The quiz winners: IIM-Bangalore's Sreekanth Kanthamnerini (left) and Susmit Patodia also qualified for the grand finale in Delhi

Bangalore would not have suspected how much its decibel levels were set to rise. But with the BT Acumen contest in town, held under the Aditya Birla Group banner in association with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the city should have been prepared for a lot of noise from B-school students.

This, after all, was the South zone qualifier for the debate-cum-quiz competition, and the entire region's most promising B-school teams had converged on the Sathya Sai Samskruta Sadanam auditorium to win that ticket to the grand finale, scheduled for December 20, 2004, in Delhi. Win that, and you could get to go to the Swinburne University of Technology, Australia, for a study stint-or maybe a highway-searing Kinetic Laser mobike. The reason they were all there, however, had to do with something far more prosaic: the very honour and glory of claiming the all-India championship. It's the sort of thing that looks rather good on a curriculum vitae, especially at the early stages of a career.

The sense of excitement in the hall was palpable, as the debates got underway, and the audience warmed itself to the series of verbal slanging matches to come. Topics ranged from 'Indian Advertising: Imitation or Innovation?' to 'Mobile Commerce: Myth or Reality?'. Sure enough, sparks flew, just as they should when the sharpest of B-school students throw their opinion-shaping skills into the ring. There were, of course, moments of humour in all the grim arguments. The elimination rounds saw two-member teams from Christ College and iim-Bangalore (also incidentally Acumen's regional partner) advance to the South zone qualifier's final debate. The topic: 'There is no such thing as a Global Brand'. As one could expect, it was nervy enough to keep the audience glued to the action onstage. It was closely fought, but the triumph went to Ambika K. and Rakshan Muneer of Christ College, who made their case with considerable eloquence and force of reasoning. The two are headed for the grand finale in Delhi.

The debate settled, it was time for the quizzes, starting with the Corporate Alumni quiz (a new introduction to the Acumen competition, featuring corporate contestants who were once B-school students themselves). This was relatively lighthearted in the intensity of competition, but fun nonetheless. The quiz was won by Prasad Shetty of Pidilite and Amit Didolkar of Wipro, who managed to gather more points than the runners-up team of a Citibanker and a VXL Instruments' executive.

Winning alumni: Pidilite's Prasad Shetty (C) and Wipro's Amit Didolkar (extreme R) accept the alumni quiz award from Madura Garments' H. Jhaveri

The South zone qualifier was taken to its evening's climax by the main B-school challenge quiz. This part of Acumen attracts plenty of audience interest for the simple prospect of winning some nice prizes for answering questions thrown to the floor. As evident in the enthusiasm, Canon digital cameras, Acumen memorabilia and Van Heusen gift vouchers were certainly worth the effort of flailing one's hands about.

The excitement of the actual B-school quiz fest-on stage-was also in much evidence. The questions, as always, ranged from the quirky to the techie. So people in the audience had their own data uploads. They learnt, for example, that India is Maggi noodles' biggest market globally, and that Microsoft's ms dos evolved from something called QDOs-Quick and Dirty Operating System. They also learnt a thing or two about risk. 'The first issue of which publication was undated, as the founder was unsure if there would be a second issue?' was the question. The answer? Playboy.

Once all the rounds were done, buzzer and all, it was IIM-Bangalore's turn to go up in a roar of triumph. Its team of Susmit Patodia and Sreekanth Kantha-mnerini managed to beat their closest South zone rivals (from Christ College) to bag that ticket to the grand finale (and with it, a chance to win the national competition). That's the event for which winners from all four zones-North, West, South and East-will converge in Delhi to slug it out for top status. That's when Acumen will get Googlewhacking.

Er, 'Google-whacking'? You'd have had to pay attention to the Bangalore quiz to know exactly what that refers to. A Google 'search' query that yields exactly one result-no more, no less.