T@6 Logo

Started in 2004, by a set of quizzing freaks, it initially existed virtually. When decided to move on from the online quizzing (email, forums) to Live quizzing, we wanted an unusual and attractive name. After several rounds of email discussions the founding fathers settled for the name T@6. What it originally meant, is still a mystery. Legends says that it was Thursdays at 6 (Since it was run initially at every Thursdays at 6 PM). We call it now Trivia at 6 (Now it run every Wednesdays at 5:30 PM).

For the initial few years, it ran as a cult club, where an attendance of more than 10 is considered unusual. It almost died, with the active quizzers either moving out or leaving. The revival happened somewhere in 2007 with a set of quizzers trying to bring back the strong culture back, and trying to make the club more popular. It took sometime to break the 2-digit attendance barrier. Since early 2007 T@6 happens every Wednesday without fail (with few exceptions of public holidays). We do have a regular attendance of 60-70 folks now, with sometime touching the magical 3 figure. The theme of these quizzes varies from the trivial Biz, Sports, Movies, Politics to bizzare ones, like the Anagram quiz, Food, Wine & Cigar etc.,

As the name suggests, T@6 is a more a Trivia sharing and fun event, than a core quizzing event.There are many folks, including me, for whom Wednesday is the best day of the week.

I attribute the success of T@6 to smart marketing, led by some crazitive quizzers, viz Ebenezer George (Who has written that brilliant text for the logo), Ashwin Alexander and Truly Yours.

I’m sharing a few posters we’ve designed for T@6 and other quizzes by HQF. Click on the image for a higher resolution version.

Ashwin models on this spoof of the famous Infosys recruitment ad. By George.

Another Masterpiece by George.

We have Venn Diagrams for almost anything. Here's one for the Quizzers. By George.

The Do's and Don't of Quizzing. By George.

It's all about being a little too awesome. George does some Egosurfing.

Latte or Filter Kaapi. You get everything. By George.

Things To Do in Hyd DC. Sheer Awesomeness! By George.

A Smash on the Ego of Experience! By George.

Yes, We Can! by Ashwin.

A Very Long Quiz. By Riyaz.

Break The Routine. By Riyaz.

How Did He Do It? By Ashwin.

Grey Cell Camp. A Spoof on the HRD Mailers. By Riyaz and Jayaram.

Conversation Series. Frost/Nixon. By Shailesh and Riyaz.

Conversation Series. Sex and the City. By Shailesh and Riyaz.

Conversation Series. Deewar. By Shailesh and Riyaz.

Conversation Series. The Dark Knight. By Shailesh and Riyaz.

Conversation Series. Taxi Driver. By Shailesh and Riyaz.

I Quiz Therefore I Am. Animesh, The Photographer. By Riyaz. Photo: Animesh.

I Quiz Therefore I Am. Divya, The Dancer. By Riyaz. Photo: Animesh.

I Quiz Therefore I Am. Riyaz, The Rider. By Riyaz. Photo: Animesh.

I Quiz Therefore I Am. Sandeep, The Singer. By Riyaz.

I Quiz Therefore I Am. Sumanoj, The Reader. By Riyaz. Photo: Animesh.

Sorry for the Interruption. Quiz Time!

Oh. It’s almost 5:3o now. Gotta rush for the T@6!

PLL (or Pot Luck Lunch) is one tradition we follow religiously in my team in Infosys, thanks to our Head, Dr. Rastogi. Like it or not, you are forced to cook and bring something to lunch once in a month. If it is chance for established chef’s to showcase their talent, for novices it is a chance for experiment at somebody’s expense! (For the uninitiated: PLL is a form of lunch where everybody brings something to form a complete lunch. This can be planned or unplanned.) We have divided our team into groups and one group organizes the PLL once in a month. We normally cook everything by ourself and keep purchases to a minimum.

I was the in charge of one group, and it was my turn last Thursday. When it came to me last Monday, i thought of ways to make it more interesting. Normally our PLLs are grand in menu, since there will be 8-10 different multi-cusine dishes every time. I decided to theme the PLL. I proposed a continental lunch initially. But the team was very skeptical about this, so the menu turned the Indian way. Further traditional Indian menu made way to typical Andhra menu. With much deliberations, the menu again went west, confirming an All Continental PLL, thanks to the confidence of our chief chef, Hory Sanker Mukherjee. After much discussions, the menu was also confirmed.

Italian Minestrone
Russian Salad
Buttered Vegetables
Spanish Pasta
Chicken/Veg Burger
Italian Pizza
Nachos & Baked Beans with Cheese
Crème Caramel
French Wine (also called Grape Juice, locally)

Now that the menu is all set,begins the hunt for ingredients. Even though each dish is assigned to one individual, we decided to do a collective effort. Many of the dishes were planned to make live at office. I and Raghu went for an extensive shopping for these. We managed to get almost everything but Nachos. So Nachos was replaced with Plain Cheese Sandwich.

So comes the D-Day.  We normally have a monthly review meeting on the day of PLL. We qucikly finished our reviews and went to the Kitchen by 11 to start preparations. With a collective effort (thanks to Hory, Chitra, Vishnu, Ayesha, Raghu & Jayaram) we made the 2 bowls of Russian Salad, 8 medium Pizzas, 20 Burgers and 15 Sandwiches. Pasta (by Mani), Buttered Veggies (by Bhavani) and Creme Caramel (by Ayesha) were cooked at home and bought.

By around 1:30 we were all set for the Lunch. The Table was looking quite awesome. Surprisingly it was tasting good too! It took no more than 30 mins for us to finish the entire stuff!!

Who will be able to work afternoon after such a filling heavy lunch? I went with Mani and Anita for few rounds of walk, though it didn’t help much.

Can’t wait till the next edition of the PLL.

Photos:

Ishaan is son of my friend Venu in Infosys. I’ve never seen Ishaan. Nor I’ll be able to now.

Eighteen months old Ishaan died yesterday, while undergoing treatment for a rare type of brain tumor. But Ishaan will still see the world with his eyes. He still will live his life. He saved a life, and gave sight to two.

Despite of the enormous grief and toughest time in their life, Venu and his wife Swati decided to donate his eyes and kidneys, marking a must-followed example for all. It really would have been a tough decision for them, but they wanted to make his short life meaningful.

Venu, Please allow me to join you in your grief. My prayers are always with you. I’m proud to say that I’m your friend. What you’ve done is an unmatched act of compassion.

I realy couldn’t resist what Venu has told me about this.

The idea was to spread awareness about organ donation. We were inspired by Master Shourya’s case (he was the youngest organ donor – same age as Ishaan.). We hope many others get inspired by Ishaan’s story.

It was painful to recount our experience but we had to do it for the cause of organ donation.

News Report on The Hindu