The brain-teasers were as follows - bad handwriting is a sign of incomplete and improper education; better to hire the horses of hope that gallop fast than the asses of experience going slowly; the best carpenters make the fewest chairs; good medicine tastes bitter; a man of pleasure is a man of grief; all leaders are good followers; man, the wildest animal; in the race to success, talent overtakes energy; good things sell by themselves, only bad things require advertising; is the Indian really a caged tiger?

The thought-provoking posers brought out the best in the debaters who were given three minutes each to rest their cases. Among the popular topics were: good things sell...; man, the wildest animal; the best carpenters make the fewest chairs... is the Indian really a caged animal?

Obviously a lot of brain-racking had gone into drawing up these topics. The aim was to avoid the monotony that results out of having just one topic. And the trick seems to have worked - the debaters came up with refreshing presentations.

Advertisements being a popular medium, seemed the obvious choice for most debaters. Said one speaker from MIT, School of Management, ``Advertising follows the mantra - if you can't convince, confuse, and if you can't confuse, corrupt!'' Only to be pulled down by his opponent, who said, ``Advertising is all about information and the right to choose, and both good and bad products require advertising.''

The debaters gave some astute interpretations to their chosen topics and scored in the presentation department too, delivering their speeches without faltering. ``The best carpenters make the best chairs because specialisation, customisation and quality are the order of the day,'' said the debater from the Symbiosis Institute of Foreign Trade, hitting the nail on the head with the right buzzwords.

A very interesting debate was on the race to success. ``If you put efforts in a mind which has no goal, it amounts to nothing. Talent is a special skill and not all have it. Look at James Bond, he had style and charisma and look at me,'' said this young debater from the Army Institute of Technology, who is currently reading a book on how to become a hit with women. His debate was opposed by the argument, ``Edison said, let there be light, but the idea was realised after years of perseverance and patience''.

The arguments were many and convincing. But only eight teams reached the finals - to be held today. The judges were Uma Saratchandran, principal, Symbiosis Secondary School; Vijaya Naidu, French lecturer, Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan; Anita Pal, German lecturer; and Anahita Rane, deputy director, Symbiosis Institute of Journalism and Communication.