Meet Sikkim’s Talented, Young Quizzer- Rishal Pandey Chettri

Every week, we will bring you extraordinary stories tracing the journeys of geniuses from Sikkim in any field that makes our state proud.

Today, we bring you Rishal Pandey Chettri — Quiz expert, Techie, Founder and CEO- The Cyber Warriors, Founder, and Head of HR- Knowledge Buddy, and Founder -Wakeup Movement October 2019- till Present. Wakeup Movement is a social youth organization working in educating the masses about Climate Change and Environmental concerns.

Rishal is a well-known young boy from Sikkim. He did his schooling from Holycross till class 10 and is currently studying in Delhi Public School, Siliguri.

18-year-old Rishal no doubt, had a “phenomenal journey” so far as a Quiz wizard who has won many awards from both national and international levels. State’s most well know Quizzer Rishal started his journey when he was in class 3 but it was never easy for him as it’s a long journey.

Today, The Sikkim Today has reached out to him to bring him to our platform. Rishal swears he would rather enjoy the journey, more than the destination. He tells The Sikkim Today –

TST: How do you feel on the day of the competition?

Rishal: Previously, when I did not have much experience of participating in competitions; I used to feel very anxious and impatient on the day of competition and that used to have a negative impact on my performance. Gradually, as I started participating in more and more competitions; I realized that being anxious does no good to my performance. Since then, I have always been a calm person on the day of the competition.

TST: When did u start and how?

Rishal- Rishal- Thanks to my dad that from class 3 itself I started to watch the news and read newspapers daily. I was first selected in a quiz competition when I was in class 3 (2011) but the quiz competition did not take place due to the Earthquake of 2011. Then after a gap of about 3 years, I was selected to represent my school, Holy Cross, Tadong at the ARCEIS Interschool quiz competition which was held at Don Bosco School, Malbasey. Our school won the quiz competition in all categories. After that very first inter-school quiz, the journey has been unstoppable. Taking this opportunity, I would like to thank Shyam Pradhan sir and Mukesh Jha sir for believing in me and guiding me throughout the journey of quizzes in Holy Cross School, had they not selected me for my very first quiz; I believe that I would not be able to know my true potential.

TST: How was it for you to perform in such a setting with big Quizzers?

Rishal: Honestly, I take every quiz competition as a learning experience, and playing a quiz with bigger quizzers has always been a fun learning experience for me. The more pressure is when I am representing our Country, India –at an international level.

TST: Your inspiration?

Rishal- There are a lot of great people whom I look up to but my greatest inspiration would always be my father Om Prakash Pandey and my mother Meena Kumari Bhujel. They have always been a role model for me and they never fail to support me in the tiniest way possible in all my endeavors.

TST: What will be your next step?

Rishal: Currently, I am preparing for my AISSC Exams and also mentoring students to help them succeed in their co-curricular activities. Quizzes have been a part of my life, so whenever I get a chance –I participate. I am also working on my application and essays to get into my dream varsity- in either of USA, Canada, or South Korea.

TST: Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

Rishal- Rishal- I want to study abroad and get work experience of at least 2 years before coming back to India. With the exposure and my experiences there, I will use them to develop our home state.

Talking about the awards, he has won numerous award from both national as well as in international level here is a list of awards he won so far –

• Champions, Global Mind O Pedias 2020- International Level Quiz Competition Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Winner, Knowledge Maestro-South Asian Level- International Quiz 2020 Lalitpur, Nepal
• Champions, Tech Radiance- National Level Robotics Competition 2019 IIT Kharagpur. India
• Best Delegate, Global Youth International Model United Nations 2021 Bangkok, Thailand
• Winner, Google Web Rangers -India Contest 2019 Google India, Hyderabad
• National level Winner and International finalist, Quiz Mania 7 Worldwide,2019 Kathmandu, Nepal
• Winner, Curiosity-2021, International Level Quiz SMIT, Majhitar, Sikkim
• Represented India, World Climate Summit –2020 Eco-Network, Bangladesh
• Represented India, Global Youth Conclave-2019 Kathmandu, Nepal
• Winner, PCRA National Level Quiz- Zone I, 2018 New Delhi, India
• Winner, National Level Quiz on Dr. Ambedkar, Region- III, 2019 New Delhi, India
• Winner, PCRA National Level Quiz – Sikkim State, 2019 New Delhi, India • Best Quizzer award, Curiosity 2017- National level quiz competition. SMIT, Sikkim
•Outstanding short story award, Biannual Int’l Short Story competition-2018 New Delhi, India
•Winner, INSPIRE- Award for developing a prototype to prevent an accident, 2019 IIT Delhi, India
•Country Representative for India, BUP International Quiz League-2020 Dhaka, Bangladesh
•Winner, Zonal Level Robotics Competition-Tech Radiance, 2019 Gangtok, Sikkim
•Top 4 among 10,00,000 participants- ‘Know India National Quiz’- 2018 Imphal, Manipur
• Champion, National Level Quiz Competition, Arrowtimes, 2016 New Delhi, India
• Second, Concours National Level Quiz cOMPETITION-2018 SMIT, Sikkim
• Third, National Level INSPIRIAq Quiz –2020 Inspiria, Siliguri
• Third, National Level Covid Quiz Competition-2020 QCK, Kalimpong
• Winner, State Level Short Film making competition- 2018 Gangtok, Sikkim
• Honorary mention, Korea-India Friendship Essay competition-2017 New Delhi
• Champion in ARCEIS Essay writing competition- 2017 HCS, Gangtok •2nd in ARCEIS Quiz Competition- 2016 SJS, Martam, Sikkkim
• Champion in HOLWB0656 Quiz Competition -2019 DPS, Siliguri
• 2nd in NBSCC State Level Quiz-QUIZZARD,2019 Siliguri
• Champion, State Level Debate Competition, ISFC,2020 Gangtok, Sikkim • Champion, Quiz Competition, State Biodiversity Board, 2020 Sikkim
• Champion, Quiz Competition, State Biodiversity Board,2021 Gangtok, Sikkim
• Champion, Quiz Competition, TranSfoRMation,2021 SRM University, Sikkim
•2nd, Painting Competition, UNO Environment Programme,2020 Gangtok, Sikkim
•Champion, ARCEIS Quiz Competition,2018 HCS, Gangtok
•2nd, ARCEIS Science Exhibition, 2018 SJS, Martam, Sikkim
•Champion, Quiz Competition on World Accountancy Day, 2019 ICAI, Siliguri
•2nd, SAM Quiz Competition, 2019 DPS, Siliguri
•2nd, Quiz Competition- Siliguri Quiz Festival, 2019 Siliguri
•TOP 18, All India- News Wiz 2018 Noida, Uttar Pradesh
•Champion, UDAAN State Level Quiz Competition, 2016 Gangtok, Sikkim •Champion, UDAAN State Level Quiz Competition, 2018 Gangtok, Sikkim •Champion, ARCEIS Inter-School Quiz Competition Don Bosco School, Sikkim
• Third, Essay Competition on Biotechnology-2018 Dept of Biotech, Govt of India
• 2nd, Bournvita Quiz Contest-2015 St. Xavier’s School, Pakyong