IIMA Faculty-Student Quiz 2017 Prelims & Finals

The 1st Faculty-Student
Quiz
IIM Ahmedabad
Literary Symposium Desk
Quizmaster: Shobhit Shubhankar

3
From Bill Bryson’s A Very Short History of Nearly Everything:
For all his brilliance, real science accounted for only a part of his interests. At least half his
working life was given over to alchemy and wayward religious pursuits. These were not
mere dabblings but wholehearted devotions. He was a secret adherent of a dangerously
heretical sect called Arianism, whose principal tenet was the belief that there had been no
Holy Trinity (slightly ironic since X’s college at Cambridge was Trinity). He spent endless
hours studying the floor plan of the lost Temple of King Solomon in Jerusalem (teaching
himself Hebrew in the process, the better to scan original texts) in the belief that it held
mathematical clues to the dates of the second coming of Christ and the end of the world.
His attachment to alchemy was no less ardent. In 1936, the economist John Maynard
Keynes bought a trunk of X’s papers at auction and discovered with astonishment that they
were overwhelmingly preoccupied not with optics or planetary motions, but with a single-
minded quest to turn base metals into precious ones. An analysis of a strand of X’s hair in
the 1970s found it contained mercury—an element of interest to alchemists, hatters, and
thermometer-makers but almost no one else—at a concentration some forty times the
natural level. It is perhaps little wonder that he had trouble remembering to rise in the
morning.
X?

4
The ______ effect occurs when a smaller website has a high influx of traffic after being
linked to on ______. It is also called the ”______ Hug of Death" among the website's users.
Because ______ is such a large site, the traffic is immense and can easily crash smaller
sites. In order for users to see crashed websites, several bots have been created that take a
snapshot of the website before large amounts of traffic flood the affected website.
Which effect?

5
Emily Ratajkowski is an American model and actress who rose to prominence after
appearing in the music video for Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines”. Who is she posing here
as?

6
It is probably indigenous to tropical Africa, but has been cultivated for so long on the Indian
subcontinent that it is sometimes reported to be indigenous there. It grows wild in Africa in
locales as diverse as Sudan, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Tanzania. In Arabia, it is found
growing wild in Oman, especially Dhofar, where it grows on the sea-facing slopes of
mountains. In the 16th century, it was introduced to Mexico, to the degree that it became a
staple ingredient in the region's cuisine.
It takes its name from the Arabic tamr hindi, or ”Indian date”. How do we know it better?

7
Writing about sport, George Orwell was scathing in his criticism:
“As soon as strong feelings of rivalry are aroused, the notion of playing the game according
to the rules always vanishes. People want to see one side on top and the other side
humiliated, and they forget that victory gained through cheating or through the intervention
of the crowd is meaningless. Even when the spectators don't intervene physically they try to
influence the game by cheering their own side and “rattling” opposing players with boos and
insults. Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy,
boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence: in other
words it is ___ _____ ___ ________.”
Which phrase?

8
Traditionally, the dance is performed around a clay lantern with a light inside. One way to
interpret the dance is as a fertility ritual, a plausible interpretation given the Sanskrit origins
of its name. The lamp represents life, and the fetus in the womb in particular.
An alternate interpretation is that the lamp placed at the center stands for divinity, often
represented in a feminine form, and dancing in circles around it represents the cycle of time.
As time revolves, from birth, to life, to death and again to rebirth, the only thing that is
constant is the lamp at the center, that one unmoving symbol in the midst of all of this
unending and infinite movement.
Which dance form?

9
Award-winning cricket writer Rahul Bhattarcharya wrote an article in 2006 featuring the
following passage:
Listening to ______, watching him work, you sometimes worry that he is consumed by an
intensity that can burn, torn by “the trances of torment” of Melville’s Captain Ahab, who
“sleeps with clenched hands; and wakes with his own bloody nails in his palms”. In truth
experience, not least time spent banished from the one-day team, and now a wholesome
family life, has taught him that at some level there is nothing which is too important.
Who was the article about?

10
What does this chart depict?

11*
The phrase originally appeared in French in Rene Descartes’ philosophical treatise
Discourse on the Method, so as to reach a wider audience than Latin would have allowed. It
appeared in Latin in the later work Principles of Philosophy. As the author explained, "we
cannot doubt of our existence while we doubt....”
The proposition has become a fundamental element of Western philosophy, appearing to
form a secure foundation for knowledge in the face of radical doubt. The very act of
doubting one's own existence serves—at minimum—as proof of the reality of one's own
mind.
Which phrase?

12*
What does this chart depict?

13*
The main protagonist in Alejandro Inarritu’s Birdman is depicted as being tormented by the
mocking and critical internal voice of his younger self. He hopes to re-awaken his career by
writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway-production of a loosely based adaptation of
_______ ______'s short story ____ __ ____ ____ ____ __ ____ _____ ____.
Screenwriter Alexander Dinelaris says:
"Alejandro had a strong reaction to the story and the various ideas and themes revolving around love:
love of another, love of self, love of ideas, et cetera. He thought it would be a good foundation for the
play that Michael Keaton's character, Riggan Thomson, produces in the film. Riggan is searching for
love in many ways."
______ is buried at Ocean View Cemetery in Port Angeles, and Birdman opens with the
words that are inscribed on his tombstone:
"And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.”
Who? Which story?

14*
It was originally established at the bungalow of barrister Jivanlal Desai in Ahmedabad.
Later, it was shifted to its present site. This was done to facilitate the carrying out of various
developmental activities and animal husbandry. There were two additional influences. One
was the fact that the site was situated between a jail and a crematorium, thus lending it a
certain symbolic value. The other was that the new site was believed to be where the
mythological sage Rishi Dadhichi’s gurukul had been situated in ancient times.
Indra was once driven out of heaven by a demon named Vritra. Vritra was the recipient of a
boon which made him invulnerable to any known weapon. He stole all the water in the world
for his own use so that all other beings would die of thirst and hunger, leaving no one alive
to challenge his place in heaven. It was revealed that Vritra could only be killed by weapons
made from the bones of Rishi Dadhichi. The great sage surrendered his own life, and Vritra
was defeated.
This tale of sacrifice greatly inspired a certain individual, and is believed to have influenced
the move. Who was the individual? Which establishment?

15*
What have they been drinking?

16
What is this instrument called? Move mouse pointer to detect embedded video.

17
What did this man serve as the inspiration for? Move mouse pointer to detect embedded
video.

A
The character of Phunsukh Wangdu in 3 Idiots

20
Sidin Vadukut is a well-known IIMA alumnus. Who was he tweeting about?

• There are six rounds.
• These are based on the six terms in the 2-year post-graduate program at
IIMA.

Term I
zigzag adjective
features in ancient war cry of the masses; alludes to potential future path
towards success and glory
Magic Square
+10
Possible +30/-15

• This round involves a magic square.
• Each square contains a question whose answer would be related to a
certain number. e.g. If an answer were Navaratna, the corresponding
number would be 9.
• The sum of the numbers along each row, each column, each diagonal
and each reverse diagonal would be 15.

2) His family coat of
arms.
3) A doubly reflecting
navigational instrument,
its name is said to have
been coined by Tycho
Brahe based on the
number of parts that its
arc divides a circle into.
1) A variant of Sudoku
developed by Kaushik
Basu, it takes its name
from the Bengali for the
number of persons
required to play it.
4) A collective denoting
aesthetic flavors in Indian
arts that evoke an
emotion or feeling in the
reader or audience.
6) A non-profit initiative, it
began under the
leadership of Nicholas
Negroponte and Seymour
Papert following a talk at
the World Economic
Forum at Davos in 2005.
5) World’s largest
independently owned
design studio, it was
founded in 1972 as a firm
of equals. It is
responsible for Frooti’s
new brand campaign.
7) Introduced in 1958
by Mao Zedong as a
hygiene campaign, it
aimed at eradicating
species that were
supposedly responsible
for the transmission of
pestilence and disease.
8) The earliest collection
of Buddhist writings, likely
written down starting in
the 1st century BC. The
term alludes to baskets in
which the early written
material might have been
stored.
9) The collective title
given to Telugu poets in
the court of Sri Krishna
Deva Raya who ruled the
Vijayanagara Empire from
1509 to 1529, the most
famous of these was
perhaps Tenali
Ramakrishna.

SextantDuidoku
Navrasa One Laptop Per
Child
Pentagram
Four Pests
Campaign
Tripitakas Ashtadiggas
James Bond

Term II
CP verb
IIMA's vocal support to the cause of socialism
+10 Direct
+15/-5 Pounce

1
During the 1971 war, so the legend goes, the building’s architecture, with its extensive
circular designs, led to enemy pilots mistaking it for ancient ruins. Thus, it was spared from
being bombed.
Which building? Who was the architect?

A
Dhaka National Assembly; Louis Kahn

2
In 1883, Sir Walter Millard, a Scot in the British East India Company, went searching for the
perfect Scotch whisky. His search ended in a blend created by James MacKinlay of the
Leith Scotch whisky blending family. Being a keen angler, Sir Millard named the whisky after
his nickname for his favorite fishing fly which he used for fishing salmon in the Spey and Tay
rivers of Scotland. The logo remains a fishing fly to this day.
Which brand?

3
It is a British English slang term for Britain or often specifically England. Though used
throughout the 1800s in India to mean an English, British or European visitor, it was first
used during the Boer War in the specific meaning of homeland for the English or British, and
it was not until World War I that the word spread widely.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word derives from a regional variant of
the Urdu word "vilayati", meaning "foreign”. In India, vilayati came to be known as an
adjective meaning European, and specifically English or British.
Which term?

4
He started drawing at the age of 44 in 1962, after a series of amicable arguments with an
artist-friend. When he decided to sell his drawings upon a friend’s suggestion, he was
cautious of people fetishizing them because of his academic prominence, and so he
decided to adopt a pseudonym: Ofey. In explaining its origin, he wrote:
“My friend Dudley Wright suggested ‘Au Fait,’ which means ‘It is done’ in French. I spelled it
O-f-e-y, which turned out to be a name the blacks used for ‘whitey.’ But after all, I was
whitey, so it was all right.”
Who?

5
While Sir Allen Lane is widely credited for having started the publishing revolution by
establishing Penguin Books, the Indian historian S. Muthian claims that the idea originally
occurred to another man X. He writes:
“ .. he dreamt of flooding the market with cheap paperback editions of quality titles. He
discussed the idea with a colleague at Bodley Head and Allen Lane jumped at it. In 1935,
they quit Bodley Head and with 100 Pounds capital, set up office in the crypt of St Pancras
Borough Church. Thus was born Penguin Books.”
In any case, the individual in question became the first editor of the light blue-covered
Pelicans, the non-fiction imprint of Penguin. However, he is far better known for activities
later in his life, achieving a dubious notoriety in certain circles. In these, his close
relationship with Y played an important role. Writing about the two, the Swedish socialist
Alva Myrdal states that Y “knew X’s shortcomings but kept listening to him because of his
brilliance. X was the only genuine intellectual foil Y had in the government’, the only man
with whom he could discuss Marx and Mill, Dickens and Dostoevsky.”
X and Y.

A
X: Jawaharlal Nehru
Y: VK Krishna Menon

6
It makes reference to the once-common tradition of saloons in the United States offering
food to patrons who had purchased at least one drink. Rudyard Kipling, writing in 1891,
noted
“You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a
rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a
bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts.”
However, many of the foods on offer, such as ham, cheese, and salted crackers, were high
in salt so those who ate them ended up buying a lot of beer.
What?

A
There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch

Term III
arbit adjective
short for arbitrary, meaning nothing in particular and
everything in general
+5 Per Answer
-15/-30/-45 For Hints
+30 For Full Set

• There are 22 letters.
• Each letter stands for a fairly well-known person or an entity.
• This is their story. Decode what the letters stand for.

A-J
A entered Presidency College, Calcutta in 1908 where his teachers included B and C. B is best known
for his work in wireless communication, while C is remembered as the founder of India’s first
pharmaceutical company. Upon finishing his studies at King’s College, Cambridge, A started teaching
at Presidency College. Here an informal group developed, meeting often at a laboratory run out of his
room, that led to the founding of D.
E and F were A’s juniors at college. E is best known for his work on the thermal ionization of elements,
being nominated for the Nobel Prize several times. F’s work, in collaboration with G, has led to several
Nobel Prize-winning breakthroughs. Interestingly, E and F wrote one of the earliest recorded
translations of G’s work into English, with the introduction being written by A.
A came under H’s influence at an early age, and had a long and close association with him, serving as
the first joint-secretary of the university I that H founded in 1921. Incidentally, H wrote his only book on
science upon being persuaded by E, dedicating it to F.
J studied at I, and later at Presidency College and Trinity College, Cambridge where he was elected
President of the Cambridge Majlis. While still an undergraduate student at Trinity, he met and greatly
impressed A upon whose recommendation he received his first appointment as a professor at the age
of 23.

K-V
A was a member of the first K of independent India, set up following a proposal in this regard in the
budget presented by L in Parliament. L too was a member of the first K, but stepped down protesting
the increasing power of K and A.
The first such body in India had been set up in 1938 by M, again a junior of A’s at Presidency College,
at E’s behest. It was initially headed by N, the pre-eminent engineer of pre-independence India. E
approached N and requested him to step down, arguing that the body would be best able to meet its
objectives through a reciprocity between science and politics. N generously agreed and stepped
down, and O took over instead. Later, a disillusioned E would contest elections to challenge O’s
‘betrayal’. He remains the only scientist to have been directly elected into Parliament.
L’s son P was an important figure in Q’s history. Q was set up when K realized the need for trained
talent in pursuing O’s industrial policies. P’s cousin R, synonymous with S in India, once served on Q’s
Board.
K has since been replaced by T. U, often described as V’s protégé, was appointed as its first vice-
chairman. V was briefly employed at D, and was once offered a position at Q that he declined. V has
for many years engaged in a fierce, often acrimonious, public debate with J, the two representing
often diametrically opposite positions.

Answers
A: PC Mahalanobis
B: JC Bose
C: PC Roy
D: Indian Statistical Institute
E: Meghnad Saha
F: Satyendranath Bose
G: Albert Einstein
H: Rabindranath Tagore
I: Viswa Bharati University
J: Amartya Sen
K: Planning Commission
L: John Mathai
M: Subhash Chandra Bose
N: M. Visvesvaraya
O: Jawaharlal Nehru
P: Ravi Mathai
Q: IIM Ahmedabad
R: Verghese Kurien
S: Milk Revolution
T: NITI Aayog
U: Arvind Panagariya
V: Jagdish Bhagwati

Term IV
globe verb
verbose salutation that serves as an allusion to the
spherical contraption in Dr. Sarabhai’s hands
+10 Direct
+15/-5 Pounce

1
What does McEnroe say? Move mouse pointer to detect embedded video.

2
Daniel Huffman is a Wisconsin-based cartographer whose maps present natural features in
the type of “highly-abstracted, geometrically precise visual language that we often apply to
the constructed world on maps”. In this mode, Huffman has created a series of maps of
American river systems in which he makes use of straight lines, 45° angles and simple
geometry, with nodes representing connections between streams and tributaries.
Where does he draw inspiration from?

3
The term denotes the phenomenon of women in leadership roles, such as executives in the
corporate world and female political election candidates, being likelier than men to achieve
leadership roles during periods of crisis or downturn, when the chance of failure is highest.
The term was coined in 2004 by British professors Michelle K. Ryan and Alexander Haslam
who showed that once women break through take on positions of leadership they often
have experiences that are different from those of their male counterparts. More specifically,
women are more likely to occupy positions that are precarious and thus have a higher risk
of failure.
Which term?

4
The Thomisidae are a family of spiders that do not build webs, and instead rely on
camouflage and ambush to catch their prey. Their common name derives from their
resemblance to another creature, especially in the manner in which they hold their two front
pairs of legs, and their ability to move sideways or backwards.
What are they commonly called?

5
TRPM8 is a protein receptor which when open allows the entry of calcium ions. Whenever
there is a temperature drop, its shape changes so that it allows calcium ions to flow into a
nerve cell. This triggers current to flow down the nerve cell membrane, warning the brain of
the fall in temperature. TRPM8 is the primary receptor involved in detecting cold sensations
in humans.
Falling temperature is not the only factor that switches TRPM8 on though. It is also triggered
by naturally occurring chemicals, especially a cyclic terpene alcohol found in certain
perennial herbs.
What is this an explanation of?

A
The sensation of coldness that menthol in mint leaves provides

6
From the Scientific American:
A moving object has a high-pressure area on its front side. Air flows smoothly over the
contours of the front side and eventually separates from the object toward the back side. A
moving object also leaves behind a turbulent wake region where the air flow is fluctuating or
agitated, resulting in lower pressure behind it. The size of the wake affects the amount of
drag on the object.
These on the other hand - generally numbering between 300 and 500 - create a thin
turbulent boundary layer of air that clings to the surface. This allows the smoothly flowing air
to follow the surface a little farther around the back, thereby decreasing the size of the
wake. Due to their presence, the drag is essentially halved, thus allowing travel to a much
greater distance.
What am I talking about?

Term V
exchange noun
an avenue to celebrate getting poorer in Europe
+10

• There are 8 infographics with some information removed.
• You have to interpret what is being depicted.

Term VI
RG verb
I know what it means, but why should I tell you?
+10 AND +10
OR
+20/-10 AND +20/-10

• Three sets of two questions.
• Questions in a set have answers that are related.
• After looking at the first question in a set, you may decide whether you
would like to play “High” on the set or play “Low”.
• The bid would have to be made before seeing the second question.
• There are negatives for incorrect answers on a “High” bid. No negatives
on a “Low” bid.
• The scoring for a “High” bid would be +20/-10 on each question for a
potential total of +40/+10/-20 on each set.
• The scoring pattern for a “Low” bid would be +10/0 on each question for
a potential total of +20/+10/0 on each set.

1.1
They found love over a luncheon in 1977, launching a whirlwind romance that led to
marriage in less than a year. They have collaborated extensively over the years. In his
autobiography, he writes, "Not only did our personalities mesh perfectly, but we have also
always been in all but perfect agreement about macroeconomics. Our lone disagreement is
that she is a bit more supportive of free trade than I".
Regarding the somewhat unusual nature of their relationship, a long-time collaborator jokes,
"How many Nobel laureates work in the same discipline as their spouse, but are less
famous?”
Who?

1.2
The author writes:
“By June of 1967 the paper was ready and I sent it to The American Economic Review for
publication. I was spending the academic year 1967-68 in India. Fairly shortly into my stay
there, I received my first rejection letter from The American Economic Review. The editor
explained that the Review did not publish papers on subjects of such triviality. In a case,
perhaps, of life reproducing art, no referee reports were included.”
After two further rejections, the latter of which noted that if the paper had been correct,
economics would have been different, it was finally accepted in the Quarterly Journal of
Economics.
Which paper was this?

A
1.1: George Akerlof & Janet Yellen
1.2: The Market for Lemons by George Akerlof

2.1
His Cricinfo profile reads:
“Critics took issue with _____'s apparent loss of concentration at times and his capacity to
occasionally succumb to lazy-looking shots. The weakness was on show most evidently
during his disastrous 1992-93 tour to Sri Lanka when he scored four successive Test ducks,
but it would be hard to find a player more difficult to contain when in full flight. To
complement his batting skills, he offered handy part-time bowling as a medium-pacer-cum-
offspinner and a remarkable penchant for spectacular saves and catches - he had few rivals
to match his freakish brilliance in the field.”
Who?

2.2
August Horch set up the the August Horch & Cie. Motorwagenwerke AG, a joint-stock
company, in 1904. After troubles with Horch chief financial officer, he left and in 1909,
founded his second company, again naming it after himself. His former partners sued him
for trademark infringement.
Prohibited from using "Horch", he called a meeting at the apartment of a close business
friend to come up with a new trade name. During this meeting, the friend's son was quietly
studying Latin in a corner of the room. Several times he looked like he was on the verge of
saying something but would swallow his words and continue working, until he finally blurted
out that it might be a good idea to use the Latin translation of the surname.
Which company?

A
2.1: Mark Waugh
2.2: Audi
Mark Waugh was nicknamed Audi for his four consecutive ducks, an allusion
to the four rings in Audi’s logo.

3.1
In making this song, Radiohead fused together parts from three different songs, each
written by a different member of the band. Band member Colin Greenwood admitted that
the band, in attempting to make the disparate elements work together, "felt like irresponsible
schoolboys who were doing this ... naughty thing, 'cause nobody does a six-and-a-half-
minute song with all these changes. It's ridiculous".
Named after a chronically depressed fictional character, the song’s title, according to lead
singer Thom Yorke, "was chosen as a joke. It was like, 'Oh, I'm so depressed.' And I just
thought, that's great. That's how people would like me to be. And that was the end of writing
about anything personal in the song. The rest of the song is not personal at all."
Which song?

3.2
His official biography shares its name with the song Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. He
was friends with Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour and, on a certain birthday, was invited to
play the guitar at Pink Floyd's concert in London. He also chose the name for Pink Floyd's
1994 album, The Division Bell, picking the words from the lyrics to one of the album tracks.
He described himself as a "radical atheist", adding "radical" for emphasis so he would not
be asked if he meant agnostic. The evolutionary biologist and atheist Richard
Dawkins dedicated his book The God Delusion to him, and wrote on his death that "Science
has lost a friend, literature has lost a luminary, the mountain gorilla and the black rhino have
lost a gallant defender.”
Who?

A
3.1: Paranoid Android
3.2: Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams’ book Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy features a character
named Marvin, the Paranoid Android

IIMA Faculty-Student Quiz 2017 Prelims & Finals

IIMA Faculty-Student Quiz 2017 Prelims & Finals

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