A quiz show with a difference

Ashwin Bhaskaran, a member of the G.O.D Youth wing. Ashwin spoke about G.O.D’s aims and Sri Swamiji’s message of inner transformation through Mahamantra Chanting as the path to universal peace. It was also during this short break that the chief guest, Mr Raju Varanasi was introduced. As the Director of the Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre, Mr Varanasi promotes a culture of innovation and organisational learning across NSW Department of Education and Communities. His presence at Puranava served to strengthen the educational message of our puranas Just like his work, the event was presenting our traditional culture in an innovative light and encouraged learning in a fun, positive way. Mr Varanasi then proceeded to say a few words in his short address in which he expressed his delight at G.O.D’s initiative and how it bridges the gap between our heritage and children.

The Global Organisation for Divinity (G.O.D) was back onto the cultural scene yet again with a fresh new concept and lots of energy to match. Puranava, their newest initiative, was a heritage quiz contest based on the famous Hindu epic, Ramayana, in celebration of Sri Rama Navami. The contest held on 1st April 2012, was open to children from ages 10 to 16 and garnered 6 strong teams of which one was crowned winner.

The Global Organisation for Divinity is a non-profit organisation founded by the Sydney devotees of Sri Muralidhara Swamiji with the prime objective of popularising the Rama Nama Mahamantra as ordained by the

Swamiji. With that as the main objective, Puranava was inaugurated with Siddharth Murali as the MC.

As all auspicious occasions do, Puranava started off with prayers and the chanting of the Mahamantra to bless the event. This was sung by the children from Gopakuteeram, another G.O.D initiative. Gopakuteeram aims to educate and empower children about their faith and heritage through monthly classes. The children did the invocation with the chanting of the Mahamantra 11 times with the audience joining. An incredible vibration was felt in the hall, the energy and excitement almost palpable.

A very entertaining story by Vandan Raisinghani followed, in which the young boy recounted the story of Ramayana while interjecting his own quirky observations much to the enjoyment of the audience. He concluded very aptly by saying that chanting the Nama is true happiness in the analogy: ‘If jewelry adorns the face then the Nama adorns the lips.’ Two year old Skanda Kulkarni then wowed the audience by chanting few verses from Nama Ramayana Initially, Skanda shied away from the mike however as he went on, he warmed up to it and delivered a great performance supported by his encouraging mother. Lathika Shekhar then took stage and sang two soulful renditions of Rama bhajans.

With the celebration of Rama Navami well under way, it was time for Puranava the quiz contest to begin. Sujit Vasudevan served as the host and quite an entertaining one too! His delivery of the questions combined with his quick wit and excellent timing made the evening an enjoyable one for the audience. 12 children were divided into 6 pairs and given a team name A, B, C, D, E and F respectively. They competed in five rounds which were direct questions, charades, rapid fire, tough or easy option and audio/ visual. Throughout the first half, the children participated enthusiastically, answering all questions quickly and correctly, much to the elation of the adult audience.

As the first half was brought to a close, Siddharth introduced

Puranava resumed with four of the six teams remaining, two teams having been eliminated. The final rounds were entered with increasing excitement and anticipation from the audience as the teams battled to win first place. In the end, Team B consisting of Bharath Yalandur and Skanda Jagadish, were crowned winners of Puranava 2012.

All in all, the evening proved to be one of great contrasts. The traditional context of our puranas as the backdrop of the innovative and engaging quiz turned out to be quite popular as the question/ answer session concept is rooted in our culture. Our biggest epic, the Bhagavad Gita serves to convey its message through the medium of a question/answer session. So, what’s better than to gather the future of our generation, children and get them to learn about their own roots in a positive, encouraging manner? May initiatives like Puranava keep prospering!

Smriti Sekhar