Satyamave Jayate!.... But guessing also works! :)

We are going to take you on a tour of a place that Mark Twain said ".... is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition." - Ofcourse u guessed rt, - Our own Mother India! :)

.. Irrespective, if you are in Tanjore, Noida , Nairobi , Berlin, Seattle or Adelaide you will surely enjoy this quiz which inclines a little towards Indian History & Mythology - both subjects that are magical and downright fascinating!

Like always, the goal is to make most questions guessable, to render a story and provide interesting insight. Give it a shot and let us know what you think.

1. In medieval India, when the Rajputs were fighting off Muslim invasion, Rani Karnawati, the widow of the King of Chittor, was in distress, as the Sultan of Gujarat (Bahadur Shah) launched an attack on Chittor. In order to save the city, she asked for help from Humayun and sent a “X” to him. Humayun, touched by the gesture, sent his troops to save Chittor. Time was short and they arrived late, and by then, Rani Karnawati and the women of Chittor had tragically commited Jauhar (mass suicide).
What is "X"?

2. A question on our un-official national sport …
Many remember the legendary "Shardashram vs Xavier's" Harris Shield school match as part of cricketing folklore, the emergence of teenage geniuses. Tendulkar and Kambli's mammoth 664 run un-beaten partnership for Shardashram set the stadium alight. Few would remember, however, that donning his pads and waiting impatiently for his turn to bat for one and a half days was yet another precocious talent. A 13 year old then, he went on to play for India. I'll give you the answer to this one, it was Amol Mazumdar. Interestingly enough, the captain of the opressed St. Xavier's team, the lead bowler on their side, also went on to play for India. So, Who was he (the bowler/captain)?

3. In Hinduism, this represents the 2 forms of Brahma. Facing right, it represents the evolution of the universe and facing left, it represents the involution. It is also said to represent the sun’s rays, without which there would be no life. In Buddism, it represents Dharma, universal harmony and balance of opposites. Jainism probably gives this the most prominence as it is considered one of the 24 auspicious marks and almost all ceremonies typically begin and end by creating this. What is ‘this’?

4. The casting for roles in one of India's biggest movie hit was pretty convoluted and just as filmi. Actor 'X' wanted to play a certain character in the movie. The director informed him that if he did that he wouldn't get the heroine (in the movie) and actor 'Y' would. Apparently, X was in love (real-life) with the actress playing the heroine and actor 'Y' was "also" in love with her and had in fact, proposed marriage to her before the movie (She was yet to make up her mind). With the director's help and some back-room politics, 'X' pushed 'Y' out of the role and 'Y' eventually played the role 'X' was supposed to play, and the rest, as they say, is history.
X/Y?

5. As legend goes, Bappa Rawal (born as Prince Kalboj) was a teenager in hiding. He came across a warrior saint (Guru Gorakhnath) while on a hunting expedition in the jungles of Rajasthan. Bappa decided to stay behind and care for the saint who was in meditation. When the saint woke up, he gave Bappa a kukri (knife) and he told him that he and his people would henceforth be called X. Deemed a martial race by the British, what is X?

6. This food-item is said to be popularized by Mughal Empress Nur Jehan. As natural elements were used as cosmetics, Nur Jehan, during her experimentation, discovered that adding a few ingredients to this food-item gave a beautiful natural color to the lips of those eating it. How do we know the food-item today?


7. In 1905, Lala Hardayal, a freedom fighter, who eventually founded the Gadar party, was a student in Lahore's Government College and he invited his Literature Professor to preside over a function. The professor, instead of delivering a speech, sang a patriotic poem that he had originally penned for children in the Ghazal style of Urdu Poetry. The poem gained in popularity with every passing year and is now the official march of the Indian Armed Forces. Which poem?

8. This was first attested to in the Kali Santarana Upanishad, when Narada is instructed by Brahma. *Rough translation follows+ “Learning the Vedas, one can cross Samsara of Kali only by uttering a name of Lord Narayana”. Narada asks to be told this name of Narayana and Brahma replies with 16 words and says “These 16 words are destructive of the evil effects of Kali. No better means to be seen this than in the Vedas”. What were those 16 words?

9. During the British Rule in India , British officers hit upon a idea of mining systematically in a certain part of India inspired by initial tests from scientists. To speed up the process, they encouraged their laborers by chanting a slogan/phrase/group of words that eventually became the name of that place. What is this place / slogan ?

10. The earliest account of this comes from Arab Traveller, Ibn Batuta, who saw this in 1346 enroute to Hangzhou, in China. Andrew Mullen, a physicist from Univ of Manchester tried to work this out. It was proved that you could keep a stick resting vertically on your hand by moving your palm of your hand rapidly up-and-down instead of side-to-side. Supposing, you were to get two sticks and link them with a metal loop, once again you can have them stand vertically by moving your palm up and down fast enough while moving through a distance short enough. What was he trying to explain?
(Hint: This is an India Quiz J)

We hope, you enjoyed the questions. We promise, that the answers are even better :) Good luck and happy quizzing !!