Quiz Week 3

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1)Okay as we all know the Chinese script is something really difficult to write and read…

So for many words they substitute pictures instead…

For example for ‘brave’ they draw a man with a 4 pack abs.

So here’s a word for which they draw 2 women under a roof.(In the Mandarin)

Now what word does this depict??

Here’s the picture.(One on the left)

Ansewer(Highlight to view): Two women under one roof = trouble (: 

2) This guy won a couple of US Opens, a Wimbledon and an Olympic gold.

Among his most priced possessions is this flask which was given to him by his father. What is blanked out in the flask?

Ansewer(Highlight to view): This is Norris Williams , the only Titanic survivor to win an Olympic medal. His father couldn't survive the disaster. His father gave this flask to Norris. Several instances in Cameron's movie were inspired by real life experiences of Norris Williams. The answer to this question: the flask reads 'Titanic'. 

3) Identify and connect these 2 popular confectionery products. The images have been edited.

Ansewer(Highlight to view): Fig Newtons and Choco Leibniz  :)

4) X is known by several names around the world. A few of them are 

• pez dama (domino) in Latin American 
• Sapodilla Tom (as X was spotted often in the Sapodilla Cay) in the Southern Pacific
• Papa Shillingi in Kenya as it is believed that God threw shillings upon X
• Marokintana (many stars) in Madagascar
• geger lintang (stars in the back) in Indonesia and Java.

X is what?

Ansewer(Highlight to view): The whale shark which looks like this.

5) The country marked is the first to provide free WiFi access all over the country. But what I want you tell me is which mouse figures on the backside of its $1 coin ? 

What is so special that has been blocked out,

that it features here?

Ansewer(Highlight to view): Pikachu . See coin here.

6) Connect the following

• Greek goddess of disputes and strife
• Rapanui god who created humanity
• Matron goddess of Hawai'i
• Roman goddess of harvest
• Greek ruler of underworld 

Ansewer(Highlight to view): The Solar System's Dwarf Planets:  Eris, Makemake, Haumea, Ceres and Pluto.

7) Perhaps the easiest question in this blog yet. Identify the man in this stamp. And explain the mild humour in putting his name and face on a stamp. 

Ansewer(Highlight to view): Rutherford, who said " All science is either physics or stamp collecting ".

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Quiz Week 2.

1) These are two songs written by two different Carnatic music composers, both set to raaga Malavi. One of them is famous and I have provided a link to the song. The other ain't all that famous. I wanted to sing and attach my version but then decided to spare you guys. Now you must basically tell me what important evidence do these two songs give to anyone studying Carnatic music composers.

Song 1: 
http://ia600202.us.archive.org/3/items/ANNAMACHARYA_258/SaranuSaranuSurendraSannuthankri.mp3

Song 2:

Saranu, saranu surendra vandita

Saranu srisati sevita

Saranu parvati tanaya

Maruti saranu siddhi vinayaka!


Answer(highlight to view): The first is a song by Annamacharya (you can see his name in the link) and the second is by Purandaradasa. Purandaradasa and Annamacharya were contemporaries. The lyrics and tune are very very similar and thus is evidence that Purandaradasa and Annamacharya met.

2)A Saucer full of Secrets
•In Europe, the working middle class man would often miss his lunch/afternoon meal at home.

•On returning back from work in the early evening, he would sit on the main table of his house, rather than the parlor or the sitting room, which would be used during the afternoons

•The main tables of the house were much taller than the parlor or sitting room tables.

•How do we remember these apparently insignificant differences?
Answer(highlight to view):High  Tea and Low tea :))

3) This one must be easy. How did these two impact cricket?

Answer(highlight to view): Bosman and Kolpak,
It is because of these Guys ,that you see so many South Africans in the English Domestic Cricket sides. More here.

More Info Just Google the names

4) Xs are fictional fruits that are round and red. They can be obtained on only one night of the whole year, a night when the moon briefly resembles a X. Though the name X sounds like a product of tech company, they are unrelated. X = ?

Answer(highlight to view): Googleberry ,from Noddy. Watch the episode here.

5) This is a photo taken just after an unforgettable Olympic moment . Who is this guy? What happened? 

Answer(highlight to view) : Steven Bradbury ,He won the Gold in 2002 winter olympics after all the other racers fell down, I think this happened to him in the semis as well when 2 people from the top 3 were DQ'ed.  His wiki page is here.
This Should Give you all a better idea and a good laugh as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z6GnUTVAF0

6) X was flying over Venezuela while looking for a valuable ore bed in this plane when he discovered something that was named in honour of him. Identify X. 

Who flew this plane over Venezuela?

Answer (Highlight to view): Jimmie Angel ,thus Angel Falls

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Quiz Week 1

Here it is... <drumroll> The first set  


1) The playful Ganesha, once swallowed the Sudarshana Chakra of Vishnu. Vishnu begged Ganesha to return the Chakra but Ganesha would not oblige. So Vishnu started trying all sorts of things to get the Chakra out. In the process, he performed the _______. This provoked such a laughter in Ganpati he ejected the Sudarshan chakra out of his mouth. Now what did Vishnu do?
Ans(Highlight to view): Thopukaranam. ie, Holding your opposite ears with your hands and doing sit-ups. Also see this thing, Super Brain Yoga.


2) Many years ago, an organisation, which had only about 500 employees then, wanted to set up an office in another country. The owners met the President of that nation, who said he was not happy with the services of that organisation. He complained that he could not use his mother tongue and had to use only Englees.
What did this lead to? Which company? Which country? Who was the president?

Ans:(Highlight to view)Google is the company. India is the country, and Dr.Abdul Kalam is the president :-)

When Larry and Sergey approached Kalam, he told them that google does not allow him to type in Tamil. That is when they started developing Google Search in many Indian and Foreign languages like Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Urdu, Arabic etc. (Source: An old article on Outlook by a senior Google employee)



3) Funda.

Ans:(Highlight to view)  Tribute to Bill Wetterson's Calvin and Hobbes. This cartoon in specific.


4) The curious case of X, a man from Uttar Pradesh, unlike his name suggests, is something very interesting. He was denied a bank loan due to a certain reason, which anyone might find shocking. On inquiring more about it, he found out that there were a 100 more people in the same situation, along with whom he started an association for such people. He had to fight in the court for 18years to prove his case. He also added another word to his surname, which was also the name of the association he started. He has contested in the Parliamentary elections and won an IgNobel award posthumously for his services. Who is that man? What happened?

Ans: (Highlight to view)Lal Bihari. As per official records, he was Dead. He found that there were more people like him in the same situation. He started the Mritak Sangh, Committee of Dead people. Read more here

5) X are a group of people native to South America. Though we call them by some name, they refer to themselves by a word that means 'Running People'. They have a very high endurance and can run over 200km in one stretch. They are perfect examples to show that human bodies are high endurance machines. They even organise regular running competitions within their community, in which people would have to run anywhere between 160-200km. They however don't participate in the Olympics, maybe because they are not aware. It might not be a great question but i [vidyacharan] found these people interesting.
Ans:(Highlight to view) Tarahamura people

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