[218]

Monty Norman composed a song “Bad Sign, Good Sign”, for a musical adaptation of V. S. Naipaul’s novel A House for Mr Biswas, set in the Indian community in Trinidad.
This song went on to become an inspiration for which globally recognizable piece of music associated with adventure?

Show Answer
James Bond Theme
Read More about the history of the song.
Listen to the Song which inspired the James Bond theme (I'm not 100% convinced).

[217]

X Fine Spinning Associates was an American textile company, founded in 1889.
Y Manufacturing Company was a producer of cotton textiles founded in 1888.
In 1955, both the companies merged together to create XY.
As of 2024, the company XY’s market capitalization has been north of $800B and has been among the most valued companies in the US.
Identify the company XY.

Show Answer
Berkshire Hathaway
The company started as a textile company when Buffet started investing in it in 1962. It now operates in diverse sectors such as insurance, confectionery, retail, railroads, home furnishings, machinery, jewelry, apparel, electrical power and natural gas distribution.
Read More about the history of the company.

[216]

X is a “software” co-founded by Monty Widenius & named after his daughter My Widenius.
The software’s mascot is called “Sakila” a feminine name in the SiSwati language from Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Africa.
Can you identify this software?

Show Answer
MySQL. The name comes from "My" the name of co-founder's daughter & SQL - which means Structured Query Language.
The software is used structure data & is used widely across the world.
Read More about the Basics & Details of MySQL.

[215]

X is a game in 1985 by Alexey Pajitnov, a Soviet software engineer. The word X is created from a combination of “Greek for four” and the engineer’s favorite sport.
Due to the circumstances of the Cold War, the game changed hands multiple times and even became part of the Nintendo vs Atari console wars, where it was called the “The Soviet Mind Game”.
Can you identify the game?

Show Answer
Tetris. The word comes from "Tetra" + "Tennis"
Read More about the interesting history of the game.

[214]

X was the 6th Surveyor General of India (1830-1843) & was part of the 70 year ‘Great Trigonometric Survey’ to map out of the entire Indian subcontinent. He was known for his pioneering work & detail orientation.
Such was his reputation that when his successor Andrew Scott Waugh found a remarkable (now globally known) landmark in the region, he said it had to be named after X.
Can you identify X or the landmark named after him?

Show Answer
Sir George Everest, the person after whom Mount Everest is named.
To be fair, Everest himself objected to his name being used, as "the native of India" could not pronounce it and it could not be easily written in Hindi.
Read More about his work.

[213]

MVPL was founded by Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV in 1937. It became a public sector company when India gained independence in 1947.
The company is the sole manufacturer of an iconic product in India & has a fairly cyclical business. The company also exports the product to countries like Thailand, Singapore, Nigeria, Malaysia and South Africa.
Can you identify the product made by the company?

Show Answer
The company manufactures indelible ink which is used in elections to prevent people from voting multiple times.
Read More about the company

[212]

About 50% of this fruit’s production comes from India, which is also seen from its scientific name Mangifera indica. It was especially famous with the Mughal emperors, Akbar commissioned an orchid of 1,00,000 trees called Lakhi Bagh near Darbhanga, Bihar.
Today companies like Reliance, Essar are some of the largest exporter of it.
Can you identify this fruit?

Show Answer
Mango
Deep Dive into chemistry of mangoes.
Or take a look at 100+ types of mangoes listed.

[211]

In 1970s, Chinni Krishnan saw an opportunity to disrupt the FMCG market in India by introducing smaller pack items targeted towards economically weaker section of the society.
In 1980s, his son C.K. Ranganathan carried the legacy forward by launching a product named after his father. The product disrupted the market, and is something which has become quite common these days.
Can you identify the product that was launched? Or what was unique about it?

Show Answer
Chik Shampoo, named after the initials of Mr Chinni Krishnan. The shampoo was sold in small sachets, unlike in 100-500ml bottles which was common then.
The company that his son founded was CavinKare, which is an FMCG business present in multiple categories today.
Read More.

[210]

Also known as Taṣawwuf, X is a religious sect associated with mysticism. The name X which is widely known, is thought to be derived from “one who wears wool”. The basic tenet of the sect is to find the truth of divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God.
Can you identify X?

Show Answer
Sufism
Watch a Quick Explainer on Sufism.

[209]

X is a type of deciduous tree native to Madagascar, Africa & Australia. The tree is also referred to as ‘upside down tree’, due to a local myth, or ‘Tree of Life’ due to many uses of its bark & fruit.
It is also one of the longest living trees on Earth, with an estimated age of 2000-3000 years.
Can you identify this iconic tree?
tree

Show Answer
Baobab Tree (genus Adansonia)
The trees are an integral part of the local environment, by providing food and storing large amounts of water in their trunk.
You probably remember these trees from the movie Lion King.
Read More about them.

