Giri Balasubramanium

Last updated
Giri Balasubramaniam
NationalityIndian
Other names'Pickbrain'
Education Post Graduate in Media Management
Alma materHarvard Business School
OccupationQuizmaster
Years active1996-present
Website www.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]

Contents

Early life and career

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

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

Quiz TitleYear of LaunchNo. of CitiesWebsite
UNION BANK U-GENIUS QUIZ202224
TCS IT WIZ now TCS InQuizitive199924 https://www.tcs.com/en/inquizitive-dynamic/inquizitive
TATA CRUCIBLE200443 www.tatacrucible.com
VIJAYA BANK QUIZ19971NA
NATIONAL RURAL IT QUIZ200012NA
NSE FUNANCIAL QUEST200824NA
RBIQ201462NA
TIMES OF OMAN OPEN QUIZ20041NA
Q8 (KUWAIT) OPEN QUIZ20151NA
ECONOMIC TIMES ET IN CLASSROOM QUIZ199612NA
THOMAS COOK TRAVEL QUEST201424travel-quest.in
INFOSYS ASPIRATIONS 2020200648NA
JAPAN OPEN QUIZ20151NA
TIMES OF INDIA NIE FUNDAMENTAL QUIZ199612NA
ETHOS ARCHUMEN ARCHITECTURE QUIZ19998NA
BENDING MOMENTS CIVIL ENGINEERING QUIZ20038NA
ULTRATECH STIMULUS CIVIL ENGINEERING QUIZ200824NA
BPCL BRAND BAADSHAH201424NA
ANAND BAZAR PATRIKA QUIZ201016NA
THE HINDU CATALYST SCIENCE QUIZ200812NA
CBSE SCIENCE QUIZ200548NA
CII HR QUIZ20134NA
CII MANUFACTURING QUIZ20158NA
CNBC AWAAZ RUPIAH AUR RESPONSIBILITY QUIZ200916
TAPMI QUIZ ON THE BEACH200416 https://www.tapmi.edu.in/flagship-events/quiz-on-the-beach/
PRESIDENCY CHALLENGE CUP200802www.presidencychallenge.com
TIMES OF OMAN SCHOOL CHALLENGE20081NA
GOVT OF KARNATAKA BLORE BIO QUIZ20011NA
INDIA INSIGHT202010INDIA INSIGHT QUIZ
WORLD TEACHERS QUIZ202010 TEACHER TRIBE

Awards

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References

  1. "Pune Final last stop over for Tata Crucible Campus Quiz". CNBC-TV18. Jun 6, 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  2. 1 2 "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)