The Usual Suspects

1. This thing, when originated was called Ankada Jugar (a Gujarati term, having to do with numbers). It was made famous (as we know it today) by a gentleman named X. This thing has lost its charm now (but is still prevelant). According to X, this thing has lost its widespread appeal beacause it has been now taken over by criminals. What is this thing I am talking about and who is Mr.X.
Ans.: Matka and X is Ratan Khatri

2.These sweets are world famous now. Put fundes. (The funda is very interesting, and everyone must have seen it.) Hint: They have even trademarked their tagline, now that’s something ;)

















Ans.: Thaggu Ke Laddu. Aisa Koi Saga Nahi Jisko Humne Thaga Nahi. Bunty Aur Bubli



















3.He is the first famous scammer of independent India. He did it long before the likes of Harshad Mehta and Ketan Parikh were even born or going to school. He swindled his way through the largest financial institution of that time and cost some people to resign from their posts. (The most famous person to resign in this case is also a big corporate name in India). Folklore in Kolkata (as the person in question belonged to Kolkata) has it that such were his connections that, while serving his term for the scam, he used to stay at his place for most of the time, while proxy men used to live in the jail for him (on pay).
Ans.: Haridas Mundhra . The then finance minister T.T.Krishnamachari (TTK) had to resign from his post.

4.This movie had its first screening at The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Legend has it that on the first day of shooting, the director had never directed a scene, his cameraman had never photographed one and none of his child artists had ever been screen tested for their roles. The movie was made on a shoestring budget, even to the extent that the director had sold some of his beloved LPs as well as his Life Insurance Policy. The lead actress was convinced to pawn her jewels (to provide financial help). The lead actor was spotted sitting on a neighbor’s terrace by the director’s wife. Halfway through the filming, the director ran out of funds. The Government loaned him the rest amount, allowing him to complete the landmark film. The loan is listed in public record at the time as “road improvement”, a nod to film’s translated title. Name the film and director.
Ans.: Pather Panchali, Satyajit Ray

5.Who is the first ever American actor to star in an Akira Kurosawa film?
Ans.: Richard Gere, Rhapsody in August

6.Identify the company from the print ad (I have deleted most of the things from the white area in the photo)

























Ans.: American Touriser


























7.Simple. Connect.
















Ans.: The lady in the B&W photo is Emma Lazarus, who wrote a sonnet titled “The New Colossus” which is engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the Statue of Liberty.


8.These buses (they have a specific name) run in Honolulu and they have given name to a very common name in technology. What?




















Ans.: These buses are called “wiki wiki”, which inspired Ward Cunnigham to name his technology wiki instead of quick-web. Read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki























9.Who has patented the colour Pantone 2685C?

Ans.: Cadbury, the Purple Colour


10.Identify














Ans.: Nicolaus Copernicus

Quote' em

1. “A Kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous”

Hint: She was born in Sweden and after her death her ashes were scattered at sea off the coast of Sweden. She has a type of rose named after her. At her funeral service held at Saint Martin’s Church, a violin played the strains of “As time goes by”

Ans.: Ingrid Bergman


2. “The only real way to look younger is not to be born so soon”

Hint:He had a contract with his employer that dictated that his creation had to end with his death. He was a .50 caliber machine gunner in WWII. He forgot to load the thing during the one time he actually had the opportunity to use it; fortunately the German soldier he ran into surrendered. As a youth he had a drawing of his dog (Spike) appear in Ripley’s Believe it or Not.

Ans.: Charles Schultz

3. “There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there”

Hint: In Salman Rushdie’s novel Midnight’s Children, She is responsible for the eponymous character’s downfall, referred to throughout the novel as “The Widow”.

Ans.: Indira Gandhi


4. “People have this obsession: They want you to be like you were in 1969. They want you to, because otherwise their youth goes with you, you know?”

Hint: He was the seventh child to his model mother. He attended London School of Economics. He was romantically linked to Carla Bruni. He once said about Elvis Presley: “He is a unique artist…an original in an area of imitators”

Ans.: Mick Jagger



5. “All journalistic activity is an intellectual brothel from which there is no retreat”

Hint: He was a gambler in his younger days and had to sell off family land to cover his obligations. One of his writing became a best seller in the US in 2004 after a recommendation by Oprah Winfrey. Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor is also named after a character in this book.

Ans.: Leo Tolstoy



6. “I am not interested in being Wonder Woman in the delivery room. Give me drugs”.