[208]

The following is a tweet from the FIFA, noting the retirement of a player. The player is the third-highest international goal scorer among active players, behind only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Can you identify him?
retire q

Show Answer
Sunil Chhetri, the current captain of both Indian Super League club Bengaluru and the India national team.
He will play his last match on 6-Jun in India's second-round World Cup Qualifier match against Kuwait at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata.
Watch Sunil's Message to all his fans on his retirement.
retire

[207]

While the idea behind the portrait was to show a larger than life character & traditions in the 21st century.
However, its striking red colour was immediately linked to symbolism of blood & hell fire. Perhaps due to the history of the subject & his family.
Whose portrait are we discussing?
red question

Show Answer
King Charles III
The bold portrait, painted by British artist Jonathan Yeo, is the first official portrait of the 75-year-old king since his May 2023 coronation. It was unveiled inside Buckingham Palace on May 14.
Read More about the artist's interpretation of the work.
red answer

[206]

X is the South Eastern tip of Luxembourg, and is adjacent to Germany & France. The area mostly comprises of small wine-making villages.
In 1985, an agreement was signed here which made the word X globally famous, and is today considered a symbol of unity of Europe.
Can you identify X?

Show Answer
Schengen, the place after which EU's Schengen visa is named.
Read More about the original agreement, & how it transformed the landscape of Europe.

[205]

Originally called Der Schrei der Natur, this iconic painting was completed in 1893.
There have been many speculations about the inspiration behind the painting, ranging from: the powerful volcanic eruption at Karkatoa, Stratospheric clouds, to admission of the painter’s sister to a mental asylum.
Can you guess the painting?

Show Answer
The Scream by Edward Munch. The painting has been called an expression of anxiety of the human condition.
While there are a lot of speculations about the inspiration, there is no common consensus.
Read More about the theories.
scream

[204]

The following simple tweet by a ‘financial analyst’ sent the stock prices of meme stocks like GameStop & AMC to shoot up by ~50-70% in a single day.
Can you identify the individual behind the tweet, or his claim to fame?
seat

Show Answer
Keith Gill, known as "Roaring Kitty," the pivotal figure in the 2021 meme stock phenomenon, has resurfaced online after three years, causing a significant surge in meme stocks in general.
He was also the subject of the movie Dumb Money (2023).
Bloomberg has a Great Article on the implications of the return.

[203]

Rapidfire round. These are the original names of which famous companies?
1. Pete’s Super Submarines
2. Brand’s Drink
3. Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web
4. Cadabara
5. Backrub

Show Answer
1. Pete's Super Submarines - Subway
2. Brand's Drink - Pepsi
3. Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web - Yahoo
4. Cadabara - Amazon
5. Backrub - Google
Read More about famous companies which originally had different names.

[202]

This word was coined by British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene (1976). It has been described as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices, that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures or rituals.
Which word am I talking about which once became one of the biggest rage on the internet?

Show Answer
Meme, yes the ones that you share with friends.
It is actually defined as the small unit of culture which can be shared.
Read More.

[201]

X is a measure of protection which is found on personal care products. There is a common misconception that X represents the number of minutes or hours of protection provided.
In reality, X is a relative number for the amount of protection provided, with the product only allowing for 1/X harmful effects. Hence, higher numbers don’t necessarily mean a significant protection.
Can you identify X?

X %Protection
2 50%
5 80%
15 93.33%
30 96.67%
50 98%

Show Answer
SPF or Sun Protection Factor in sunscreens.
Governments have banned higher SPFs to stop customers from being misled. In fact, proper application of creams is more important than the SPF number itself.
Everything you need to know about Sunscreens.

[200]

The English word X comes from the Hindi word chāmpo चाँपो (more familiarly known as champi चंपी).
Which itself ultimately comes from the Sanskrit word chapati (चपति), meaning to press, knead, sooth.
X was introduced in Britain by Sake Dean Mahomed in 1815 and has now become ubiquitous the world over.
Can you identify X?

Show Answer
Shampoo
The shampooing was prevalent widely in the Indian subcontinents with local herbs, and was later popularized in the west through brands.
Read More about the history of shampooing.

[199]

This TV show concept was first introduced in Japan in 2001, where it was called X. From it here, it was adopted in the UK in 2005 by the name Y. In 2009, the show was taken to the US under the name Z, where it became a runaway success.
The names of all the three shows contain the name of an apex predator/creature, which refers to position of the panelists on the show, and how they are at the end looking at their own interests as well.
Can you guess which show am I talking about?

Show Answer
X - Tigers of Money
Y - Dragon's Den
Z - Shark Tank
Read More about how Shark Tank started in the US.
The show is now running in over 20 countries.