He may be freshly out of college, but this one's a tried and tested quizzer. Ramanand has been an avid quiz aficionado since school, has been on his college team and a member of the Pune quizzing society.

He values Mastermind India because the rounds are exclusive, questions don't get passed around, and one participant's responses don't influence the score of the other.

Ramanand Janardanan accepting the trophy from filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt

After being shortlisted from the thousands of hopefuls, Ramanand scrutinized episodes of Mastermind India and boned up on his special topic for weeks ahead; but the best weapon in his armoury, he says, is his ability to keep a cool head on his shoulders, to assess, with detachment, the probabilities of success and maintain a sound presence of mind. All of which may not have clicked, he admits, as he is not a good traveler and had to fly down to Hyderabad for the shooting of the final episode. "And then again , he recollects, " if I had blown it after convincing leading the first round, it would have been bad."

No nail biting anguish for this young quizzer then, nor any garrulous celebration to mark the event. "I view this as merely a sport", says he, taking his impressive win in stride.