Strength lies in differences, not in similarities!

True. Very true! The same goes with any team. A team's strength lies in the diverse qualities of its team members and not in the alike qualities. Read On... :)

Jan 2005:
My passion for quizzing was not going to end after graduation. I was now ready for Corporate Quizzing! Very few companies run an internal national level annual quiz event. *Couple-O-Questions* is a very successful in-house event of TCS Maitree conducted in Feb every year. TCS Maitree is an extensive forum of women (and men) who reach out to the Tata Consultancy Services family as well as the wider community. The concept of *Couple* in the quiz is that a team must have male-female pair! So now I faced a challenge to find a "quizzically yours" lady as my partner. And the hunt began.. ;)

My first *search* email went to the lady who interviewed me during recruitment drive. :p Unfortunately, she was out of India for some assignment. :( The next mails were *chain mails* to my friends saying, "Wanted a lady who has proven track record of winning quizzes in past!". Looks like a matrimonial ad?! :-)
After 2 weeks of search, the quest ended and I found an MBA who had won a number of quizzes during her college days. Interestingly, she was also looking for a partner.
I never did such a dramatical thing to participate in a quiz! :D We shared some quiz books/internet websites,etc. until the prelims and were set for the event. A tough 30 question prelim was pretty manageable 'coz she was great at literature questions and moi at current affairs. Teamwork at its best! :)

Feb 2005:
An email popped up in the inbox saying that my team was one of the six regional finalists! :O
Though we were just about confident about the selection, such an email always gives you a pleasant surprise. :) And more importantly it was going to be held on my Birthday! :p

Some more weeks of preparation and the D-day arrived. It was a very chilly evening [as far as Bombay's winter is concerned] at the beautiful Banyan Park office. We had a good start in the quiz, but in the subsequent rounds many of the *pass* questions were eaten up by a *legend quizzer*, who was sitting just next to us.

That's how it goes on stage quizzing! :D At the end of the game, we found ourselves in the fourth position. Never mind, we won quite a good amount of shopping vouchers and were served some lavish dinner! What was good that we both complemented each other in different fields of quizzing. :) That's what a winning team is made of. Isn't it?

PS: Updates :->
Sep 2006:
1) This same team participated in Brand Equity Quiz 2005 as well, but were kicked out in the prelims. :) My quizzing partner left this company soon and went onto some other Indian IT giant! ;) Dunno if there is a quizzing tradition in that firm. :

2) Mr. *legend quizzer* is a Tata Crucible 2006 National Runner-up and Brand Equity 2006 Regional Finalist as well. A truly amazing brain! :)