PS Senior Secondary School Quiz Finals

Suresh Ramasubramanian

1. In Sanskrit

The leader of all the traders in ancient Indian cities was known by a term derived from the Sanskrit word meaning “first” or “greatest”.

Variants of that term are found in the names of communities all over India (Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka etc). Just give me the old Sanskrit term, and its equivalent in TN.

Shreshti from Sreshth

Chetti / Shetty / Seth

2. A different kind of “Indian” word The name of this fruit

… is actually the Nahuatl (Aztec Indian) word for any sort of soft, edible fruit. A very well known fruit whose Linnean name is Manilkara ______ (the dash is a form of the Nahuatl word) was first native to several parts of South America such as Mexico, Nicaragua etc.

Spanish and Portuguese colonists introduced the fruit to various parts of Asia, including India, where the local word for the fruit is again a form of its Linnean name / the Nahuatl word. Name it.

Sapota

Manilkara zapota / Nahuatl “Tzapotl”

3. The famous Portuguese explorer

Vasco da Gama first landed in India and was told a local story about how a certain city got its name.

Apparently, whenever a Rooster crowed from a particular spot in the city centre, its crowing could be heard all over the city, so that the city’s name means “Rooster Crow” in the local language. Just name the city.

Kozhikode (Kozhi + Kode)

Any rooster crowing at the Thali Shiva temple could apparently be heard all over the city

4. Roosters .. Now name this Chicken dish

One of the most popular theories about the origin of this dish is that a restaurant chef in Glasgow, Scotland, invented it by marinating Chicken in a sauce made with cream, yogurt and spices, and then baking it in a charcoal oven.

Mohammad Sarwar, a Pakistani-British MP from Glasgow, tried in July 2009 to table a motion in the House of Commons, asking that the UK apply for “European Union Protected Designation of Origin” for the dish (like Champagne can only be used to describe wines grown in a particular region of France).

This suggestion was thankfully not adopted, or else only Glasgow restaurants (rather than restaurants the world over) could have this dish on their menu.

Chicken Tikka Masala

The UK has lots of Indian restaurants :)

5. While we’re talking about British MPs

William Pitt the Younger was the British Prime Minister in the 1790s, and introduced this measure in 1798 in order to fund the wars against the French under Napoleon.

This measure was extremely unpopular with the general public and was abolished in 1802 when Britain and France signed a peace treaty at Amiens. This peace only lasted a year, so that it was reintroduced in 1803 and lasted for over a decade as the war dragged on.

In 1816, a year after Napoleon was defeated, the British Parliament voted not just to end this measure, but to burn all documents connected with the measure so that future generations would never remember that such a measure existed. Unfortunately for all of us around the world, governments don’t forget all that easily. So, for what still unpopular fact of life do we have to blame William Pitt the Younger?

Income Tax

6. Tax Evasion is of course a crime

If you hide your income from the authorities in order to pay less income tax, you can be fined or even imprisoned.

However, there are several entirely legal ways for you not to pay tax on your income. For example, you could show your property in the name of your retired parents to claim a lower tax rate, or if you are self employed, you could claim your phone and electricity bills as business expenses, for a tax deduction.

What is the term for such a legal measure that enables you to pay less tax, and not get arrested?

Tax Avoidance

7. The only crime he could be found guilty of was tax evasion

During the early stages of his career, he was also the doorman at a nightclub in Brooklyn, New York.

He apparently insulted a woman visitor to the club, so that her brother Frank Galluccio picked a fight with him and injured him in a certain way that gave him his famous nickname.

He subsequently apologized to Galluccio and even hired him as a bodyguard.

Who is he and what was his nickname?

Alphonse ‘Scarface Al’ Capone

8. Vishal Bharadwaj’s movies Maqbool and Omkara are stories about Mumbai gangsters

However, they are actually faithfully adapted from two classic stories (which too start with M and O). Just name them.

Maqbool involves a gangster who is convinced by his girlfriend to kill his gang leader and take over the gang.

Omkara involves a gangster who is tricked into suspecting his wife, so that he kills her, finds out the truth and then commits suicide.

Adaptations of Shakespeare

Maqbool – Macbeth

Omkara - Othello

9. This is a page from Asterix and Caesar’s Gift. Where is it adapted from?

Hamlet – mostly Act V Scene ii *Hamlet’s Death Scene+

287 He's fat, and scant of breath.

254 Give us the foils. Come on.

281 A hit, a very palpable hit.

358 Which have solicited. The rest is silence.

[Dies.]

