayakanthan and Srikanth won the Chennai rounds of the quiz by a heavy margin on Sunday. They are all set to compete with five other winning teams from other cities on January 26 in Mumbai.

The quiz was a mash-up of many concepts associated with business.

From the airlines whose cost-cutting measure involved taking off one olive from every salad plate served to customers (American Airlines) to the twin towers of Deutsche Bank being aptly called credit and debit, the quiz had questions on a wide range of topics.

Nearly 50 teams comprising employees of various companies took part.

Six teams made it to the regional finals after a written prelims of 20 questions. They were Kiran Vijayakumar and M. Siddharth from Cognizant, Anish Raju and Devi Karthiyayini from Accenture, Balaji Krishnan and Arun Laxman from Caterpillar, two separate teams from Infosys consisting of Vivek Venkatesan and Senthil Kumar; and Kartik Ramdas and Muthu Kumaran. Karthik and Muthu bagged the second prize in the quiz.

Quizmaster Giri ‘Pickbrain' Balasubramanium noted that said the preparations the teams had put in was a testimony to the fact that one could continue to learn and be informed about the world, even amid a hectic work life. Chennai, he said, had a history of producing some of the best quizzing brains of the country.

So, does it mean all general quizzers get attracted to business quizzing? “Not many do, most business quizzes have quite a heavy entry fee (between Rs 2,000 and Rs. 6,000).

And, now that most companies have stopped sponsoring participants, it is not affordable for everyone. You don’t want to take part unless you are sure you will do well,” said a participant at the quiz.

Keywords: Hindu Business Line Quiz 2013

I prefer Qwerty phones: SRK

The soldier of Fauji, the go getter of Circus, and now the super star of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan has been a perfect entertainer for the masses. Recently, he was in Delhi to launch Nokia's latest handset, E7.

In an interaction with The Mobile Indian, Shahrukh Khan shared his experiences with mobile phones.

TMI: Shah Rukh, you have been a big fan of Nokia Communicator and around six weeks back you got an E7 to test. How was your experience?

SRK: I am a technoholic, and a device has to be high on innovation and functionality to catch my attention. Nokia has always impressed me with novel and user friendly features -- I still have my Nokia Communicator from 1996! I have been waiting for the Nokia Communicator in a new avatar so when I heard about the E7, I couldn't wait to get one.

Nokia approached me to be a product tester and I was supposed to give feedback to the company. I have used the Nokia E7 for over a month. I am totally hooked to it and it has become my constant business companion. Not only does it keep me connected to my business at all times, but it helps me stay close to my friends and family wherever I am.

TMI: Most of the time you are busy travelling and shooting in different locations. Was E7 useful in keeping you updated on the progress of other movies that you might have just completed?

SRK: Oh yes, it was really useful. Most of the time my directors send me video clips of shootings that I have completed, through email, to ask for my suggestion or keep me updated about the editing that has been carried out.
With E7, not only do I look at those video clips on my phone but also share my inputs with the director. It made my life easier for me.

TMI: Are you hooked to games and apps on the phone?

SRK: Yes, very much. I am a big fan of Angry Birds and I enjoy playing it on my cell. Apart from that, since I do a lot of travelling I enjoy using apps which help me in managing my travels.

TMI: Do you prefer touch screen or Qwerty phones?

SRK: Since the days I started using computers everybody at home used to tell me to learn typing and as time progressed I started liking it, and now even in mobiles I prefer those handsets which have Qwerty support.

TMI: How much time do you spend on your phone?

SRK: Usually, I spend around two hours on the phone every day, and if time and distance are not an issue, I love face to face interactions with friends, relatives and colleagues.

Also, I make it a point not to carry my cell phone to the sets when I am shooting, I keep it in my vanity van and I would also like new actors that are joining the Bollywood fraternity to avoid using phones when they are on sets.

TMI: Whom did you call first after getting a new E7?

SRK: I made the first call to my son, Aryan, and tried to impress him with my latest gadget. I think he was impressed.

SONY @XPERIA MOBILE

Sony Xperia Go
Featuring a rugged design, durability and water resistance, Xperia Go comes with a scratch resistant mineral glass display and meets industry standard IP (Ingress Protection) rating 67 to fight off dust and the effects of water immersion as well.
The device can also stay submerged under water for up to 10 minutes. Xperia Go comes with a wet finger tracking system that allows it to be used in extreme weather conditions.

The Sony Xperia Go features a 3.5 inch 320 x 480 pixel reality display, and up to four point touch input system. Xperia Go is based on the older Android Gingerbread operating system but the company promises Android Ice Cream Sandwich soon.
Sony Xperia Go comes with a 5 megapixel main camera but misses out on a front camera, so no video calling. It is powered by a 1 GHz dual core processor along with 512 MB of RAM and 8 GB onboard memory for smooth operation.
The phone is a good option only for those looking for a sturdy phone. Priced at Rs 16,000 it's not very expensive either.