Acumen 2002: (From left) Quiz winners Smitha S. and Dharmendra Singh of SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai, with the second runners-up team of Gaurav Talwar and Gokul Talwar of NITIE, Mumbai

Acumen champs: (From left) Quiz winners Dharmendra Singh and Smitha S. of Sp Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai, with debate champs Deepti Srivastava and Anjali Sharma of Symbiosis Centre of HRD

The first cars that came to India in 1904 had a spare tyre manufactured by which company?' No clue? Spare a moment, then, to marvel at how sharp India's B-school crowd is getting-as discovered by the West Zone round of the Business Today-Standard Chartered Acumen 2002: The National B-School Challenge.

This round of the contest, conducted by BT and Standard Chartered in association with TCS, has attracted the participation of 22 B-schools, with their debate, quiz, and cheering teams thronging the campus of the host B-school: Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies. They're vying for place at the National Finals, to be held in November at the Taj Palace, New Delhi.

The preliminary debate rounds start, and the audience is electrified by the impassioned arguments for and against the positions taken. Does EG matter more than IG? Is there wisdom in Peter Drucker's statement that profit will cease to be the sole goal for corporates?

The final debate is even more exciting. A surprise win is pulled off by the relative underdogs, the team from Pune's Symbiosis Centre for HRD (SCHRD), which edges past IIM, Ahmedabad. Arguing that pricing strategy may not be the key to survive in an economic downturn, SCHRD's all-woman team of Deepti Shrivastava and Anjali Sharma wins the audience over by citing the example of MTNL to show that 'price cutting is a black hole'. The duo hold their positions firm, even daring to take on some of the judges in the Q&A session-the clincher.

The quiz proves to be an equally hair-raising event. Conducted by Joy Bhattacharya, the audience is raring to enter the sharpness sweepstakes. Questions cover not only business, but music and the arts as well, on the logic that leadership of the future would need to be well-rounded if it is to succeed in the hullabaloo of the modern marketplace.

The enthusiastic crowd robs IIM, Ahmedabad of 10 points by blurting out the answer to a question. At the end, Mumbai's SP Jain Institute of Management Research (SPJIMR) sneaks past IIM, Ahmedabad-by 10 points-to emerge victorious.

In all, it's one rip-roaring affair, with Arthur Andersen emerging as the favourite butt of all jokes, with Enron and Xerox in close competition for the honour.

So, SPJIMR and SCHRD it is, qualified to meet MDI and FMs from the North Zone (they qualified earlier), in the final. The East and South zone qualifying rounds are still to be held-watch this space. Ah, yes, if you're still wondering about that tyre firm, it's Stepney Tyre Company.