Hint:She was unanimously condemned by the Puerto Rican House of Representatives for pulling a Puerto Rican flag between her legs in a concert. This high school cheerleader sang a song in tribute to the glamour of the following classic Hollywood celebrities: Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, Joe DiMaggio, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Grace Kelly, Jean Harlow, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth, Lauren Bacall, Katherine Hepburn, Lana Turner and Bette Davis.

Ans.: Madonna


7. “Television has brought back murder into the home, where it belongs”

He was a day younger to his wife. He preferred blondes, bathrooms; liked woman’s hairstyles. His first project in Hollywood was scrapped by the producer because the producer “could not find a boat to sink.” He allegedly refused the British Honour of CBE (Commander of the order of the British Empire).

Ans.: Alfred Hitchcock



8. “The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of life”

Hint: “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”

Ans.: Md.Ali



9. “If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?”
Hint: His father’s company provided the first lighting for the Oktoberfest.
His early Photograph





Ans.: Albert Einstein











10. “The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them”
Hint: He wanted to pursue a career as a steamboat pilot. It took him two years of hard labour to get a steamboat pilot license. He had foreseen his brother’s death in a dream, a month earlier.
He also said
“I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.”

Ans.: Mark Twain

Trivia Five

1. Which famous personality was a member of the United Services Club in Bangalore (now, Bangalore Club) from 1896-1899 and owed the Club Rs.13, which was written off by the Club on June 1, 1989, as an “irrevocable sum”?

Ans.: Sir Winston Churchill.

2. What would you become, if you passed a test called “The Knowledge”?

Ans.: A Cab driver in London. The test for getting a driving license in London is called “The Knowledge. According to Wiki, a London Cabbie has to know 320 standard routes, comprising a total of about 25000 streets within a six mile radius (which are all listed in the Blue Book, officially known as the “Guide to Learning the Knowledge of London”)

3. The Author wrote “___ _____ attained a certain degree of popularity, which, though pleasant in itself, brought in its wake involvements that turned out to be ludicrous and even tragic.” It was made into a film which mutilated the original storyline much to the author’s chagrin. A planned Broadway edition was as reckless in its treatment.” The Author had to withhold his permission to present it on stage, even as the adaptation was done by an old friend of his, a former literary editor of the New York Times. As an example of the outrage, The Author mentions, “For instance, his version managed to abolish the heroine. I objected to his omission and to two irrelevant characters of his own; above all I objected to the hero’s turning around and urinating on the stage.” Matters became rather acrimonious over this script and The Author had to leave New York at a very short notice to avoid being summoned for a subpoena; he found asylum in the Indian consulate before boarding a flight out of the United States. However the script was later revised and “___ _____” opened in Broadway in March 1968. It closed in less than a week.
His work did not win the Nobel Prize for Literature for this work (or as a matter of fact for any of his works). The Nobel Prize Committee, according to him has said ‘His writing is too simple, and too readable, requiring no effort on the part of the reader. …He has created a new map called _______ in which his characters live and die. Story after story is set in the same place, which is not progressive, a rather stagnant background….. We hope some day ______ will develop into a full-fledged writer deserving our serious consideration.”
Identify The Author, Book and the new Map he created?

Ans.: R.K.Narayan, The Guide, Malgudi.

4. It is believed to be created by the 13th Century poet Gyandev. It was originally called “Mokshapat”. The idea of the thing was related to Good Things and Bad Things. Its ending means Nirvana in its Tibetian form. What am I talking about?

Ans.: Snakes & Ladders.

5. What unusual gift did King Ramchandra Baghela of Rewa gift to Akbar?

Ans.: Tansen

6.Connect

Ans.: All 15th August events. Sri Aurobindo was born on 15th August in 1872, Mohun Bagan was formed on this day in 1889, Panama Canal was officially inaugurated on this day in 1914, and Macbeth was killed by Malcolm Canmore on this day in 1057. The Google Doodle was a give away, it was commemorated to the Korean Liberation Day.

7.Connect

Ans.: All three have refused Oscars. The first photo is of Dudley Nichols [awarded the Oscar for Best Screenplay for The Informer in (1935)]. He refused the award because of the then ongoing conflict between the Academy and the Writer’s Guild. The second photo is of George C. Scott for his portrayal of a WWII General in the movie Patton (1970). Scott refused the award stating that the awards ceremony was a “a two hour meat-parade”. The third photo is of Marlon Brando who refused his awards for The Godfather (1972). He said he refused the awards because of the discrimination towards Native American by the US.

