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Brainteasers all the way
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Some interesting, some bizarre... that was the nature of questions at the QFI Open Quiz
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PHOTO: S. R. RAGHUNATHAN
RIGHT MIX OF QUESTIONS The QFI quiz
In 1881, Gopal Rao made a discovery. By a sheer stroke of luck, he discovered the medicinal properties of certain leaves. Continuous contact with the leaves got a rabbit with a broken back, back on its feet. Gopal was effecting `miracle cures' (on animals and humans) with these leaves, on a small scale. The man's descendants turned his discovery into an immensely successful medical enterprise. What are we talking about?
One of the finalists of QFI Open Quiz confidently shot back what seemed a very plausible answer — "Gopal palpodi". His disappointment was probably "bone-crunching" when another contestant scored off this question (right answer: "The Puttur Bone-setting Hospital").
Full credit to quiz master Vinod Ganesh and fellow "researcher" G. Krishnamurti, the contest tickled the funny bone and at the same time provided food for some serious thought — the right mix for a crowd of ardent quizzers that packed the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan auditorium.
Well informed
One hundred and twelve teams (with three members each) took part in the event. Actual participation was much bigger, with the well-informed audience jumping at questions that spilled off the stage. Most of the questions were based on the unusual. Three audios — Sangeetha Swarangal from Tamil film Azhagan (music by Maragathamani), Dil Mein Jaagi from Hindi movie Sur (music by M M Kreem) and Andhra Soda Buddi from the Telugu film Simhadri (music by M. Keeravani) — had to be connected. The right link: Maragathamani, M M Kreem and M. Keeravani are the same person.
There was a sweet surprise, when Vinod sought the name of the dish that "was originally a Rajasthani gift to Tamil Nadu, introduced by the Rajput community in a certain town more than 85 years ago." More clues: "The most famous shop selling this delicacy has no board to identify it. The cash box is made of dry palm leaves, and only one 40 watt bulb illuminates the shop. Its current owner Bijli Singh has not altered the shop a wee bit, because he wants to keep it the way he received it from his father."
After quick guessing that took a round of many North Indian delicacies, came the startling answer — the famous Iruthukadai selling Tirunelveli halwa.
And then, there was a bit of the bizarre. "In AD 867, Viking pirates landed in Scotland and raided the monastery of Coldingham. Before the despoilment could take place, the nuns disfigured themselves so as to make themselves unappealing to the marauders. As expected, the Vikings were disgusted at the sight of the nuns; but this revulsion drove them to setting the building ablaze and killing all its inmates. What saying originates from this legend?"
The answer: "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face." To protect their chastity, the nuns cut off their nose and upper lip. Here's one for ingenuity — "The members of the Muduvar tribe, who live in portions of the Western Ghats, use a rare method to ascertain their age. What is it?" The team with a rather unconventional name Mama, Machi and Mapilai (V. Ramanan, Ram Kumar and Srinivasan), which finished third, furnished the answer: "They calculate their age with the help of the Kurinji flower, which blossoms once every 12 years."
During the course of the grand finale — where QED (Samanth Subramanium, Swamy and Jeyakanthan) squared off against Memory Banks (Saranya Jayakumar, Avinash and Shiv Kumar) and in which each of the three members of a team had to answer two questions — the incredible joined the list.
The audience were beside themselves with disbelief when the erudite Jeyakanthan drew a blank on this question — "The Nawab of Arcot gifted a piece of land to one Syed Shah Khan in 1730. How do we know this piece of land now?" The answer Saidapet (Syed-oda-peta). Jeyakanthan lives in that locality.
All through, QED was brilliant and almost till the end had a firm grip on the title. But, during crunch time, Memory Banks got the better of QED.
PRINCE FREDERICK
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