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Giri Balasubramanium

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Giri Balasubramaniam
NationalityIndian
Other names'Pickbrain'
EducationPost Graduate in Media Management
Alma materHarvard Business School
OccupationQuizmaster
Years active1996-present
Websitewww.greycaps.com

Giri 'Pickbrain' Balasubramaniam is the founder and chief executive officer of Greycaps, India's largest on stage quizzing and knowledge service provider[citation needed] . He is nicknamed Pickbrain.[1]

Early life and career

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Giri has an MBA in Media Management and a master's degree in Gandhian Philosophy and Thought.[2] Giri is alumnus of Harvard Business School (2017).[3] He is a distinguished student from Baldwin Boys' High School, Bangalore.

A little known fact about Giri is during his early years was a passionate cricketer who captained his college side. He was also the wicket keeper for a first division club in Bangalore named Young Cricketers. He kept wickets for the great spinner Anil Kumble as they played for the same club as youngsters.

Giri started his career in 1992, with The Economic Times, and was later part of the team responsible for successful relaunch of The Bangalore Edition of the Times of India in 1996. He then worked with Walt Disney group for three years before serving as the youngest vice-president in-charge of Content and Strategy for Indiainfo.

Thereafter, he founded Quizbrain.com, in 1999 and later launched his own company Greycaps India Pvt. Ltd.[2][4][5]

Work

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Giri is a noted quizmaster and author of several quiz books. He is also the mind behind the Global Awareness Program (GAP) one of India's first focused, structured knowledge enhancement programs for school children and Knowledge‐Hub & Global Business Review for management students. He has pioneered a program on Values Education in schools called "Keystones". Over 25,00,000 children have been part of these programs. He and his team have presented close to 3000 shows across 94 destinations of India, Sri Lanka, Oman, Singapore, United Kingdom, Kuwait, Japan, UAE and United States to emerge as one of the fastest growing quiz hosts from the region.

He is a regular guest speaker and advisory panel member at several B‐schools, educational institutions and corporate houses in India. During his visits to Muscat and Kuwait he has been invited regularly by leading schools in that country to address their students.

In 2007, as recognition of his growing popularity and contribution to learning and development Times of India identified him amongst "Potential Future Leaders of India" as part of its Lead India Initiative. Dewang Mehta had once remarked about him ”We are moving into an era where education and knowledge will carry great value and people like Pickbrain will be the icons of that generation."

He has been working with Tata Consultancy Services since 1998 and is the quizmaster of their national quiz TCS IT Wiz, claimed to be India's biggest inter-school IT Quiz. Since 2022, this quiz has been renamed TCS InQuizitive. He is also the quiz master of Tata Crucible,[6] organised by Tata Sons in India, UK, Singapore and UAE.[7]

In 2021, he made his debut in films with the Tamil film Kamali from Nadukkaveri. He plays himself in the film. The film stars Rohit Saraf and Anandhi along with veteran actor Prathap Pothen. The movie has been highly rated and appreciated by the audience as a motivational film and a film that addresses woman empowerment.

Quizography

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Quiz Title Year of Launch No. of Cities Website
UNION BANK U-GENIUS QUIZ 2022 24
TCS IT WIZ now TCS InQuizitive 1999 24 https://www.tcs.com/en/inquizitive-dynamic/inquizitive
TATA CRUCIBLE 2004 43 www.tatacrucible.com
VIJAYA BANK QUIZ 1997 1 NA
NATIONAL RURAL IT QUIZ 2000 12 NA
NSE FUNANCIAL QUEST 2008 24 NA
RBIQ 2014 62 NA
TIMES OF OMAN OPEN QUIZ 2004 1 NA
Q8 (KUWAIT) OPEN QUIZ 2015 1 NA
ECONOMIC TIMES ET IN CLASSROOM QUIZ 1996 12 NA
THOMAS COOK TRAVEL QUEST 2014 24 travel-quest.in
INFOSYS ASPIRATIONS 2020 2006 48 NA
JAPAN OPEN QUIZ 2015 1 NA
TIMES OF INDIA NIE FUNDAMENTAL QUIZ 1996 12 NA
ETHOS ARCHUMEN ARCHITECTURE QUIZ 1999 8 NA
BENDING MOMENTS CIVIL ENGINEERING QUIZ 2003 8 NA
ULTRATECH STIMULUS CIVIL ENGINEERING QUIZ 2008 24 NA
BPCL BRAND BAADSHAH 2014 24 NA
ANAND BAZAR PATRIKA QUIZ 2010 16 NA
THE HINDU CATALYST SCIENCE QUIZ 2008 12 NA
CBSE SCIENCE QUIZ 2005 48 NA
CII HR QUIZ 2013 4 NA
CII MANUFACTURING QUIZ 2015 8 NA
CNBC AWAAZ RUPIAH AUR RESPONSIBILITY QUIZ 2009 16
TAPMI QUIZ ON THE BEACH 2004 16 https://www.tapmi.edu.in/flagship-events/quiz-on-the-beach/
PRESIDENCY CHALLENGE CUP 2008 02 www.presidencychallenge.com
TIMES OF OMAN SCHOOL CHALLENGE 2008 1 NA
GOVT OF KARNATAKA BLORE BIO QUIZ 2001 1 NA
INDIA INSIGHT 2020 10 INDIA INSIGHT QUIZ [1]
WORLD TEACHERS QUIZ 2020 10 TEACHER TRIBE

Awards

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  • Nominated the Global Innovator Award 2005‐06 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States
  • Recipient of seven Limca Book of Records for quizzing achievements
  • Nominated for an Internet Oscar in 2001 at the Asian Internet Awards, Singapore
  • CM Asia Award 2004 and 2005
  • Nomination to the Dewang Mehta Award given by the Ministry Of Information Technology, Government of India

References

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  1. ^ "Pune Final last stop over for Tata Crucible Campus Quiz". CNBC-TV18. Jun 6, 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Interview with Giri". Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  3. ^ "Giri Balasubramaniam profile at Linkedin". Linkedin.
  4. ^ "SmartCEO – Magazine – Starting Up – Grey Matters". Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  5. ^ "About Greycaps". Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  6. ^ "Tata Crucible".
  7. ^ "TCS IT Wiz - India's biggest inter-school IT Quiz". www.tcsitwiz.com. Archived from the original on August 22, 2008. Retrieved 2017-10-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)