Year 2019 has started with a lot of energy for The Foundation. January saw an exiting and highly successful quiz on safety for school children – SafetyQuest 2019 – in Goa. March saw me taking another trip to the favourite place of the family …GOA ! This time, to attend BIOQUEST 2019, hosted by The Department Of BIOCHEMISTRY, Goa Medical College.
The Foundation has been associated with BIOQUEST since 2015. However, this is the first time I had an opportunity to be present in person for this quiz competition in the subject of Biochemistry. The brain child of Dr Chitra Dhume, HOD of the Department Of Biochemistry, and very ably supported by members of staff of the department, I was absolutely amazed to see how well it is organised and conducted.
The quiz was conducted on the 28th of March and was attended by the whole first MBBS batch students and also a few seniors. The preliminary rounds had been conducted earlier and five teams of two students each won a place in this years finals. I loved the names they had given the teams : Amino acid group , Buffers group, Carbohydrate group, DNA group and Enzymes group! The enthusiasm of the participants and their friends in the audience was fantastic! Quizmaster Dr. Karapurkar did a wonderful job ! There were surprises and tough fights till the end. The winners of the first place were Ms Aindri Tiwari And Ms Gautami Nitin Rao. However, each one of the finalist went home with textbooks which will help them in the 2nd MBBS and a trophy each!
The prizes were sponsored by Dr Chitra Dhume in the memory of her mother and The Arundhati Foundation in the memory of Aru. Incidentally, she was a topper in the subject of Biochemistry.
I also addressed the students and held a Road Safety Awareness Session. In the audience, there were atleast ten individuals who had lost a family member in a road traffic accident. Just goes to show Road Safety is so important a subject in the current scenario.
It was a day spent extremely well for me. It was indeed touching to see that every year a staff member gets lotus flowers in Aru’s memory, the symbol of The Arundhati Foundation. Each finalist is welcomed on stage with a Rose, on behalf of Dr Chitra’s mother and a lotus, on Aru’s behalf.
I am indebted to Dr Chitra and each and every member of the team for a fantastic organisation of BIOQUEST 2019. I look forward to the next and am sure , next year we will together make the BIOQUEST 2020 another grand success!
Sharing a few pictures of this program.