The “Rogues and Peasant Slaves” in the last panel is from Hamlet’s Soliloquy in Act II Scene ii

10. Hamlet died after he drank poisoned wine and was wounded with a poisonous sword

In France, and in other French speaking parts of the world such as French Canada (the state of Quebec), you may come across something called “Poisson d’Avril”. What is it?

An April Fools Joke Pinning a paper fish called an “April Fish” on someone’s back

“you will be at matignon = be the french pm = till 2012” “owl”

11. A fish-bodied deity from Fijian mythology

Dakuwaka is a Fijian sea god with a body like that of a monstrous ______ fish, who is supposed to be the guardian of all Fijian fishermen. He was once going to conquer Kadavu (a Fijian island) when a rival god, (also a sea monster, an _______) challenged him. This rival managed to win the battle, forcing Dakuwaka to swear that he would protect Kadavu.

Something very similar to this battle was depicted in a 2009 movie _____ that is available for sale in those pirate DVD stores you can find all over Chennai.

Dakuwaka was a Shark The rival god was an Octopus

12. Octopus

Where else in Hong Kong (other than in restaurants or places like Ocean Park) will you see an Octopus?

Prepaid smart card for paying bus and train fares, buying from 7-11..

13. While we’re in Hong Kong

Stephen and Stitt are very famous in Hong Kong (and you can even see their pictures on some Hong Kong dollar bills).

You can also see them in different cities around the world (eg: London, Toronto), at a particular location that is associated with Hong Kong .. and you can see their photographs at that HK associated location in many other cities. Who are Stephen and Stitt?

The HSBC Lions (named for two senior HSBC bankers

in the 1920s, AG Stephen and GH Stitt)

14. When Buddhism first came to China…

Chinese artists began to draw paintings themed on the life of the Buddha, one of whose titles was “Shakya Singha”, the Lion of the Shakyas. So, they wanted to include a lion in their painting, but didn’t know what a lion looks like, and so used their imagination to draw all kinds of fantastic beasts.

When at last a real lion was brought to China and presented to the Emperor, he noticed that the lions resembled an animal that was quite commonly found in China - so this animal was immediately protected, and only the emperor and his nobles were allowed to own these animals. Which animal is this?

Pekingese dogs … aka Lion Dogs

15. What does “an apparatus for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands”

… have to do with, for example …

• The element “Unobtainium” from Avatar

• Indiana Jones’ Crystal Skull

… and in older movies

• “Rosebud” from Citizen Kane

MacGuffin – a central plot point in a movie that interests all the movie’s characters

Alfred Hitchcock, in a 1966 interview with Francois Truffaut –

It might be a Scottish name, taken from a story about two men in a train. One man says "What's that package up there in the baggage rack?", and the other answers "Oh, that's a McGuffin".

The first one asks "What's a McGuffin?". "Well", the other man says, "It's an apparatus for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands".

The first man says "But there are no lions in the Scottish Highlands", and the other one answers "Well, then that's no McGuffin!". So you see, a McGuffin is nothing at all.

16 Elstree Studios had a lot of old, deactivated 1st and 2nd world war weaponry used for war movies. For one particular movie, their appearance was altered by gluing on plastic pipes and pieces of sacks, sawing off some parts of the guns etc. Why? [clockwise – Mauser C96, Lüger, Sten Gun, Mauser MG42]

Star Wars Weaponry From clockwise, Han Solo’s Blastech DL-44, Leia’s STW122, and

two varieties of Stormtrooper Laser Rifles (E11, DLT19) R2D2 is a classic example of a McGuffin

17. Famous World War I fighter pilot

Count Francesco Barracca was a World War I fighter ace who shot down 34 enemy aircraft before he was himself shot down in 1918.

He was earlier a cavalryman before joining the Air Force and so always used to paint a horse on the planes that he flew.

In 1923, his mother the Countess Paolina met ______ and suggested that he use the same horse design that her son had used in the war.

Enzo Ferrari, who used the Prancing Horse as the Ferrari Logo Here is the original, painted on Count Francesco Barracca’s plane

18. During World War I

Aeroplanes were used as fighter and bomber aircraft by both sides. Air Force pilots in World War I unfortunately had to face a very unpleasant side effect caused by inhaling fumes from the lubricant commonly used for the newly developed internal combustion rotary engines that powered the aircraft.

