The “New and Improved” Bengal Gharana Quiz

© Anannya Deb

12 easy questions – 5 points each

1

What are these?Grade I: Sweet Sixteen, Cash FlowGrade II: Good MorningGrade III: Crossfire, Three Blind Mice, Double Trouble, Marine DriveGrade IV: Return To Sender, Roller Coaster, Golf CourseGrade V: The WallGrade VI: Suicidal

1

Rapids on the Ganga near Rishikesh graded as per international convention. Grade I is easy, slow-moving current and Grade VI is unrunnable (only for professionals)

2

Sales of what increased by 20% because of a very passionate speech by Paul Giamatti in the film Sideways?

2

Pinot Noir wines (and also wines of Merlot and Cabernet went down)

3

Symbolising Mount Meru, this structure gets its name from the iridescence that emanates when the first light of the sun falls on its walls. What is the name of this famous landmark, also a name of a god from the Hindu pantheon?

3

3

Temple of the Dawn or Wat Aruna (Arunaudaya being the Hindu god of Dawn)

4

The first school, based on the original teachings of the Elders, teaches personal liberation as the road to salvation. The other school, based on larger influences, teaches that personal liberation and the service of other human beings can lead you to salvation. Apart from that the differences are extremely fine. What are these two schools?

4

Theravada and Mahayana schools of Buddhism

5

Who is original song writer of the song Me and Bobby McGee?

5

Kris Kristofferson, the original writer of Me and Bobby McGee (first performed by Roger Miller) made famous by Janis Joplin (it became US no 1 after her death, the 2nd such posthumous song). Kris had originally made Bobby a female but Joplin took Bobby McGee as a male.

6

A tale of an uncle-nephew pair: Uncle was the best golfer in the ‘90s winning 3 majors and while he did not win the Augusta Masters, he set a course record which still stands. Currently, Uncle plays in the Champions Tour (for age 50+). Nephew is, according to me, along with Daniel Vettori and Shakib al Hasan one of the 3 best left arm spinners currently playing the game (and like them, probably the only world class player in the team). Full names for both please.

6

Nick Price and Ray Price of Zimbabwe

7

Non exhaustive but some of the more well known / popular varieties are Ka Tiew in Cambodia, Ban Mian and Crossing the Bridge in China, Ramyeon in South Korea, Soto Aiyam in Indonesia, Mohinga in Myanmar, Laksa in Malaysia, etc etc. What ubiquitous item is this?

7

Noodle Soup

8

In 180 BCE, Brihadratha while inspecting his army was assassinated by his commander Pushyamitra. The latter then usurped the throne establishing the Sunga dynasty. The possible reason for this act was the hatred for Brihadratha after he capitulated under the invasion of Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius. What empire / dynasty came to an end with the assassination of Brihadratha?

8

The Mauryas.

9

Who is the actress?

9

9

Meryl Streep playing Maggie in the under production Great Hope Springs

10

Shine Jacob writes an article in Business Standard in April. Just fill in the blanks in this opening paragraph.

“To Jawaharlal Nehru, it was a symbol of independent India. C Rajagopalachari considered it a masterpiece of Swadeshi manufacturing. For the country’s industry, it was a perfect launch pad. But for a slice of what is soon going to be history, this might be the last chance. ______ — the last manufacturer of ___________ in the world — has just 500 machines left for sale.”

10

Godrej typewriters

11

What and where is this?

11

11

The Great Banyan Tree in the Botanical Gardens Kolkata

12

On 10th September 1965, 0800 hours, the Pakistani army attacked Cheema village in Punjab (on the Indian side). Company Quarter Master Havaldar Abdul Hamid of the 4 Grenadiers was holding a recoiling gun. He moved his position to the flank and knocked out the leading enemy tank. He then removed three more tanks before being mortally hit by the last one. He was awared the Param Vir Chakra posthumously for this. Name the battle (as named by the Indian army) and sector of operation?

12

Khemkaran Sector, Battle of Asal Uttar.

From here on, all questions are worth 10 points

13

Identify both the pieces of text

Part 4

Preface:The impotence of man to govern or restrain the affects I call _______, for a man who is under their control is not his own master, but is mastered by fortune, in whose power he is, so that he is often forced to follow the worse, although he sees the better before him. …

The day broke gray and dull. The clouds hung heavily, and there was a rawness in the air that suggested snow. A woman servant came into a room in which a child was sleeping and drew the curtains. She glanced mechanically at the house opposite, a stucco house with a portico, and went to the child's bed."Wake up, Philip," she said.

