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[title]No one comes to the state of susegad looking for a quiz. But in the unbearable heat of May, I ran into not one or two, but six quiz nights in Goa in two weeks.
What ended up happening was a long, rewarding trample through what I now know is a severely underrated Goa trivia and pub quiz scene – answering questions sober and drunk, visiting pubs and college auditoriums, as a competitive pack and teamed with total strangers.
For anyone looking for things to do in Goa beyond the usual beach-and-bar circuit, and hunting down seafood thalis, quiz nights offer a surprisingly social alternative. Oh, and if you're in Goa during the monsoon, quiz nights are only one way to get off the usual tourist circuit. Here's our guide to the best things to do in Goa in the monsoon.
Now, it may not be as titillating as seeing dancers twirling fire rings on a beach, or as chaotic as karaoke, but it gives you a chance to feel part of a truly enthusiastic, scream-y community. One that believes that winning even one point for your team is important… but also has mastered classic thinly veiled trash talk.
The audience, it would turn out, ranged from tourists who happen to be around the right pub at the right time to local residents, who themselves are always a mix of curious attendees and avid quizzers over time. And the quizmasters? Veterans in riling you up.
Across Panjim, Porvorim, Candolim, Calangute and Vagator, Goa's quiz nights attract a surprisingly mixed crowd. The very first quiz I attended was hosted by Alroy Fernandes, a radio jockey, professional emcee and cooking show host who also runs The Inquizitors, a quiz company that focuses on keeping it simple. Can you identify a Bollywood movie from the 90s? Will you be able to clock a lesser known Madonna song? You’ll not go home empty handed, partly because everyone who attends gets at least a shot of alcohol for encouragement. You get your first ten points for coming up with a punny group name that amuses the quizmaster – this bit of the night involves the most booing, generally. The rest is relatively polite and involves writing your answers down on a sheet.
There are also double or minus points kind of wagers to keep things spicy and a music round where the song plays for at least 30 seconds too long. I had turned up with a group of first time attendees whose confidence rose over 3 rounds until we let all 30+ attendees know we were better than them. Thankfully, we ranked third and the confidence was not entirely misplaced.
The Inquizitors hold at least four quizzes a month, and each one takes you to a different pub across Goa! Food is key, you get to visit less known bars, and top prizes range from large bottles of alcohol and crates of newly launched drinks to Airbnb vouchers.
Two days later, I attended yet another quiz to see entirely different faces filling up yet another bar, this time in Panjim. Sully One Project, run by Sullivan Noronha, fondly called Sully by those screaming at him through the night, believes that if your participants aren’t in beast mode the entire time, you are not doing a good job as a quizmaster.
While his quizzes in the bars at Candolim, Calangute or Vagator see mostly tourists, he has a loyal local crowd attending the ones he holds in Panjim and Porvorim. The question range this night was incredibly diverse – from identifying one hit wonders to obscure current affairs, literature to pop history. The double Jeopardy round that is part of most Sully One quiz nights is deviously designed to stump even the strongest quizzers - this is where dumb luck comes in. Sully himself is quite calm, unruffled by the tension of the night as points rise and fall across teams. He can quiz, he can keep score and also pacify people begging for half a point. There’s no room for errors here and you can see why one of his favourite game shows is The Weakest Link, hosted by the poker-faced, brutally funny Anne Robinson.
Behind the scenes of a quiz night in Goa
My teammates and I sweated it out. Our answers weren’t always firmly placed in knowledge as much as guided by good guessing and hope. We didn’t all know each other, but the joy of trusting the right person with the right answer was an almost moving experience. We placed third, missing the generous bar voucher prizes. One teammate was pretty upset that she was bunched with losers. However, knowing that we beat a team that has won Sully’s quizzes ten times before made me really proud of my team. It led to some fun post-quiz conversations that lasted almost as long as the quiz itself. A pretty neat evening for anyone who struggles to strike up a chat.
Both Sullivan and Alroy, having hosted and participated in quizzes outside Goa, believe that the general Indian quizzing scene can get rowdy, and far too serious. More often than not, it is also almost entirely attended by men. In Goa though, all quizmasters make an effort to leave out the cheaters and the non-threatening atmosphere also draws many female quizzers.
None are prouder of the Goan quizzing scene than Rajiv D’Silva who started the Sunday Evening Quiz Club (SEQC) with two enthusiastic friends and their families in 2008. Today, SEQC holds the largest number of quizzes in Goa for adults – two general quizzes every month, but also multiple themed quizzes focussed on movies, pop culture and lighter topics in general.
Unlike pub quizzes that are built for participants to win, SEQC quizzes are meant to challenge. What about prizes? Sometimes a bar of chocolate, sometimes a trophy because cash prizes always attract too many pros and schemers, it seems. Understandable. But it so happened that the Sunday I could attend was their annual quiz, hosted by the club co-founder Aniruddha ‘Annie’ Sengupta. It was going to be tough, it was going to be three hours long, and the end prize was supposed to be… a few mangoes. Wow. My former teammates weren’t enthused. Thankfully, quizmasters at SEQC pair newbies with seasoned players.
The weird fun of eating humble pie at quiz night in Goa
My teammates for the evening assured me they weren’t ‘experts’, which turned out to be a lie. One of them used to be a regular in the Bengaluru quizzing scene and had won the movie quiz at SEQC recently. The other knew more about books and movies than my previous two teams combined. I still managed to contribute two answers (out of, erm, 35), which turned out to be enough for my teammates to ask me to stick around till the end of the evening.
I still couldn’t figure if people were nice or this much knowledge is enough to get by as an adult quizzer. We qualified for round two, added two teammates who also played humble but jumped to answer every obscure mythology and general knowledge question. My contribution, meanwhile, petered from ‘could it be…?’ to staring blankly at the quizmaster and avoiding eye contact by the end of the evening.
We placed second last. As someone who started playing tennis in her late 30s, though, I know that’s no reason to back down from a good thing. I now think of myself as a slightly wiser person than before I attended a quiz. More importantly, I learned what makes quizzing fun isn’t knowing stuff, but making friends and not being shy to take your most educated guess. So yes – what started as a happy accident will be happening again, even if it leaves most itinerary planners quizzed.
If you're planning a longer Goa escape around it, here are some of the best beachfront hotels in Goa to stay at.
Where to find the best quiz nights in Goa, at a glance
The Inquizitors
Four quizzes a month at pubs across Goa, covering pop culture, music, Bollywood and general knowledge.
Entry: Free!
Sully One Project
Regular quiz nights in Candolim, Calangute, Vagator, Panjim and Porvorim, with questions spanning current affairs, literature, music and pop culture.
Entry: Free!
Sunday Evening Quiz Club (SEQC)
Two general quizzes a month in Goa, plus themed quizzes focused on movies, pop culture and more.
Entry: Free!