Derek O'Brien

Stock market bloodbaths, Raj Thackeray mayhem...in these times that sound like a micro-waved mortuary, one proverbial silver lining came along on a cloudy Diwali evening. In an inbox choked with good wishes, I was touched to receive two SMSes: one from a devout Muslim and another from a professed agnostic. They wished me for Deepawali not because of the holy books they read — or did not read — but because they were friends. Just friends. In the same way as I will wish them for Christmas a few weeks from now.

QUESTIONS

1. Which famous yesteryear actress was born as Mehjabeen Bux?

Kapil Sarkar, Calcutta

2. Who was the first wild card entrant to win the Wimbledon?

Priambada Ghosh, Calcutta

3. What was first constructed in 1960 by Theodore Maiman using a ruby rod?

Gourab Sen, Calcutta

4. The beta cells of the Islets of Langerhans secrete which hormone?

Prabir Das, Haldia

5. Which city was established by an Afghan soldier, Dost Mohammed?

Bijaya Haldar, via e-mail

6. Which game was previously known as ‘whiff whaff’ and ‘gossima’?

Shankar Gosh, Uluberia

7. Name the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe aboard The Golden Hind.

Jamini Nashkar, Midnapore

8. Whose biography is titled Truth, Love and a Little Malice?

Hemanta Roy, via e-mail

9. Which great bird features in Coleridge’s The Rime of The Ancient Mariner?

Pratima Jha, Jamshedpur

ANSWER AND WIN

The name of which country means ‘Land of the Aryans’?

Send in your Q & As with your full name and address to: graphitiquiz@gmail.com

The winner of Answer and Win for 26.10.2008: Pratima Jha from Jadavpur. The answer was Daffy Duck.

Know and Grow with Derek

Reminder: Answer the Answer And Win Question published in this column every week and along with your answer, also send us one of your own quiz questions. The prize will go to the reader who answers correctly and writes the best question.

Name this fashion designer

POINT OF VIEW

1. Identify this actor

2. Name this cricketer

Answers

1. Meena Kumari
2. Goran Ivanesevic
3. Laser
4. Insulin
5. Bhopal
6. Table tennis
7. Sir Francis Drake
8. Khushwant Singh
9. Albatross

Who am I? Wendell Rodricks
Point of View 1 Harman Baweja
Point of View 2 Peter Siddle