Derek O'Brien

I fell in love all over again a fortnight ago! It was love at first sight.The hills in the Nilgiris embraced me as we rode the magical Nilgiri Mountain Railway from Coonoor to Ooty (Udhagamangalam does not roll off the tongue).The train, which was conferred the status of a World Heritage Site by Unesco a few years ago, runs on a steam engine from Mettupalayam to Coonoor. We stayed at Wellington Cantonment with friends who we trekked with through tea gardens spotting bison, deer red squirrels and the home of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw.

YOUR QUESTIONS

1. Last year, who became the first-ever serving Cabinet minister to get a Padma award?

Madhushree Jana, Jamshedpur

2. How do we know actress Begum Mahjabeen Bux better?

Haradhan Goswami, Hooghly

3. After which former prime minister is India’s first sea bridge in Mumbai named?

Tushar Kumar Dey, Calcutta

4. The name of which animal comes from two Greek words meaning ‘nose’ and ‘horn’?

Kumudini Basu, Kalyani

5. The Fujita scale is used to rate which natural phenomenon?

Deepika Shaw, Howrah

6. Who founded the Maharogi Sewa Samiti?

Ananda Mohan Rakshit, Uluberia

7. What is the name of the mascot of the Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi next year?

Basudev Chakravarty, Calcutta

8. Omid is the first domestically made satellite of which country?

Romita Singh, Calcutta

9. About which author did Ben Jonson say he “was not of an age, but for all time”?

Nabaran Baidya, Calcutta

KNOW & GROW WITH DEREK

The Raj Bhavan in Ooty is located in the premises of the Botanical Gardens. The Monkey Puzzle Tree (can someone give us its scientific name?) is the one tree here monkeys cannot climb.

ANSWER & WIN

Akoya, South Sea and Tahitian are the three main types of which gemstone?

For Answer and Win, send a quiz question of your own along with the answer. The prize will go to the reader with the correct answer and the best question. Send in answers with your full name and address to: graphitiquiz@gmail.com

Winner of the Answer and Win

Quiz published on 30.8.2009

Basudev Chakravarty, Calcutta.

Which is the world’s highest continuously active volcano?

The answer is Cotopaxi, in the Andes mountains.

For queries about Answer and Win, please contact 22804093

Name this novelist

POINT OF VIEW

1. Identify the current president of Indonesia

2.  Name this film actress

ANSWERS

1 Pranab Mukherjee
2 Meena Kumari
3 Rajiv Gandhi
4 Rhinoceros
5 Tornado
6 Baba Amte
7 Sheru
8 Iran
9 William Shakespeare

WHO AM I ? Hanif Kureishi
POINT OF VIEW 1 Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
POINT OF VIEW 2 Mugdha Godse