8. In 1868, an Englishman names Charles Lawrence, based in Australia, put together a team of Aborigines and took them to England, which is also the first ever Australian tour of England. This team played a total of 47 matches with the local teams. What did the players do to identify themselves for the spectators? (This is probably a One time incident in the history of Cricket)

Ans.: Each player wore Caps of different colours so that the spectators could identify them.

9. Who was the first Bollywood personality to endorse a foreign cigarette brand? (Print Ad)

Ans.: Talat Mahmood did ads for 555 cigarettes.

10. Shamshad Begum first sang this song in a film made in 1941, which somehow went unnoticed. In 1972, Lata Mangeshkar sang the same song and created a history of sorts. Which song?

Ans.: “Inhi Logon Ne Le Lina Dupatta Mera”

This song was first featured in the 1941 movie Himmat, the music was composed by Govind Ram. Lata Mangeshkar sang it for “Pakeezah”, which was composed by Ghulam Mohammed & Naushad.

Connectz

1 . Connect

Ans.: Ken Rosewall & Roger Federer have both won the Australian Open without losing a single set.

2.Connect






























Ans.: The Allahabad Constituency Seat. Amitabh Bachchan defeated Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna. After Amitabh resigned from the seat, V.P.Singh won the elections from Allahabad.

3. Connect & Put Fundaes



















Ans.: These boats (called City of Joy) are mobile hospitals run by the City of Joy Foundation in the Sunderbans (which is poorly connected and has a bad mediacal infrastructure). The royalty received from the sales of Dominique Lapierre's City of Joy funds these boats. My request to you all is to atleast purchase a copy of this book and help the underprevileged in the Sunderbans.

5. His autobiography is named "Codename God", which was a NYT bestseller. Identify Him.















Ans.: Mani Lal Bhaumik. He developed the LASIK technology. This is a class of laser that would eventually eliminate glasses or contact lenses in many cases requiring vision correction.

6. The question is not about Johnny Depp. Just tell me why do the pirates wear ear rings.


























Ans.: So as to pay for their burial.








7. Connect






























Ans.: They were all Librarians at some point of life. (They are Mao Zedong, Sahib Singh Verma, Casanova and Batgirl)



8. Connect





























Ans.: Bombay. The Port City of Tangier and Bombay were given in dowry of Catherine of Briganza to King Charles II in 1661.






9. Connect














Ans.: Anthony Gonsalves. The guy in the B&W photo is the original Anthony Gonsalves on whom LP composed the superhit song and AB enacted.

Trivia Four

1. In the movie Monster-in-Law, starring Jane Fonda & Jennifer Lopez, Fonda says to Lopez, “Oh Honey, I can’t drink tap. Could you get me some ________? With Ice?” Fill in the blank.
Ans.: Evian

2. Many types of competitions are held for this sport. Some of which are Endurance, Fast Catch, Trick Catch, Aussie Round & Accuracy of Return. What Sport am I talking about.
Ans.: Throwing Boomerang.

3. The Loincloth is the simplest form and probably the first of it. The Hawaiian Malo and the Japanese Fundoshi are also the other kinds. What?
Ans.: Underwears!!

4. Incorporated in 1969, this company created one of the most controversial brands. They created popular T. Shirt with messages as “____ This”, “Hot as ____”, Mile High ____”, “Lucky ____”, “Fun Comes Usually Kneeling”, “____ on the beach”. In 2001, during the introduction of French Connection in San Francisco, big banners hung on the front of the newly opened store saying “San Francisco’s first ____”. What Brand. (There are a lot of clues in the question, quite guessable)
Ans.: FCUK (French Connection United Kingdom).

5. Tadao Kashio invented a product called Yubiwa Pipe , a finger ring that would hold a cigarette, allowing the wearer to smoke the cigarette down to its nub while also leaving the wearer’s hand free. Japan was impoverished immediately following WWII, so cigarettes were valuable, and the invention was a success. But this story has nothing to do with the worldwide success of this man and his products. Which brand and product gave him his fortune?
Ans.: Casio, the electronic calculators did the magic.

6. Shankar Jaikishan, Kalyanji Anandji, Nadeem Shravan, Jatin Lalit, Ram Laxman. Tell me about the odd one in this list.
Ans.: Ram Laxman. All the other music directors are duos, but Ram Laxman is a single human being .

7. I was born Hema Hardikar, but later my father Dinanath Hardikar changed both my name and our surname. My godfather was Vinayak Damodar Karnataki, a well known theater group owner. I also used the pseudonym Anand Ghan for my career interests. Who am I?
Ans.: Lata Mangeshkar.

