Weekend Quiz – A Medley of Trivia

While going through an old carton that has traveled with me every time I’ve moved, I found an old notebook where I used to jot down trivia when I was a kid. That took me down memory lane – back to my school days when I participated in quiz competitions and eagerly waited for Bournvita Quiz Contest on Sundays, hosted by Derek O’Brien.

Flipping through the pages of this notebook brought back the quiz enthusiast in me. So, here’s a set of 10 questions I’ve crafted, covering a mix of history, business, geography, and pop culture. The answers are provided at the end. I might make this a regular feature of the blog if it is received well and if time permits,

I hope you have as much fun answering these as I had creating them!

The Weekend Quiz

Q1. This movie featuring Dimple Kapadia had to change its title design due to a striking similarity with a bike company’s logo. Which movie?

Q2. This beloved Indian children’s puppet television series from the 90s featured an old storyteller – “Chhenu ki Jhunnu ka Baba” – from “Ghungar” village who collects stories and fables left hidden under rocks by his mother. Identify the series.

Q3. Based on a classic Hindi novel, this 90s fantasy television series featured Irrfan Khan in the only double role of his career, playing a spy from Chunargarh. What was the name of this iconic series?

Q4. In a November 2019 video, former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris was seen cooking this famous Indian dish, giving a nod to her Indian roots. Identify the dish.

Q5. Named after a Greek god, this Indian bicycle brand found an unexpected place in the Nobel Museum in Stockholm. Identify the brand and the reason for its display.

Q6. A Pune-based confectionery sold a candy that showed on its red packet a bearded man in sunglasses. It was extremely popular among kids in the 90s. In the movie Kapoor & Sons, Alia Bhatt’s character is seen searching for it in kirana stores of Ooty. Identify the product.

Q7. Identify the country.

Q8. This iconic Indian automobile X, modeled after the Morris Oxford Series III from the UK, was seen as a symbol of power on Indian roads. Decades later, a popular two-stroke Yamaha motorcycle, manufactured by the Escorts Group, was given a name Y that was the Hindi translation of this legendary car. Identify X & Y.

Q9. This synthetic fiber, X, invented around the beginning of World War II, was first used commercially in toothbrush bristles before gaining fame for its use in women’s stockings. However, during the war, almost all production was diverted to military applications, leading to a black market for X stockings. After the war, the manufacturing company struggled to meet the soaring demand, sparking riots famously known as the “X Riots.” Identify X.

Q10. Named after the founder’s daughter, this company started by producing an affordable detergent powder that became a household favorite across India. Its popularity was boosted by a catchy TV jingle that featured the names of three famous Bollywood actresses of the time. As part of its CSR efforts, the company later established a university, with tech innovator Pranav Mistry as one of its notable alumni. Identify the company.

Answers

A1. Tenet (directed by Christopher Nolan).
The movie was released on 26th Aug, 2020. Dimple Kapadia played the role of an Indian arms trafficker in the movie. The movie’s title design was quite similar to US bike manufacturer Tenet. When Christopher Nolan got to know about this, he wrote a letter to the founder of Tenet Bikes requesting him to allow the filmmakers to continue using their font and offering to change it in case they had problems. [Link]

A2. Potli Baba Ki
The television series Potli Baba Ki aired on Doordarshan in 1991 and featured various fairy tales told in simple language. It was written, directed and co-produced by Gulzar, who also composed its title song “Aaya Re Baba“.

A3. Chandrakanta
Based on Devaki Nandan Khatri’s 1888 novel, Chandrakanta was a popular television series that aired on Doordarshan from 1994 to 1996. Created, written, produced, and directed by Nirja Guleri, the show featured Irrfan Khan in a dual role as twin brothers Badrinath and Somnath.

A4. Masala Dosa

In November 2019, Kamala Harris appeared in a video with actress Mindy Kaling, where they cooked Masala Dosa and discussed their South Indian heritage. The video was part of Harris’s U.S. presidential campaign promotion.

A5. Atlas Cycle.

While working on his research on poverty and inequality in India, which won him a Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998, economist Amartya Sen used this cycle to travel through the countryside of West Bengal for his field work. [Link]

A6. Phantom Sweet Cigarette

Introduced in the 1980s by Pune-based Harnik General Foods Ltd., Phantom Sweet Cigarettes quickly became a childhood favorite. The candy cigarettes, with their white sticks and red tips, became an iconic treat despite controversies over promoting smoking culture.

A7. Bolivia.
In 2014 the clock on the facade of the Bolivian Congress building in La Paz was reversed. Its hands turn counterclockwise and the numbers arranged in reverse order, reflecting how the sundial’s shadow moves in the southern hemisphere. The backward clock also symbolizes Bolivia’s traditional belief that the past lies ahead while the future remains behind. [Link]

A8. Ambassador and Rajdoot

The Ambassador car was based on the Morris Oxford Series III and was manufactured by Hindustan Motors from 1958. It became synonymous with Indian politics and governance.

The Rajdoot was a two-stroke motorcycle produced by Escorts Group in collaboration with Yamaha during the 1980s.

The name Rajdoot is the Hindi translation of Ambassador.

A9. Nylon

Invented by DuPont in 1935, Nylon was first used commercially in 1938 for toothbrush bristles and later became famous for women’s stockings. However, during World War II, its production was diverted to making parachutes, tents, and ropes for the military. After the war, limited supply caused widespread shortages of nylon stockings, culminating in the Nylon Riots of 1945-46, when thousands of women lined up at stores, sometimes leading to riots over scarce stockings.

A10. Nirma

Nirma was founded by Dr. Karsanbhai Patel in 1969 as a one-man operation, selling a phosphate-free synthetic detergent powder named after his daughter, Nirupama. With its affordability and catchy TV jingles, Nirma became a household name across India. Over the years, Nirma expanded into detergents, soaps, cement, cosmetics, and chemicals. As part of its CSR initiatives, it established Nirma University in 2003. Among its notable alumni is tech innovator Pranav Mistry.

Photo Credit:

1. Feature Image: Created using GrokAI
2. Chandrakanta Image: The Print