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To Monalisa's eyebrows

Quirky questions and incredible nuggets of information made Quiz Track 2007 a stimulating affair, writes PANKAJA SRINIVASAN

PHOTO: M. PERIASAMY

WHAT'S THE GOOD WORD? At the quiz

Are you a zoo daddy? Do you work in a cube form? Are you the kind who lives for `five-finger discounts'?

If the answer to the first is a `yes', it means you are a divorced dad taking your kids for an outing to the zoo. If the answer to the second is also an affirmative, it means you work in an office full of cubicles. If you can't resist that five-finger something, then you better watch out (the phrase is a euphemism for shop lifting!). And if you have a `wardrobe malfunction' in the meantime, you have Justin Timberlain to thank for the phrase.

M. Rangarajan and the Rotaract Club of PSG CAS had obviously been on a fact-finding expedition that unearthed sometimes-bizarre trivia that turned Quiz Trac 2007 into a thrilling Shinkansen ride (Japanese for bullet train).

The questions ranged in topics from Vitruvius (lately made famous as the Vitruvian man in The Da Vinci Code), to the music makers of Don (Kalyanji Anandji) to the Yalta Agreement (that split up Germany into East and West).

Stumped!

The questions came fast and furious and the things the quizzers knew! Honestly, would you ever draw a parallel between Queen Victoria and Rabri Devi? Well, they do share something — both have nine kids.

And, if you thought the smile was the only thing baffling about Mona Lisa, did you know she had no eyebrows? Where would you be if you landed on the Saddam Beach? Believe it or not, in Kozhikode. Originally Tipu Sultan Beach, it was renamed when Saddam invaded Kuwait.

You have heard nothing if you have heard composer John Cage's symphony, 433 (it has four minutes and thirty three seconds or 273 seconds of complete silence. The explanation — 273 k being the temperature where all motion stops).

For which film did Alfred Hitchcock win the Oscar for Best Director? Was it Psycho, Birds, Rear Window... All of them seem Oscar material, but incredibly, Hitchcock never won an Oscar for Best Director. And, so it went on, the questions and the answers that were always interesting if not always right. One learnt of the `three finger salute' that was the `ctrl alt delete' action at the keyboard; heard the incredible voice of Orson Welles in `War of the Worlds' ; was enlightened about the fine distinction between Acronyms, Backronyms and Retronyms; and got to watch some controversial moments in sporting history on film (the underarm bowling of Trevor Chappel being one of them).

There were eight teams in the finals — Wipe out boy and knock out kid, Palakkad Rockers, Brainy Buzzard, Goli Soda Quizzukku Vaada, Intel Inside Mental Outside, Quizzy Potter and Ron Quizzly, Tirupur Tughlaqs and the soberly named Quiz Foundation. T

irupur Tughlaqs— Yogesh Pai and Ashok of Shakti Knitting and Chennai Silks who also won the Best Corporate Team award — emerged undisputed kings. The second prize went to the irrepressible Rohit and Vidyut from SBOA.

What a name!

Quiz Foundation with Priya Bhansali and Govind came third.

Moolayai Kasakku Prize Amukku bagged the `Best Team Name' prize.

The cousins of Palakkad Rockers won the `best family team' prize and the `best girls' team' went to Atula and Aiswariya of SBOA.

There were loads of audience questions and one Natarajan seemed to have cornered the market.

He won a gram of gold for his efforts!

It was an entertaining and informative evening, and if only the organisers had shown better time management, the quiz would have scored a perfect ten.

And, by the way, you were way off the mark if you thought either Fa Hien or Bruce Lee brought Judo to India — The correct answer is Rabindra Nath Tagore!

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Kevin Warwick is coming to India. Who is he? The world's first Cyborg.
2. Who edited Michael Jackson's Moonwalk? Jackie Onasis Kennedy
3. Who is the only Indian recipient of the prestigious J. Paul Getty Award? Dr. Salim Ali
4. Apart from the company, who is called Fed-Ex in the U.S.? Kevin Federline, ex-husband of Britney Spears.
5. E.M Forster wrote "A Passage to India". Who wrote "A Passage from India"? Ismail Merchant
6. On being released from Robben Island after 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela asked "Is ---alive?" Who was he asking about? Don Bradman
7. Who or what is called a `sleeping policemen?' Speedbreakers!

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