13

The second piece is from Spinoza’s Ethics - “Part 4: Of Human Bondage or of the Strength of the Affects”. The first piece is the opening paragraph of Maugham’s Of Human Bondage

14

The protagonist of a Booker Prize winning novel and its sequel is an Abiku. In the Yoruba language, Abiku means “predestined to death” and refers to the spirit of a child who dies before puberty or the age of twelve. Name the two novels.

14

The Famished Road and Songs of Enchantment – the story of Azaro, the spirit child, by Ben Okri.

15

In France and Belgium, farmers every spring do the “iron harvest” where over 900 tons of stuff is harvested. Not a very easy job, in the last 65 years, on an average 10 people have died every year in this activity. The potential for the “iron harvest” is maximum in Laos with 80 million units waiting to be recovered. Since 1974, only 0.55% have been harvested. What is this harvest?

15

Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) – bombs, mortar shells, etc which did not detonate at the time of war. During the complex war in Laos / Vietnam where one lost count who was fighting whom, over 270 million “Bombies” were dropped in Laos (more than the total number of bombs in the whole of WW2)

16

Architecture. Was reading Dick Francis’ Decider where the protagonist is an architect. In one of his houses, he builds a heating system commonly used in Roman times. Beneath the floor of the house, hot air from an underground furnace is blown through channels thus keeping the floors warm allowing residents to walk barefoot even during winter. Conveniently located vents blow hot air into the rooms. What is this underground heating system mentioned in Vesuvius’ De Architectura called?

16

Hypocaust – hypo (beneath) + kaien (to burn)

17

As the British government established itself in India post the Mutiny, the influx of young British men looking for jobs in the civil services, engineering works, etc increased. This also triggered a social phenomenon involving “fishing fleets” and “returning empties”. Who or what were the “fishing fleets” and “returning empties”?

17

The growth opportunities in India meant a number of eligible bachelors – this drew, every winter, young maidens to come to India in search of husbands (fishing fleets). Those who found a spouse stayed. Those who didn’t would, at the end of winter, return empty

18

The popularity of this genre in the US is clearly credited to this legendary tenor saxophonist. One of his first recordings in the genre saw him collaborating with guitarist Charlie Byrd on this. It was his first big hit and got him a Grammy in 1963. Based on a Portuguese lyric meaning “Off Key”, this recording would be one of the defining standards of this genre. Name the jazz legend and the genre?

18

Stan Getz and bossa nova. The track is Desfinado (which means off key in Portuguese)

19

Easy one. The family challenge led the artist to make this piece. What was the challenge and who was the artist?

19

19

Ray Lichtenstein. His son who was reading a Mickey Mouse comic challenged him saying “Dad, I bet you can’t paint a picture better than this?”. Look Mickey was Ray’s first piece of work in his comic-inspired Pop Art career followed by Drowning Girl and others.

20

The name for this international community was coined in 1880 by geographer Onesime Reclus. The formal organisation happened only in 1970 at the Conference of Niamey. There are 56 countries along with 19 other countries as associates and observers. Their motto is “egalite, complementarite, solidarite”. Their flag is shown here. What is the term?

20

Francophonie. The International Organisation of the Francophonie

21

Identify the lady and explain why the actor is placed in this question

21

21

Aruna Shaunbagh, who for 37 years has been lying in a vegetative state in KEM hospital – case for euthanasia was turned down by the SC. Yatin Karyekar played Anand Banerjee in Munnabhai MBBS, a character that references Aruna

22

Oct 14, 1967 three policemen were invited to their neighbouring country to identify a person executed a few days ago. They were shown a metal container in which were two amputated hands immersed in formaldehyde. Two of the policemen were fingerprint experts and one was a handwriting expert. The fingerprint guys used the amputated hands for matching fingerprints with records back home. The handwriting expert studied the notebook in which the murdered person kept a diary of his operations over the last 10 months. Who was the murdered person?

22

Che Guevara. The Bolivian Army called the Argentinean Federal Police to do the verification

23

Staying in South America. 16th century European missionaries in Venezuela were facing food shortage and during the Holy Week before Easter, they found it difficult to prevent converts from abstention. So they wrote to the Vatican to exclude a furry animal that spends much of its time swimming with its webbed feet implying that it is a fish. The Vatican agreed and called it a fish allowing it to be eaten during Lent. Usually served as salted meat along with rice and plantains, name the animal whose biological genus has been upgraded to a guinea pig from the earlier rat.

