The name Chandrakant Nair evokes fervent adoration in the mind of any avid quizzer. MTTN brings you his Dastaan in this tête-à-tête with the quizzer extraordinaire.
MTTN: So we hear that you served in Indian Army. What inspired you to join and serve the country?
CN: During my youth, India was involved in the Kargil war, I wanted to experience the thrill of the men in the trenches on our borders, and this drove me to join the army.
MTTN:What fueled you to stick to your guns in the face of the bloody war?
CN: More than a sense of patriotism it was a feeling of comradeship that I had developed with my fellow soldiers which made me fight on and help my comrades-in-arms. If let yourself down in the army, you also let down the whole generation of fighters who have fought in that battalion or regiment.
MTTN: How did you deal with the loss loved ones in the army?
CN: Death becomes a part of your daily life in the army. One incident that I heard of stands out though. It took place in Siachen. A soldier was trapped in a niche of ice and was burnt alive due to a kerosene lamp. When they dug him out of the snow his body was charred beyond recognition and they were only able to identify him due to his name tag.
MTTN: What made you leave the army?
CN: During my time in the army I felt that I couldn’t devote enough time to my other passions such as travelling. Hence I took the decision to leave the army.
MTTN:Tell us about your childhood and about your first brush with quizzing.
CN: I was schooled in Calicut, Kerala and in Delhi. I first started quizzing in the sixth grade and went on quizzing and now it’s been 20 years since I first started it and it is also how I met my wife! I also spent a few years in North Eastern India. The militants there are, I feel ,misunderstood. Surprisingly, over there the army and militants are not always confrontational. I have seen Indian Army doctors attend to militants’ children in an emergency.
MTTN: How has your experience been so far at MIT?
CN: I like MIT. It has been full of hospitality. One thing that I like in particular is how they put up wastage statistics in the food court, it teaches one to value food just as we were taught in the army to value our limited resources.
MTTN: Which is the best quiz you have witnessed so far?
CN: It was the quiz held at IIT Madras in January, 2015.
MTTN: What has been your best answer to a question so far?
CN:The best answer I gave was current date of the Malayalam calendar in spite of having very little knowledge of the date. I got the answer right based on inspired guesswork!
MTTN:What tips do you have for the budding and aspiring quizzers of MIT?
CN: I advise them to keep their senses alert and draw knowledge from each and every source around them and they should also try to attend and participate in as many quizzes that they can.
–Shreyan Datta Chakraborty and Shagun Nevatia for MTTN
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