8. I once changed my religion to become a Muslim and changed my name to Karim Abdul. Identify me in connection to the following pics.

Ans.: Kishore Kumar. He changed his religion to get married to Madhubala. He refused Sanjay Gandhi’s offer sing at a Congress Rally in Mumbai, for which the then Prime Minister penalized him by passing an order not allowing him to sing live on All India Radio and even his songs were not allowed to be broadcasted during that time. Afterwards, due to the intervention of senior film producers, the order was taken back by Indira Gandhi

9. The HMS Minden was the first ship to be built at this shipyard. This is was first British ship to be built outside the British Isles and the anthem Star Spangled Banner was composed on this ship. The place where the shipyard exists was leased for a paltry sum of 10 Pounds a year to the Brtish East India Company. Which place?
Ans.: Mumbai.

10. The best _________ are made by Bikalananda Kar in the small town of Salipur near Cuttack. These were primarily the offerings to Lord Jagannath in Puri and other coastal districts of Orissa. The recipe then travelled to the neighbouring West Bengal. This was during the Bengal Renaissance when Brahmin cooks from Orissa, especially from Puri, were routinely employed by richer Bengali households. They were famed for their culinary skills and were commonly reffered to as Ude Thakurs (Cooks from Orissa). The recipe was then further modified by a Bengali gentleman who in turn earned the sobriquet “___________’s Comlumbus”. What delicacy am I talking about.
Ans.: Rasogollas.

Trivia Three

1. My mother is a direct descendent of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. My mother is the grand daughter of Sir Khem Singh Bedi, who was the 14th descendent of Lakshmi Das, second son of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. I was initially named Inquilab by my parents, inspired by the phrase Inquilab Zindabad, but later renamed me. Who am I?
Ans.: Amitabh Bachchan

2. It was first introduced in 1983 by Costa Rica & Haiti. The raw material of this was developed by DuPont. Then in 1998, after much research, Australia introduced it with a better material. Since then, Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, Chile, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, The Solomon Islands etc. have also followed and introduced them. (Hint: They have been made on Silk, Leather, Seal Skins, Wooden Checkboard Pieces and even Playing Cards.) What am I talking about?
Ans.: Polymer Currency Notes.

3. What is common to the following newspapers published from Uttar Pradesh: Frontier Mail, Affadavit, Sunrise, Now U Know, General, The Water Of India, Bureau, Modern Reporter?
Ans.: Though they are published in Hindi, their names are English.

4. Who or What displaced King Gyanendra on the Bank Notes of Nepal.
Ans.: Mt.Everest.

5. What is ISO 4217?
Ans.: They are the three lettered international Currency codes. e.g.: INR for Indian Rupee and USD for US Dollar.

Ans.: 6. It comes in variations of Revenge, Pocket & Professor’s. Names like Inca Gold and The Gordian Knot were initially considered for this product but dropped. Its believed that 300,000,000 pieces have been sold worldwide. What.
Ans.: Rubik's Cube.

7. What does T9 on a mobile mean?
Ans.: Text on 9 keys.

8.Who is He?

Ans.: Subash Chandra Bose.

Trivia Two

1.Which book is advertised as “Give You Shelf a Treat”?

Ans.: The Oxford English Dictionary

2.According to director William Wyler, in the two-reeler Westerns in the silent era, how did the audience identify the villain in the opening shots?

Ans.: He would be the One, who before entering the saloon, would kick a stray dog, who would conveniently cross his path.

3.What is “Checkury” ?

Ans.: It begins on the New Year’s Day and ends when a person stops absent mindedly writing the old year on his Cheques.

4.The worst defeat in the U.S. Presidential elections was sustained by John Quincy Adams in the 1820 elections. He won only one electoral vote in a straight election. This vote was given to him for a specific reason. What?

Ans.: So that George Washington would remain the only US President to have been elected unanimously. James Monroe was the winner in 1820.

5.Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was knighted in 1902 not for writing the Sherlock Holmes stories, but for something else. What?

Ans.: For his services in the Boer War

6.In Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist, why was Oliver given the surname Twist?

Ans.: Because Mr. Mumble named the nameless infants of the poor-house in alphabetical order and when Oliver’s turn came, he had reached the alphabet ‘T’, thus Oliver got his surname.

7.Why did a stamp issued by St.Kitts & Nevis in 1903 depicting Christopher Columbus standing on his ship and observing the American coast through his telescope, became a rare collector’s item?

Ans.: The Telescope was invented about a century after Columbus.