23

Capybara, the world’s largest rodent.

24

The supreme leader of the country had these monuments made at those places in the country where key WW2 battles were fought and where the Nazis set up concentration camps . In the last ten-fifteen years, these sites have become abandoned due to internal strife and civil war. Name the country.

24

24

Yugoslavia

25

Over his 40+ years as illustrator, designer and art director, Czech-German Heinz Edelmann has also done the book cover of the German version of LOTR as well as The Wind in the Willows. However, in pop culture, he is best remembered for his work in a 1968 animation film. Three sample works of his are shown below to give you an idea of his style. Name the animation film?

25

25

Yellow Submarine of The Beatles

26

In February 2010, Swedish police arrested Anders Hogstrom, a member of a right wing neo-Nazi group in Sweden. This group was planning to set off bombs during Sweden’s parliamentary elections in 2010 and for this Anders was planning to raise money by selling a stolen piece of memorabilia from across the Baltic Sea to a collector. This piece was stolen on 21st December 2009 but was recovered three days later in the house of one of five petty thieves hired for it. The country had declared a state of emergency in order to search for it. What piece of memorabilia?

26

The “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign at Auschwitz.

27

12000 Australian and 14000 British & Indian soldiers defended this North African port town for five months in 1941 against Rommel’s Afrika Korps. Their defense was derisively ridiculed by Lord Haw Haw and he called them the “____ __ ______”. The Aussies took this as their nickname even issuing a medal made from the scrap of a German bomber they shot down. 240 days from the start of the siege, the arrival of the Eighth Army finally had Rommel retreat thus relieving the port. What was the nickname?

27

The Rats of Tobruk. Under siege from 10th April 1941, the Aussies and Indians were relieved in August by Czech and Polish soldiers who held on till November 1941.

28

What connects the fact that while orbiting in space, the time between sunrises is 90 minutes and the speech by Rabbi Zvi Konikov on February 7, 2003 where he says “Jerusalem, we have a problem”?

28

Ilan Ramon, the Israeli astronaut on board Columbia, reportedly asked the Rabbi on how to observe the Sabbath given the sunrise problem. The Rabbi referenced this in his memorial speech at the Kennedy Space Center

29

After doing country houses, the Himalayas, the Prince of Wales on tour, this painter spent the last year with this organisation and produced a whole exhibition of paintings. This one below shows the headquarters of the organisation. Name the painter and the organisation.

29

29

James Hart Dyke and MI6. He spent a year with them on a commission sponsored by MI6 as part of their PR / demystification initiatives

30

The first and the only Roman emperor who was “born in the purple”, he changed his name frequently at different stages of his life including taking the name Romulus when he had Rome re-built following a fire in AD 192. He renamed the 12 months in the year with his 12 names. His accession after his father and co-emperor died was described by contemporary historians as “the descent from a kingdom of gold to one of rust and iron”. This prompted Gibbons to take his reign as the beginning of the decline of the Roman Empire. Who is this emperor who contrary to popular culture was not a “sniveling, father-murdering, sister-lusting coward”?

30

Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Augustus (161 – 192 CE)

31

In July 2010 issue of The American Conservative, this veteran journalist, who knows a thing or two about people missing in action, wrote about a 40-year-old campaign to free US POWs held in Vietnam. At the end of the war, over 1000+ US soldiers were held as prisoners by Hanoi as hostage – the US were to pay $3.5 billion as war reparations. The Congress rejected it. The soldiers were never brought back. Over the years, the topic of the POW/MIA was steadily covered up by everyone and even the American press refused to investigate or write about it. In 2008, the journalist as a freelancer wrote about it but could only get it published in Penthouse. Name the journalist.

31

Sydney “The Killing Fields” Schanberg. In this POW issue, he specifically highlighted the role of John McCain in covering up the issue.

32

Ek Nai Paheli, 1984, starring Raj Kumar, Hema Malini and Padmini Kolhapure was a remake of a 1975 Tamil film which won the National Award for best picture (Tamil) that year. The Tamil director also directed the Hindi remake. Name the Tamil film, the director and the actor who played the same role in both the versions.

32

32

Apoorva Raagangal, K Balachander, Kamal Haasan. Rajnikanth made his debut in this film

33

In the ‘50s, Igor Golomstock, a children’s guide at the Pushkin Centre for Fine Arts in Moscow, discovered that the kids could not tell the difference between Nazi works and Soviet works – two samples shown below. This led him to do a detailed study in this field which culminated in a book where he coined what term to describe such art also prevalent in Iraq and China?

