The TAF Open by Parnab Mukherjee

How would you feel, when you go to a quiz with the intention of winning lots of cash, but upon reaching you find out the QM is none other than "Pornob Da" aka Parnab Mukherjee. Yes, that's exactly how I felt.

We had heard all about the legend, but never had we sat for one of his quizzes.

Being an open general quiz, it made for some more obscure questions and entertainment. Although I must admit, on rare occasions I felt it wasn't as bad as I had heard it could be.

Apologies for the delay in posting this, but read on for entertainment.

Parnab Da starts with introducing himself and calling the Kutub veteran Kunal Malhotra "one of the greatest freedom fighters in the field of quizzing since independence". I wonder what Kunal was thinking.

The TAF Open General Quiz by Parnab Mukherjee

Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, Pitampura

Date: 22 January, 2012

Prelims:

30 questions. Mostly obscure and factual. A few popular repeats. There was a slideshow and for a second, we thought that maybe this quiz would be a tad different from regular Parnab quizzes. However, what he would've normally said had simply typed on a ppt. So it was still a regular Pornob quiz, minus some entertainment. Samples:

1. What unique feat did the Devon Wonderers achieve in the field of sport?

After disclosing the answer, goes on about the beauty of the team name. About the cricket clubs in the early Olympics and the Canadian Lacrosse team with the same name.

2. What is the Sharon Stone Syndrome?

Answer: Middle aged men who develop heart problems on coming in contact with women.

Upon hearing various forms of the answers written by the participants, P: "I want middle aged men", followed by "It happens with a lot of men, doesn't happen with me anymore though"

3. Where is the Gandhi King Plaza, in Delhi, located? (The crowd's silence said it all i.e. 'next question please')

Answer: India International Centre

4. The word is derived from Latin literally translated as "all lions". However it has undergone 2 or 3 changes overtime, in English. It means courageous. What word?

Answer: Pantaloon

5. P: At the Lenin Museum, visitors aren't allowed to do something while they're inside. Men aren't allowed to do 2 things. I'll give you one - they can't wear hats inside. However, the other thing can't be done by women either. What?

Answer: Put their hands in their pockets

P: "The moisture, you see?"

(Obviously, most of the teams wrote the most obvious answer pertaining to obscenity. Fortunately, or unfortunately (that's for Parnab Da to decide), the ppl ARE allowed to do that, or so I gathered)

6. In 1643, this 1340 ft long and 12 ft long structure was made to protect the people from Red Indians. What?

(Wow, Red Indians really helped. Not.)

Answer: The wall in wall street

7. If the Durand separates Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the Radcliffe line divides India and Pakistan, then what does a "Vinculum" separate?

(If you haven't read your NCERTs for that, too bad)

Answer: The numerator and denominator in a fraction

8. What is common to Noor Mohammadi – Bhindi Bazaar, Mumbai and Azad Hind Dhaba, Kolkata?

(Poorly framed, but interesting answer)

Answer: The only 2 hotels to have MF Hussain's paintings on their walls.

All in all, the prelims were a drowsy affair. Any guesses for the cut offs? For a 10 team semifinal, the cut off was 2/30! Surprised? So was I. Fortunately, we just made the mark.

Semi Finals.

Typical Pornob style. Oral. Off the top of his head.

Samples:

Round 1 - Dry.

1. WW II veteran. Ace pilot. Gives his name to a stadium. Who?

Answer: Roland Garros

(Roland Garros was a pilot in WW I. But that hardly makes a difference, right?)

2. In India, there is a man made Island which is used as an air base. Which Island?

Answer: Willingdon.

3. If E. Sreedharan hadn't retired, he would've taken a different post altogether. Which post?

Answer: Kochi - metro

P: "I'll give 5 points to team 1 because they said Cochin. Team 4, too bad. you got the Cochin part right, but it's not the complete answer and team 1 had it first. By the way, you guys are from around there, aren't you? I knew it. Because you cracked Willingdon as well. No one but people from there could know that."

4. In which current day city is Jesus said to be born?

Answer: Some place in Jordan (that's the closest any team came to the answer)

Round 2 - Audio Round

1. Song plays. ID the band. Team 2 says "Opeth" P: "Good guess, but that's not the answer. I like Opeth. They came to Bangalore recently. I went there." Team 3 says "Dream Theatre" P: "People say I play too many classics, Dylan etc etc. So I thought I'd go with something contemporary."

Answer: Dragonforce

2. Some Old Bollywood song plays, starts with some Jazz in the beginning. Ques: Who's the guy playing the guitar in the Jazz sequence of the song?

Answer: Bhupender

P: "When you hear western music in old bollywood movies, you think RD Burman. The guitarist in RD Burman's band was very famous. Bhupender"

3. Some ghazal plays. ID the singer.

(the only thing the teams on stage can decipher is a female voice)

Answer: parveen sultana

Round 3 - Visual

1. Pic of an actress given, holding an award. Ques: For which movie is she receiving the award?

Answer: Gandhi My Father (actress was Shefali Shah)

2. Pic of some singer.

P: "ID the guy. Very controversial guy. His music is available on MySpace and YouTube. Also on his site for free download. He's banned in India and if he were to release an album, he'd be arrested"

Every team passes.

Answer: MC Kash

3. Pic of some cathedral.

Ques: where is it located?

Answer: Turkey (part points to Team 4)

Tie Breaker Ques

1. Who is the vice chancellor of DU? - Dinesh Singh

2. Who plays Aamir Khan's character in the Tamil adaptation of 3 idiots?

3. There is a proposed international airport coming up near Pune. Named after a religious place, which?