8.The English script moves from left to right, the Arabic from right to left, the Chinese from top to bottom. Which people a script that moved from left to right diagonally?

Ans.: The Lilliputans, Gullivers Travels

9.Whose last word were “Once I was waxing and now I am waning”?

Ans.: Madame Tussauds

10. What unusual item appears on the flag of the Mozambique flag?

Ans.: AK-47 Assault Rifle

Trivia One

1. A Cricket surprise. This is the only place in the world, where cricket is played only by women. It’s a Sunday game, players are barefoot, and the umpires are always men. Straw hats and frangipani flowers complete the cricketing attire. Where is this place?
Ans:New Caledonia

2. In which country is Dueling legal?
Ans:Paraguay, only if both the parties are registered blood donors.

3. What does the Chinese ideograph of two women under one roof mean?
Ans:Trouble.

4. It is called Bul-Bul in Framce, Lily-Trily in Denmark, and Hilarin-Lilarin in Finland. What is it called in English?
Ans:Humpty Dumpty.

5. According to the philosopher Descartes, all monkeys can speak like human beings but they don’t speak for one reason. What?
Ans:According to him, the monkeys think that if they speak, human beings will make them servants. Thus their silence.

6. Where would you find Alexander, Julius Ceaser, Charles & David together?
Ans:In a pack of cards. They are the four kings.

7. William Shakespeare refers to the game of football in one of his plays. Name the play.
Ans:The Comedy of Errors. Dromio of Ephesus says : “Am I so round with you, as you with me, that like a football you do spurn me thus?”

8. Which animal species has the largest brain in proportion to its size?
Ans:The Ant.

9. What is so unusual about the American play, Another Interior, written by Edward Goodman in 1915?
Ans:: It is the only play to take place in the human stomach, the hero of the play is Gastric Juice and the villains are the various courses consumed at a dinner. Brave Gastric overthrew them one by one, though with failing strength, till at last he fell a victim to a particularly vividly colored cordial.

10. In the year 1698, On What unusual thing did the Russian Tsar Peter I, levy a tax?
Ans:Beard. The wearing of beards, which was favored by Orthodox doctrine, was prohibited and the Beard Tax was instituted. With the exception of the Orthodox clergy, anyone who wanted to wear a Beard was ordered to pay a special tax and obtain a token (znak) from government officials.

Quentin Tarantino Quiz

1. What’s Quentin Tarantino’s middle name?

Ans: Jerome

2. What was Quentin's directorial debut?

Ans: My Best Friend's Birthday. "My Best Friend's Birthday" (1987) starred Craig Hamann and the man himself, Quentin. Quentin once said of the movie: "When the guys came, it was like, 'Oh you have another movie?' 'Yeah.' 'Can we see it?' 'No!'" The movie, which is very hard to find, pretty much tells of the exploits of a man and his friend planning a birthday party. "Reservoir Dogs" (1992) was his second, and "Pulp Fiction" (1994) was his third.

3. How many "Reservoir Dogs" are there (including the two that didn't go)?

Ans: There are eight: White, Pink, Blonde, Orange, Blue, Brown, Joe, and Nice Guy Eddie. These eight men work together to steal fresh-cut diamonds. When the robbery goes wrong, they realize that one of them is an informant.

4. What's in the briefcase from "Pulp Fiction"?

Ans: While many theories have sprung up surrounding the mysterious briefcase, Quentin has never divulged what was really inside. (In the director's cut of "Pulp Fiction", it's sem-revealed that it was his soul in the briefcase.)

5. In "Kill Bill, Vol. 1", for what brand of cigarettes did Sofie Fatale advertise?

Ans: Red Apple is Quentin's fictional brand of choice.

6. For which auspicious film board did Quentin serve as President in 2004?

Ans: Cannes. Ten years after receiving the Palme d'Or from Cannes for "Pulp Fiction", Quentin served as President of that same board. The recipient for the Palme d'Or of 2004 was Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11".

7. According to popular legend, how did Tarantino get the title for Reservoir Dogs?

Ans: He misheard the title of Louis Malle's Au Revoir Les Enfants

8. Tarantino's 1997 adaptation, Jackie Brown, was based on which book by US crime novelist Elmore Leonard?

Ans: Rum Punch.

9. Quentin Tarantino originally set out to be an actor. What was his screen debut?

Ans: Playing an Elvis impersonator in the TV sitcom The Golden Girls

10. Tarantino recently expressed an interest in directing the next outing in a successful film franchise. Which one?

Ans: The James Bond movies