Delivering the key-note address on the next theme of Quest, ``Medals of honour'' starting tomorrow for the districts, Brig Grant described the Victoria Cross - made from the metal of a gun used during the Charge of the Light Brigade of the Crimean War, but fetches no significant monetary value today - to stress that the intrinsic value of medals instituted to honour the gallantry of the regiment, far surpasses their monetary value.

Tracing the history behind medals of honour since British days, Brig Grant said though a soldier joins the army to fight for his country, the motivation behind his supreme sacrifice is the intense desire to safeguard the izzat and honour of his regiment.

``It is indeed sad that Indian recipients of top military honours now receive monthly cash rewards,'' he said, explaining that no other country had ever attached any monetary value to medals. ``I must congratulate The Indian Express group for the theme of the next quest series, because honour is what the medals truly stand for,'' he said.

Top prize winner of a Sunny Zip, Payal Sarda, who was at the Patrakar Bhavan along with her family and school authorities from Swami Vivekananda High School (Ahmednagar) insisted on making an impromptu speech to say that she was still pinching herself, unable to believe that her ``dream had actually turned into a reality.''

``After I started working on the Quest scrapbook, newspaper reading was no longer boring, but a great pleasure,'' she said, thanking her school and family for their guidance and encouragement.

Darshana Mandlik of Holy Cross Convent School (Kolhapur) won a colour TV and a trophy as second prize, and Abhigal Palha of St Josephs Convent School (Panchgani) received a music system and a trophy as third prize, at the hands of Brig Grant. Fifteen consolation prizes of an alarm clock, certificate and trophy, and 10 special consolation prizes of a walkman, certificate and trophy were also awarded.

Judges Aarti Patil and Veena Dev were felicitated by Brig Grant. ``Each and every scrapbook was a creative effort,'' said Patil, expressing her difficulty at choosing just a few winners from the overwhelming number of entries. ``I hope school children will have many such contests which improve their vocabulary and power of expression,'' she said.

Voicing similar sentiments, a parent Suhas Marathe, came up on stage to say that Quest had ``brought families together, with every member contributing in some small way to the making of the scrapbooks, though the real efforts were of the participants.''

Similarly, uncle of top prize winner Payal and owner of Quicksell Advertising, Prakash Bang, who announced that he was speaking as a parent of a child who will participate in Quest 2, stressed the significance of inculcating the habit of newspaper reading among young children, ``to make them better humans tomorrow.''