What was the lubricant used for these engines (and a common brand of lubricant gets its name from the lube that was used for this). No points for guessing the side effect.

The lubricant was Castor Oil, from which

CASTROL

derives its name.

no points for guessing the side effect

19. This Aluminium compound is also used as a cure for “that side effect”

It is much more famous for another use it has.

It was first introduced outside its country of origin China, in 1727, when a French Jesuit missionary, François Xavier de Entrecolles, saw a huge pile of this compound outside the town of Jingdezhen.

He asked a Chinese passerby what it was, and the local replied in Chinese that it was a “big hill”, so that is the name that was given to this compound in French, and later in English. What is the compound and what is it most famously used for?

Kaolin from Chinese 高陵 (Kao Ling) Used to make Porcelain.

Kaolin + Pectin is used to make Kaopectate

20. Food you should not have eaten may cause “that side effect”. It sometimes has other consequences too

When Adam ate the “forbidden fruit” that Eve got from the Serpent (Satan) and gave him, he is said to have immediately realized that he made a mistake in eating it though God had warned him not to. This caused something to happen, and that something is still seen today in the human body.

I’m not looking for the story about how Adam acquired forbidden knowledge by eating the fruit.

the Apple stuck in Adam’s throat adam’s apple = the angle of the thyroid cartilage around the larynx

21. Another sort of Apple

When Apple Inc. was formed, its employees were be assigned employee IDs.

At first, Steve Wozniak’s ID was #1 and Steve Jobs got #2. Jobs didn’t want to be #2 in anything at all, so he first tried to get the #1 employee ID, and when that didn’t work, he got himself another ID number.

What was Jobs’ new employee ID, and how did the ID numbers of Wozniak and Jobs form another part of Apple’s history?

Jobs’ new employee ID was 0 1/0 = ∞

Apple’s HQ is 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino CA

22. To infinity and beyond! That is of course Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story

[The executive producer, for Pixar, was Steve Jobs]

Version 1.1 released on June 17, 1996 and codenamed “Buzz”. Subsequent releases over the years have all been named after Toy Story characters (Rex, Bo, Hamm, Slink, Potato, Woody, Sarge, Etch, Lenny, Sid, Squeeze and soon to come – Wheezy).

This was first developed by ___ Murdock and named after himself and his then girlfriend ___ Lynn. So, what is it?

Debian Linux Ian Murdock, Debra Lynn

23. The mascot of Linux is ‘Tux the Penguin’

Because the Linux mascot penguin wears a Tuxedo (a formal black dinner jacket worn with a white shirt) – and this is similar to how an emperor penguin looks.

Another tuxedo wearing penguin, who also wears a top hat and carries an umbrella, was called Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot.

Where would you find Oswald Cobblepot?

The Penguin in Batman – based on a Kool Cigarettes mascot penguin from the 1940s [below – Danny deVito in Batman Returns]

24. Chesterfield

What is a Chesterfield? You would very likely find one in your home.

A Sofa with back and armrests the same height

25. How would you connect So Fa to these two pictures?

Do Re Mi from the Sound of Music *makes a decent LVC too for which we don’t have time+

Doe- a deer, a female deer Ray- a drop of golden sun Me- a name i call myself Far- a long long way to run Sew- a needle pulling thread La- a note to follow so Tea- a drink with jam and bread

26. What is the word for “tea” in Xiamenese (a southern Chinese dialect)?

And similarly, can you also tell me what the Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese Chinese words for Tea are?

If it helps, Mandarin is the version of Chinese spoken in most of China, and is the official Chinese language you would learn if you took Chinese lessons. Cantonese is the dialect spoken in Hong Kong

Xiamenese – Tee or Tay Tea

Mandarin / Cantonese – Cha Chai

27. This Chinese snack is eaten along with tea, and is based on a food item ___ introduced by Portuguese traders. The Portuguese also introduced this

food item in India, where it is known by the same name the Portuguese call it.

