(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
Doha: Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) has recently organised 'Celebrating Bapu, an open quiz Contest on the apostle of peace and non-violence', as part of the 'Gandhi Jayanti' celebration to commemorate the 153rd birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
“Part of the much longer 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahaotsav', 'Celebrating Bapu' had more than 150 participants from members of Indian community. Based on an interesting array of trivia question in the preliminary written test, eight teams were selected for the two semi-finals”, explained Krishna Kumar Bandhakavi, General Secretary of ICC. The final with the best four teams was organized on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Team Satyagraha of Hussain Abdul Kadhir and Mohammed Aatif took a big lead from the start, carried the momentum and was declared the winner. Team Ahimsa of Shinoj Leela and Swapna Unni was the runner-up.
Rounds in final were named after different movements Mahatma Gandhi was associated with, including Non-Cooperation, Civil Disobedience, Dandi March, Quit India, Champaran Satyagrah, Kheda Satyagraha.
While addressing the gathering, the Indian ambassador to Qatar, H E Dr Deepak Mittal appreciated the selection of questions and lauded the effort of ICC for organizing events like these.“Gandhi's values, teachings and principles are still very relevant after 75 years of India's independence,” he added while calling upon the community members to continue to keep him alive in their heart.
'Celebrating Bapu' was conceived by Shafqat Nabi, a brand and fashion management professional and Project Lead at Infotainment Factree. He was also the quiz-master.
Questions were well crafted for participants and audience, keeping them thoroughly engrossed. In one question, participants were asked to identify the voice of the then HRH Prince Charles while he interestingly paid tribute to Gandhi at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1969. In a still, participants were asked to identify the set of three sculptures named 'Gandhi's Three Monkeys' at Katara in Doha.
In another question, participants were asked what Gandhi used to call his contraption of a pair of oxen pulling a Ford car, gifted by industrialist Jamnalal Bajaj, after it broke down. The answer was 'Oxford'. Audience was left amazed by the kind of trivia shared by the quizmaster.
While delivering his speech on behalf of ICC, its vice-president Subramanya Hebagellu elaborated on the importance of Gandhi's values and principles.