Cynthia Rodrigues

Jaspreet Bindra, a general manager with Tata Teleservices, has a particular talent: he is a whiz at the quiz game

The sensations that accompany waiting for another question, one finger poised on the buzzer and the mind awhirl with anticipation, are familiar to Jaspreet Bindra. The general manager, central marketing and retail business, Tata Teleservices has achieved a coup of sorts by winning the Brand Equity Quiz in 1995, 1997 and 2004.

Quizzing is a passion that has given Mr Bindra almost as much as he has given it. In 1995, he was a Tata Administrative Service probationer working on a project for Titan. Two of the three participants from Titan were conducting an internal quiz to find the third person, as the rules then demanded three participants. Mr Bindra ended up being selected for the quiz, as he knew all the answers. The team went on to bag the winner's prize of a free trip abroad. "That was my first foreign trip," he says delightedly.

Mr Bindra's second successful bid, in 1997, took place while he was an employee of Tata Teleservices. That year the winning team was to get an opportunity to go to London to meet the Spice Girls. "That came after chairman Ratan Tata sent us a personal letter of congratulations," he says.

Secret of his success
His repeated wins at quizzes give him the aura of being extremely knowledgeable, but Mr Bindra brushes aside the suggestion that he has a limitless fund of knowledge. "I don't know the answers to at least 70 per cent of the questions, but one learns to form associations. For example, in one quiz we were asked to explain what a Freudian economy is. That's when I thought it may or may not have a reference to Sigmund Freud. On the other hand, it could also have a reference to Frodo, a character in The Lord of the Rings. The economy of New Zealand received a huge boost after the film was shot there. Therefore, the term Frodian economy has to do with economies that are boosted on account of the entertainment industry."

If that seems like a lot to deduce within a few seconds, Mr Bindra knows how to keep the curious quizmaster on hold. "I say things like 'uh-uh' or 'Can you repeat the question,'" he laughs.

The real quizzer, however, knows that the quizmaster can be his greatest ally. "The quizmaster's background can provide a very good indication of the questions that will be asked." Mr Bindra considers it necessary to stand out among the other contestants. "For example, I never pass a question. Quizmasters like guys who answer."

Another thing that Mr Bindra has learned from years of quizzing is that very often the answers are hidden in the questions themselves. "If you know what the word geronto stands for, you will not have a problem with related words such as gerontology, gerontocracy, etc." These tricks of the trade have helped him greatly.

Attributes of a quizzer
"There are two or three attributes that a successful quizzer needs to make a part of himself. First, he must be a heavy reader. Reading helps you to keep yourself updated and hones your intelligence," he says, describing himself as a fairly "promiscuous" reader, who digests fiction, non-fiction, biographies of companies and travelogues, among other things. "My interest area is business quizzing. I am terrible at sports and lousy at film and music."

The second important attribute is curiosity. "A successful quizzer should not be bored by anything. For example, if someone were to explain to me how a Reynolds pen is made, I would listen. A quizzer must have a capacity to retain information, even information that is seen as trivia by others. However, the fallout of this capacity is that I have become absent-minded; I know a lot of impractical things but very few useful ones."

Today Mr Bindra is so comfortable with quizzing that he does not feel any overwhelming need for preparation. The only superstition he permits himself is to carry a Reynold's pen, with which he keeps track of the score. He also goes with the hope that he will be in for a tough quiz. "We don't win because we know more; everyone knows about the same. What matters is the ability to stand up to pressure. Also, you discover that chance matters more than skill."

For Mr Bindra, the passion for quizzing has meant the ability to think out of the box, avoid getting stuck in a rut, and marvel at the inherent wisdom of every question.

Also read in Tata Voices

	Zubin Dubash, executive director, Indian Hotels, on the call of the wild
	Jayant Pendharkar, TCS's vice president for global marketing, on his passion for sports
	R. Gopalakrishnan, executive director, Tata Sons, on the decisive moments that have affected his life

Uploaded on July 10, 2004