The Chinese bun is “Bao” The Portuguese and Indian name is Pao

28. Bombay Irani cafes serve you “brun muska”, hot buttered buns. Who wrote this 1972 poem based on signboards you see

at such cafes? [should be easily guessable]

IRANI RESTAURANT INSTRUCTIONS Please Do not spit Do not sit more Pay promptly, time is valuable Do not write letter without order refreshment Do not comb, hair is spoiling floor Do not make mischiefs in cabin our waiter is reporting Come again All are welcome whatever cast If not satisfied tell us otherwise tell others GOD IS GREAT

Nissim Ezekiel *and here’s a real sign for you to compare+

29. Mumbai Irani cafes are now increasingly forced out of business

Besides the increasing popularity of McDonalds and KFC compared to Irani Chai, another reason is because they all occupy prime “corner” locations.

In fact most if not all the Irani hotels in Mumbai are built on street corners, now considered prime real estate so that unscrupulous builders even hire gangsters to scare away the café owners.

How did the Persian immigrants who set up all the original Mumbai Irani hotels get these corner plots in the first place?

These were seen as having poor vastu so the landowners would earlier sell them cheaply and the Irani hotel owners, being

Muslims, of course did not believe in Vastu so bought them up

Even today, houses built on corner plots or facing a crossroads in Chennai have a Ganesha idol installed on the wall to avoid bad luck.

30. This Mr and Mrs Shetty hired some gangsters to threaten a businessman

Because he owed their daughter several lakh rupees and was delaying repayment. The police taped a conversation where the gangsters, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Shetty threatened the businessman.

This hit the headlines in India, and also in the UK, where their daughter had become extremely famous not more than a few weeks before these headlines made their way into the UK papers.

So who was the daughter and why was she recently famous in the UK?

Shilpa Shetty / Big Brother “poppadom” racism by Jade Goody

[last question connects back to q1 on the origin of the name Shetty]

BONUS ROUND

BONUS ROUND = SOLVE FOR A TO P 5 points per correct answer, 16 x 5 = 80 + 20 bonus = 100 if you get all of A..P

The [A] factory (demolished in 2004 and now the site of the under construction ITC Grand Chola hotel) was built on land owned by a family from the town [B] that claims the hereditary title [C] from the name of their home town. The [B] family is famous for its patronage of the arts over the centuries , financially supporting people like [D] and [E].

An ancestor of the [B] family, and [F], were both petty feudal “village chieftains” (known as *G+) who owed allegiance to the [H] dynasty whose capital was [I], till the dynasty faded out. The last queen-regent of that dynasty was Queen [J], (named after the goddess [J] whose temple is in the city of [I]).

Continued

[K], the grand-nephew of another ruler [L], swore an oath of friendship with Queen *J+ on a “Koran” that was actually a brick wrapped in silken cloth.

*K+ then proceeded to “help” her by eliminating all other claimants to the throne. Once this was done, [K] deposed Queen [J] and grabbed control of the throne. Queen [J] then committed suicide, effectively ending the [H] dynasty.

Some years later, the *L+ dynasty’s rule was ended after its last ruler died in a battle with [M] in the pass of Damalacheruvu.

Continued

[K] was briefly taken prisoner by the [M] army. [M] allied themseles with *N+ while *K+ sided with *N+’s centuries old enemy, [O]. [O] came out on the losing side and [K] was killed in battle with the [M] and [N] forces. This led to all the territory of the [H] dynasty being controlled by [N].

Village Chieftains (G) such as [B] and [F] ended up having to pay taxes to [N]. However, [F] refused to pay, and took up arms against [N], so he was caught and hanged by *N+’s troops, who were assisted by [B], who was a neighbour and enemy of [F].

finally … done

*B+’s descendant (the owner of the land on which the [A] factory stood) had a dispute with a prominent author and politician [P].

[P] wrote a biography of [F], made into a hit movie, in which he took considerable pains to blacken *B+’s reputation. So, *B+’s name is now a proverbial term for villainy in the local language.

[phew, done. solve for all the variables]

[exchange sheets when you are done]

#6 - The Answers

• A - Campa Cola

• B - Ettayapuram

• C - Ettappan

• D - Muthuswami Dikshitar

• E - Subramania Bharathi [or vice versa D and E]

• F – Kattabomman

• G – Polygars / Palayakarars

• H – Nayak Dynasty

• I – Madurai

• J - Meenakshi

#6 Answers Continued

• K – Chanda Sahib

• L – The Nawab of Arcot

• M – The Marathas

• N – The British

• O – The French

• P – Ma Po Sivagnanam / Ma Po Si