33

33

Totalitarian Art

34

On 15th December 1992, 14:15 South Africa time, Jacques de Villiers, a senior scientific programmer at Oregon Graduate Institute, launched his now legendary software product. Named after a well known South African statistician and historian, this software would become the foundation of an important activity on the Internet (important for Indians at least). One day before, via Usenet, users were given instructions on installing it and using this software. Feedback was solicited. Name the software that was launched and what “important activity” is built on it?

34

Dougie, the cricket scoring system which would power Cricinfo’s live cricket coverage. Dougie is named after Dougie Etlinger. The match that was being covered was the 5th ODI SA v Ind at Bloemfontein

35

Jim Hacker: ___ __ __ ____, Bernard. Shakespeare.Bernard: Oh no, Prime Minister. “___ __ __ ____" is circa 1820. Mrs Centlivre used the phrase in 1708, but actually it was Scott's employment of it in 'The Antiquary' in 1816 which made it fashionable. Jim Hacker: Shall we keep to the point please, Bernard?

The blanks are one example of a standard meme popular in literature incorporating a pun using the word as a noun and a verb Shakespeare, Fielding, Edwin Bulwer-Lytton, etc have all used it. How is this meme best expressed?

35

“X me no Xs” e.g. But me no buts (as explained by Bernard); grace me no graces (Shakespeare, Richard II), Gift me no gifts (Theocritus translated by Hallard)… ad infinitum

36

In the book India Called Them, William X, a British economist and social reformer, writes the biography of his parents Henry X and Annette X. Henry was in the Indian Civil Services while Annette worked in a school. Both of them individually and collectively spent much of their time translating old texts. Specifically four major manuscripts were translated and published by them between 1900-1905. Two of these are autobiographies while two are hagiographies, one of them by a woman. The personalities involved are four generations of a family. Name this English family and the four manuscripts they translated / published.

36

Henry and Annette Beveridge. Annette translated Babur-nama and Humayun-nama (written by Gulbadan Begum) Henry translated Akbar-nama (Abul Fazal) and the Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri

37

The first specimen of the species O Brevirostiris was sighted and reported by legendary English biologist Sir Richard Owen in 1866 in Vishakhapatnam harbour. Though it is an ocean creature, sub-populations have emerged in brackish water bodies like estuaries, bays and deltas of rivers. Off the 7000 estimated numbers, around 5300 are in the Sundarbans delta while another 140 odd are in Chilka lake in Orissa. The rest are spread around the deltas and estuaries on the coast (Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia) that skirts the Bay of Bengal & Indian Ocean. The Ganges and Mekong have significant sub-populations. Name the creature?

37

The Irrawaddy Dolphin

38

In 1910, this group (in the picture) claiming to be the royal entourage of the Emperor of Abyssinia wanted to see some ships of the Royal Navy. The Admiralty welcomed the group. As they were shown around, the group would exclaim “_____ _____”. An anonymous report appeared in the Daily Mail with a small footnote . By what name is this incident remembered and fill in the blanks?

38

38

The Dreadnought Hoax and the blanks were “Bunga Bunga”. It is not known whether Berlusconi is aware of this. And, did you recognise the novelist on the far left?

39

At the Masters Club dinner this year, defending champion and host Phil Mickelsen opted to pay tribute to his practice partner in his first PGA tour event when he was 17 years old. The menu was: Green Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette; Seafood Paella; Prime Beef Tenderloin with Manchego Cheese and Smoked Paprika Demi-Glace; Spanish Apple Pie. The said person, champion 1980 and 1983, has been absent from the dinners due to health reasons. To whom was he paying a tribute?

39

Seve Ballestros, currently undergoing treatment for a relapse after a brain tumour was removed in 2009.Flash: He died on Friday.

40

This town in Vizianagram district was founded in the 17th Century by Pedda Rayudu on land granted by Sher Mohammad Khan, Nawab of Srikakulam. It was originally called Pedda-puli (The Big Tiger). In 1757, there was a major battle after which , according to local lore, the name of the town became synonymous with eternal bravery. Also the destroyed town rose like a phoenix with a silver lining. Name the town whose modern day name emerged due to constant mispronounciation and slurring of the original name?

40

Bobbili

41

Micheal Kimmelman, an art critic, accused Maria Altmann of “cashing in”. Why?

