It was more than a decade ago now, in 2012, that I, a timid 19-year old, walked cautiously into the majestic General Lecture Theatre of Medical College Kolkata. It was new, enthralling, and just a little intimidating.

A typical college batch has the whole spectrum, ranging from the loud, popular extroverts who fit in seamlessly into any social situation, and there are people like me: quiet, reserved, solitude-seekers. And a place like MCK has something for everyone: from college politics to table tennis, from photography to quizzing.

I’ve always been a low-key quizzer, and I was pretty excited when, only a month into my MBBS, a senior of mine, incidentally also a school senior, told me there was going to be a 2-day quiz festival: FAQ, they’re calling it. Sounds nice.

And I was hooked. It was my first exposure to the college quiz, a lively, nerdy celebration of knowledge and camaraderie. But as luck would have it, nobody in my batch shared my interest. Our college did have some pretty amazing quizzers, my senior included, but they already had their present teams, with not much room for a starry-eyed newbie.

Despite that, I kept on attending the college quizzes, including fest quizzes, and the FAQ of 2013, this time inviting in an esteemed quizzer from Calcutta’s quizzing circle. Finally in 2014, during my third year, things changed. Our college union decided to create a number of clubs, including a quiz club, the MCKQC.

And then, the magic happened. A number of quiet, reserved social misfits started coming out of their shells and joined our informal quizzing sessions. The fact that they were conducted after college hours in the cozy confines of our cyber cafe, Dead Poets Society style, was much to the relief of many in this gang of introverts.

We would each bring a small set of 10-12 questions and share it with the group, while the others would try to answer. We kept scores, or did we? I don’t remember. All I remember was the forging of brand-new friendships over a niche interest.

As final year drew near, with its heralding of the ominous final exams and internship drew near, things started taking a slight backseat, but not before two more amazing sessions of FAQ, now expanded to three glorious days, the 2016 one only partly attended by me thanks to a looming surgery exam.

By 2017, my internship year, we had a proper “gang”, spanning 4-5 batches all the way from second year to post-final year. We finally decided to do a quiz of our own, pitching in questions from everybody, to create a set to remember. I still recall staying up at night while on-call, random questions popping into my head which were shared in the group without delay.

In early 2018, our set was ready. The Decades Quiz was a General Quiz with questions arranged chronologically, a rather unique format. It was quite well-received. We did two more instalments later, in 2019 and 2020. The rest of 2018 was taken up mostly by NEET prep so the quizzing reduced a notch, but the flame stayed alive.

The flame burned its brightest just after my exam, in the winter and spring of 2019, when a bunch of us went to the Kolkata Quiz Festival in Rabindra Sarobar, the Mecca of quizzers all over town. It was full of amazing sets and nerdy interactions, something I had missed a lot in the past year.

And it didn’t stop there. We went quizzing all over town, from Presidency to KPC. My fondest memory is that of a MELAS quiz from KPC, where we managed to qualify to the finals and fight against the quizzing giants. Of course we didn’t win, but were we ever in it just to win it?

I got my selection in Rohtak, which I knew was the death knell of my quizzing streak. But I wanted to go out with a bang. Not a big bang, but a bang nonetheless. I started work on a music and movie quiz, focusing on my strong suit. When I realised that I was happy with the quality of the set, I mustered my courage and decided to make it an open quiz, with no age-bar.

For the uninitiated, an open-quiz opens up doors to the big fish of the city’s quizzing circle. It was intimidating, but I trusted my set. And I’m glad I did. I still remember the praises, both in person and on Facebook, about the set from a rather obscure newcomer, which turned out to be great. Hosting that open quiz in our old GLT was the high point of my quizzing life.

But time was running out. It was an emotional day for me when almost everyone in our gang, from final year students to neet pg preppers, agreeing to meet up for a Last Supper of sorts. Full of the old banter and good food, it was an evening I’ll always hold dear.

With one final quiz in Techno Salt Lake in late April, I was done. I moved to Rohtak in May, where quizzing was a distant dream. I did host a couple of quizzes in Feb 2020, just before the COVID hit, and I did keep on participating in a couple of online quizzes during the COVID season, but without the teamwork and banter, it didn’t feel the same.

But the bonds have remained. This odd bunch of misfits is still very much in touch, and when I returned home in July 2022 after my residency, we had yet another rendezvous, just like old times, and you could never have guessed that three years had passed in the interim.

I got to attend the first ever post-COVID in-person quiz to be conducted in our old GLT. It had seen an entire makeover in this time, and looked almost new. But as soon as the first question came up on the screen, familiarity struck hard. I also met some new, bright faces, people ready to carry on the legacy. Did we win? No. But then again, in a way, we did.

Because this humble little bunch of social misfits has given me some of the fondest memories and most lasting friendships. Right now, we are scattered all-over: from Kolkata to Bangalore to the USA. But the spirit lives on. I was overcome with emotion to see some of our brightest successors take on the baton and conduct a staggering set of quizzes in this year’s college fest.

I was never very good at quizzing: my seniors and some of my juniors have been a whole lot better. But that was never what this quiz club was ever about for me, and for many others, as one of my juniors put it:

‘The quiz club has always been a safe haven for us. A shady alcove where we can be ourselves, make friends, pursue our hobby, joke around without having to think of the consequences of light banter being misconstrued. It’s a collection of like minded individuals…and that’s what makes it so special!”

Long live MCKQC!!!