prelude  Nowadays in every society, we celebrate wedding anniversaries, from Guwahati to Delhi/Mumbai to London/New York. On the occasion, guests bring gifts to the anniversary couple, and the couple enjoys it. Traditionally, a special kind of gift was associated with a few of the anniversary celebrations – for example, paper, wood and tin were the first, fifth and tenth years respectively. The 15th or Crystal Anniversary was usually for gifts within family. The 25th or Silver Anniversary is an event of great importance. The 50th or Golden Anniversary is more or less a sacred event. Quiz news: The Indian Oil Corporation Limited, in association with Trivia Bytes, is organising an open prize money quiz competition in Guwahati on January 30 on the occasion of Oil and Gas Conservation Fortnight, 2009 to propagate the message of oil and gas conservation among people. The quiz will be of general nature with some questions related to the petroleum and energy sector. It will be open for all and one team will consist of two members. The first three winners will get cash prizes of Rs 10,000, Rs 7,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively, while the other three finalists will get Rs 1,000 each. Quizmaster: Sailen Baishya, Trivia Byes, Guwahati. Venue: Assam Engineering Institute. For more details, please contact: 98640-26322 or 98640-26097. Meanwhile, keep mailing your questions with answers at: only4_pol@yahoo.co.uk or post at: THE COLOSSEUM, Mosaic, Friday Supplement, The Assam Tribune, Guwahati-781003 or SMS at: 9864102417. Send your name in each SMS.

sidescreen  1) Picture Clue: She was the eldest daughter of scientist-philosopher Aghornath Chattopadhyaya and Barada Sundari Devi and is known by the sobriquet Bharatiya Kokila. As a poet she wrote The Bird of Time: Songs of Life, Death and the Spring (1912), The Broken Wing: Songs of Love, Death and the Spring (1917), The Sceptred Flute: Songs of India (1928). Identify. (Basanta Nayak, Jorhat)

harmonisers  From Kamal Jyoti Borah, Gauhati University – 2) Which Pandava was also called ‘Atirathi’? 3) What do Veer Savarkar and Vinoba Bhave have in common? 4) What is the name of the tank in front of the Golden Temple? 5) Which song marks the beginning and end of every parliamentary session?

unities  From Deepjyoti Deka, Nalbari – 6) Hinger Kochuri by Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhyay (the novelist who also penned the Pather Panchali) was made into which Bollywood classic of the early 1970s? (Clue: It was also made into a Bengali film titled Nishipadma) 7) Which composer used Kishore Kumar in only one song but used his clone Kumar Sanu for an entire film? 8) Which is the only Satyajit Ray film to have won the Golden Bear for Best Film at the Berlin Film Festival?

do-re-me  9) Long before Hrithik Roshan became Krrish, Amitabh Bachchan was given a comic superhero avatar by Gulzar. What was his character called? (Saroj K Deka, GU) 10) Which of the Dilwara group of temples, built in 1231 AD, is dedicated to the 22nd Jain Tirthankara Neminath? (Pinky Dutta, Bongal Pukhuri, Jorhat) 11) Which actor said ‘All I need to create is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl’? (Gaurav Bhatta, Hostel 2, GMCH, Guwahati) 12) Which drink is called ‘Mother’s Ruin’? (Manalee Paul, Cotton College, Guwahati) 13) What is the name of Gabbar Singh’s father in Sholay? (Ranjan Gogoi, Tepor Gaon, Dibrugarh) 14) What is the name of Thomas Hardy’s last novel? (Saurav Sarkar, Tezpur)

crescendo  15) He was born on April 23, the day of the Commemoration of St George, the Patron Saint of England and was baptised on April 26, 1564, in the Stratford Parish Church. Identify this poet, who is more known for his plays. (Pragati Dutta, Tezpur).

ANSWERS  1) Sarojini Naidu 2) Nakul 3) Their first name ‘Vinayak’ 4) Amrit Sarovar 5) Vande Mataram 6) