Questions asked by Gautam Priyam Mahanta at the quiz competition "Don Quizzote 2015" held on 14.06.2015 in Jorhat, Assam.

1. Don Quizzote 2015---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14.06.2015, Jorhat
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 Rounds from the Mains
by
GAUTAM PRIYAM MAHANTA

2. Misc Miscellany
GAUTAM PRIYAM MAHANTA

3.  1. William Henry Benson was a civil servant
of British East India Company who worked in a
number of positions including a District Collector
and Officiating Judge in Meerut, Bareilly and
other parts of northern India. On the return from
a trip to Mauritius he brought a couple of
living X which he gave to a friend in Calcutta in
April 1847 who subsequently released them in a
garden at Chowranghee. That was the
beginning; and slowly but steadily, X have
spread all across India. What is X?

5.  Answer:
 Giant African Land Snail (Achatina fulica).

6.  2. He is Mike
Davies, former
British Davis Cup
player and
entrepreneur. He
was behind
introduction of a
certain change
in tennis balls in
1972. What was
it?

8.  Answer:
 Change of the colour of tennis balls from
white to fluorescent yellow, due to more
visibility on colour television.

9.  3. Unlike Pat and Muga, the preparation of Eri
silk uses and requires only a mature / adult
cocoon allowing the moth to grow up and fly
away from the cocoon. What name is given
to this kind of silks?

11.  Answer:
 Non-violent silk.

12.  4. “In the 1989 elections, X was chosen by the
Janata Dal to contest against Rajiv Gandhi in
the parliamentary constituency of Amethi. This
was billed in the media as a battle between the
‘Asli Gandhi’ and the ‘Nakli Gandhi’, since X
was a direct descendant of the Mahatma,
whereas Rajiv got the ‘Gandhi’ name only
because his Zoroastrian father changed it from
‘Ghandy’ (the standard Parsi spelling).” – from a
write-up by Ramachandra Guha.
 X please!

14.  Answer:
 Rajmohan Gandhi.

15.  5. X is a
winged angelic being
who attends to God in
biblical tradition. The
concept is
represented in
ancient Middle
Eastern art as a lion or
bull with eagles' wings
and a human face.

17.  Answer:
 Cherub.

18.  6. Identify the book from the book cover and
the description there.

20.  Answer:
 Perfume: the story of a murderer.
 Also made into a film (see poster).

21.  7. This is a term given to a marketing strategy
where an active and useful ingredient that is
used in a product is highlighted in the loudest
and best possible way, whereas, in reality, the
rich ingredient is used in too small a quantity
to make any difference. What is the term?

23.  Answer:
 Angel Dusting.

24.  8. Identify the character with Imran Khan and
Kareena Kapoor.

26.  Answer:
 Bheegi Billi.

27.  9. Identify the flag. Clue: Not a flag of any country.

29.  Answer:
 Flag of Rohingiya national movement.

30.  THE END.

31. Noterrogation
…a musical interrogation
GAUTAM PRIYAM MAHANTA

32.  1. This is a ghazal from the Jagjit Singh album
“CRY FOR CRY”. Why is it named so?

34.  Answer:
 A part of the profit earned was donated to
the NGO, CRY – Child Relief and You.

35.  2. This song is from the Sudhir Mishra film “Inkaar”
(2013). Its male (Hindi) version was sung by
Angaraag Mahanta (Papon). Just identify the
American singer of Indian origin who is a
member of the band Shaa'ir and Func. She was
also the presenter of the musical series “The
Dewarists” telecast on Star World.

37.  Answer:
 Monica Dogra.

38.  3. He is Salil Bhatt, son of Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. Just
like his father who modified the guitar to cater to the
demands of Hindustani Classical, naming it Mohan Veena,
Salil Bhatt also designed a new variant of Mohan Veena
and called X Veena, naming it after his son. What is X?

40.  Answer:
 Sattvik Veena.

41.  4. “Heera” from the film Highway, sung by
Shweta Pandit. Who is the lyricist?

43.  Answer:
 Sant Kabir.

44.  5. The tune for this Pink Floyd song was
originally written for the second English
language movie, X, by the famous Italian
director Y. However, it was rejected by Y,
who remarked, "It's beautiful, but is it too sad,
you know? It makes me think of church". X, Y
please.

46.  Answer:
 Zabriskie Point, Michelangelo Antonioni.

47.  6. Music video from the album “Ustad and the Divas” where
female playback singers like Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan,
K. S. Chithra etc. collaborated with an Ustad (Hindustani
vocalist and sarangi player). Who is the Ustad here?

49.  Answer:
 Ustad Sultan Khan.

50.  7. Two parts. Identify the symphony and tell me
which German poet’s lines have been
incorporated / sung in symphony?

52.  Answer:
 Symphony No. 9 of Beethoven. Poet is Schiller.

53.  8. A soothing melody from the Shyam
Benegal movie “Welcome to Sajjanpur”. As
per the storyline, Sajjanpur was originally
named Durjanpur. But one day when X
visited Durjanpur, he did not like the name
and ordered the local collector to change its
name to Sajjanpur. Who is X?

55.  Answer:
 Jawaharlal Nehru.

56.  9. “Gulon mein rang bhare” from “Haider”.
Simple, lyricist please!

58.  Answer:
 Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

59.  THE END.

60. Assam & Her Sisters
GAUTAM PRIYAM MAHANTA

61.  1. He translated into Assamese both the Gita
and the Mahabharata. He also released an
abridged translation of Don Quixote, the
classic novel of Miguel de Cervantes. He
coined the term “Romonyaxbad” for the
English word and literary age, romanticism.
Who is he?

63.  Answer:
 Mahendra Bora.

64.  2. Alongside the elected government of
Nagaland, NSCN-IM, who is in the midst of a
ceasefire that started in 1997, has also been
running a parallel government there, called
GPRN. Likewise, NSCN-Khaplang has also
been running their own government in their
occupied territory (“Eastern Nagaland” as
they call) in Myanmar, their government also
called GPRN. What does GPRN stand for?

66.  Answer:
 Government of People’s Republic of Nagaland.

67.  3. This is a poem by
Nabakanta
Barooah. Who is the
“Bondhu” addressed
to here? Majuli also
finds a mention in
the poem, as this
friend was working
as a collector in
Majuli at that time.

69.  Answer:
 Homen Borgohain.

70.  4. One of the latest instances of mass
conversion to Hinduism was probably the
case of Manipur, where, X, a Vaishnavite
preacher of Sylhet, in 1717, converted the
then Meitei king Pamheiba into Hinduism,
who made it the state religion. Who is X, the
Vaishnavite preacher?

72.  Answer:
 Shantidas Gosai (Goswami) or Shantidas Adhikari.

73.  5. It is a literary award in Assam, initiated in 1995, in
the memory of X, awarded each year to author’s
below the age of 40. X was the son of Raisaheb
Durgadhar Barkotoki of Jorhat, the then Divisional
Inspector of Schools, and Kamalini Devi - daughter
of Padmavati Devi Phukanani (1853-1927) whose
Sudharmar Upakhyan (1884) was an early
Assamese novel. From his mother's side, his great
grandfather was Anandaram Dhekial Phukan
(1829-59), pioneer of the nineteenth century
Assamese renaissance. Simply, who is X?

75.  Answer:
 Munin Barkotoki.

76.  6. Identify
the little
guy
sitting
between
his
parents.

78.  Answer:
 Tej Hazarika.

79.  7. Ghulam Ibrahim Sheikh was a resident of
Hooghly district of Bengal. He owned a shop in
Mirzapur street of Kolkata. In 1881, he came
to Assam to collect woods for building his house in
his paternal village. But the then Governor
of Assam Sir William Cane, and along with him
British frontmen Sir Robert Raid and Andrew Floor
didn't let him return after he offered some product
of his shop to them, which impressed them, and
urged him to start something, which he obliged.
What did he start in the Panbazar area of
Guwahati? The year was 1885.

81.  Answer:
 Started the famous bakery shop Sheikh Brothers.

82.  8. Bnei Menashe or “Sons of Menasseh” are a
group mostly comprised of indigenous Mizos
who claim descent from one of the Lost Tribes
of ____. In recent years, there have been a
few instances where people of this group left
Mizoram / India for good to settle down in
____. There they would be absorbed as a
citizen after observing Mikveh or a spiritual
bath. What is ____?

84.  Answer:
 Israel.

85.  9. Poet Ajit Barua, during the early 1940s, he
was somewhat attracted to Marxist ideology
and attempted a few ideological poems.
According to the poet himself, what
nickname did he earn from his friends by
doing so?

87.  Answer:
 Haturi Kobi (Hammer Poet).

88.  THE END.