It was June 2006 when I got to the set of the national quiz show "Kantipur Quiz Whiz." It was Kantipur Television's weekly one hour prime time broadcast program which was considered the biggest general knowledge program in the history of television in Nepal. After going through one year of preliminaries, knock outs and semi-final, that day was the day, the big day, finals. And I, along with my other friend, was representing my school. We were competing with the two biggest schools of Kathmandu valley.
The set was ready, the host was ready. The camera person adjusted the angles of camera; the sound man checked the sound. We were told to adjust our microphones. I shook hands with my competitors wishing them good luck but praying to win. Then came the moment, the host entered the set and the producer shouted "action".
Six of us, two from each school, were bombarded with questions of Current Affairs, History, Geography, Science, Literature and Entertainment. After the first three rounds, our school stood in the last position. The looks on the face of our principal, sitting next to the principals of other two schools, was saddening. Then came the toughest part, the rapid fire round. A team was to answer ten questions within a minute and the question could be from any category. After the first team was asked the questions, the winner was kind of clear. Even if our team or the other team answered all the questions, the first team was the win. Then there was a race for first runner up. We answered all answers of rapid fire round and leveled the score with the other team. Now there was to be a tie-breaker for the first runner up position.
I'd never wanted to be second so bad in my whole life. The thought of hundreds of thousands of people looking at us make me more anxious. The team first buzzers and answers were to be first runner up. Then the tie-breaker question was asked. "Who created the famous fictitious character, James bond?" I instantaneously pressed the buzzer and shouted, "Ian Fleming." I had never been fond of James Bond novel, short stories or even movies but that was the moment where James Bond was my favorite character. The small smile on my principal's face gave me the greatest happiness I could imagine.
This whole experience was of great significance to my learning and my life as well. It taught me how to accept the defeat in one second and fight for achievement in the next. It made me realize the meaning of happiness, the real happiness you gain when you win after fighting. It taught me everything does not come for granted, you have to work hard for it and sometimes working hard is not just enough, you need to work harder.
Just after a month after this event, our team stood first in another nationwide quiz competition organized by Jaycees Nepal beating the same competitor in the finals. Then I realized the former event was of great learning to me. I also learned, life sometimes gives you second chance to overcome the mistakes and it's up to you either you grab the opportunity or for another mistake.
The set was ready, the host was ready. The camera person adjusted the angles of camera; the sound man checked the sound. We were told to adjust our microphones. I shook hands with my competitors wishing them good luck but praying to win. Then came the moment, the host entered the set and the producer shouted "action".
Six of us, two from each school, were bombarded with questions of Current Affairs, History, Geography, Science, Literature and Entertainment. After the first three rounds, our school stood in the last position. The looks on the face of our principal, sitting next to the principals of other two schools, was saddening. Then came the toughest part, the rapid fire round. A team was to answer ten questions within a minute and the question could be from any category. After the first team was asked the questions, the winner was kind of clear. Even if our team or the other team answered all the questions, the first team was the win. Then there was a race for first runner up. We answered all answers of rapid fire round and leveled the score with the other team. Now there was to be a tie-breaker for the first runner up position.
I'd never wanted to be second so bad in my whole life. The thought of hundreds of thousands of people looking at us make me more anxious. The team first buzzers and answers were to be first runner up. Then the tie-breaker question was asked. "Who created the famous fictitious character, James bond?" I instantaneously pressed the buzzer and shouted, "Ian Fleming." I had never been fond of James Bond novel, short stories or even movies but that was the moment where James Bond was my favorite character. The small smile on my principal's face gave me the greatest happiness I could imagine.
This whole experience was of great significance to my learning and my life as well. It taught me how to accept the defeat in one second and fight for achievement in the next. It made me realize the meaning of happiness, the real happiness you gain when you win after fighting. It taught me everything does not come for granted, you have to work hard for it and sometimes working hard is not just enough, you need to work harder.
Just after a month after this event, our team stood first in another nationwide quiz competition organized by Jaycees Nepal beating the same competitor in the finals. Then I realized the former event was of great learning to me. I also learned, life sometimes gives you second chance to overcome the mistakes and it's up to you either you grab the opportunity or for another mistake.