41

41

The Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I and II by Gustav Klimt had been captured by the Nazis when they took over Austria. After the war, the Austrian government considered the paintings as state property. Maria Altmann, niece of Adele, filed a lawsuit and won ownership of the paintings (as heiress to her aunt). She then sold these paintings for $135m and $88m respectively.

42

One of my favourite actors, in 2004 he became the fourth person of his kind to be nominated for an Academy Award for his supporting role in the film In America. Basil Rathbone, Cecil Kellaway and Omar Sharif being the first three. 2006 he was nominated again – a supporting role in a DiCaprio film. His sixth film and the first with a significant screen presence was a 1997 Spielberg narrative of a 19th century historical event and featured two British actors playing US presidents. Name.

42

Djimon Hounsou

43

Technically, what is the fundamental difference between a labyrinth and a maze?

43

A labyrinth has one path till the end (and therefore one cannot get lost); a maze offers multiple paths (and therefore causes disorientation)

44

The word in Russian means “to publish by oneself” i.e. self-publish. It was coined by Nikolai Glazkov in 1940 as a title of one of his books of poetry. In the Soviet, self-publishing had a different connotation – it meant underground activities, distribution by hand, etc. This word is now used quite regularly for alternative publishing – i.e. outside of the establishment. In Macedonia, Wikileaks is described with this word. What?

44

Samizdat

45

In 1921, the “father of Japanese short story” worked as a reporter in Manchuria covering the Japanese military progress. After four months he returned completely stressed out and ill. While recovering he published a story. Jay Rubin when translating it titled it “Penitent Confession of a Woman in the Kiyomizu Temple”. Name the writer and the story.

45

Ryunosuke Akugatawa, In a Grove (aka In a Bamboo Grove). The main plot of Rashomon is based on this story.

46

6’5” long, made by the Cyclopes, it is composed of Adamantine metal and possesses mystical properties. It can control any body of water, create water elementals, speeden ships, create fog and storms of great intensity, create tidal waves and even earthquakes by increasing water pressure. How is it known in the IT world?

46

The USB icon based on Neptune’s trident

47

The name of this Germanic tribe which settled in the Rhine delta possibly derives from the Germanic root for “better” suggesting that the tribe’s name meant “superior people”. The land where they settled was named after them and was in vogue till the Renaissance. When VOC established a new colony in the Orient, they founded a city in 1619 which they named after this tribe. This city kept this name till 1942 when it reverted back to the original name meaning “victorious act”. Name the tribe or the land of the tribes or the former name of this Oriental outpost that the VOC established.

47

Batavia. The original name of the area now known as Holland / Netherlands. Was the old name of Jakarta (eka Jayakarta)

48

Connect this poem (specifically the blanks) to the painting

Canto IVStanza 1…For, that sad moment, when the Sylphs withdrew  And _____ weeping from _______ flew,  _______, a dusky, melancholy sprite,  As ever sully'd the fair face of light,  Down to the central earth, his proper scene,  Repair'd to search the gloomy Cave of Spleen

48

48

Ariel, Belinda, Umbriel – three moons of Uranus named after the characters in Pope’s The Rape of The Lock. The painting is The Castration of Uranus – Giorgio Vasari & Cristofano Gherardi

49

Putney Bridge. Bishop’s Park. University Stone. Putney. Black Buoy. Barn Elms. Craven Cottage (Fulham FC). The Mile Post…Hammersmith. St Paul’s School. Chiswick Eyot. Griffin Brewery…Barnes Railway Bridge. Stag Brewery. What happened for the first and only time in 1877?

49

The only Dead Heat in the history of the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race

50

Roger Gottlieb in his book The Sacred Earth describes this community founded by Guru Maharaj Jambaji in the 15th century. During a drought he observed how people and animals died due to starvation despite the cutting down of trees for fodder. He issued a number of injunctions to his followers. While following these injunctions, in a particular incident over 300 members of the community were massacred by the soldiers of the King of Jodhpur. The king on hearing this granted them special rights as compensation. Name the community and what did it inspire?

50

Bishnois and the Chipko Movement. They were given rights to protect all the trees and animals in their area (which they used when they filed a case against Salman Khan)

51

Whose manual has some of these instructions (paraphrased)?

- While smoking, take a puff and set the cigarette in the ashtray. Standing or sitting holding a cigarette is not allowed

- Not allowed to date colleagues or customers or sponsors- Bikini panties showing or not worn is a costume offence can lead

to suspension- No jewelry- Last names, home address, phone numbers cannot be given out- Non-alcoholic drinks can be consumed “behind the scenes”

51

Playboy Bunny Manual

Thank You

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