Two students from a small town in Lower Dibang Valley just beat out the entire state — and they did it convincingly.
Shayon Ghosh and Regainlu Kri of Global Valley School, Roing walked away as the undisputed champions of Battle of Minds 3.0, Arunachal Pradesh’s statewide inter-district quiz championship, after dominating the grand finale held at DK Convention Hall in Itanagar on Sunday. Their score — 320 points — wasn’t just a win. It was a statement.
The competition, organised by the Department of Youth Affairs, is now in its third edition and has steadily grown into one of the most anticipated academic events on the state’s calendar. This year, it stretched across 18 districts, drawing in young talent between the ages of 15 and 21 from every corner of Arunachal. Tawang to Longding. Ziro to Khonsa. No district was left untouched.
The preliminary rounds alone were held across 18 centres — places like Daporijo, Palin, Boleng, Namsai and Jairampur saw hundreds of students take their shot at making it to the big stage in Itanagar. What followed was a semifinal round that whittled the field down to just four teams, each one representing a different slice of this geographically vast and culturally rich state.
And then came the finale. Under the lights of DK Convention Hall, four teams sat across each other knowing only one would go home with the title.
Marpin Bagra and Gobin Daw of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Aalo in West Siang gave the champions a fight, finishing second with 245 points — a solid performance, though 75 points behind the Roing pair. Third place went to Jumnam Rallen and Castro Meme of RKMS Narottam Nagar in Tirap district, who scored 165 points. VKV Oyan’s Basar Megu and Niton Kadu from East Siang rounded out the four finalists with 120 points.
What’s easy to miss in the scorelines is the pressure that goes into every answer. The Department of Youth Affairs noted that the finale wasn’t just about bookish knowledge — it put participants through rounds that demanded quick thinking, calm decision-making, precise time management and the ability to hold their nerve when things get tight. That’s a very different kind of test from what most students face inside a classroom.
Shayon and Regainlu passed every bit of it.
There’s something quietly remarkable about this win coming from Roing. Global Valley School isn’t from the capital. It isn’t from one of the more prominently represented districts on the academic circuit. But these two students showed up to Itanagar, matched wits with teams from across the state, and walked away with the championship in their hands.
For a competition like Battle of Minds, that’s exactly the point. It gives every young person in Arunachal — regardless of which district they come from, however remote — a fair shot at standing in the spotlight. The fact that the winners came from Lower Dibang Valley makes this edition all the more meaningful.
Quiz competitions rarely make the kind of headlines that sports do. But for a state working hard to build its next generation of thinkers, leaders and problem-solvers, events like this matter more than most people realise. Shayon Ghosh and Regainlu Kri just proved that in the most convincing way possible.
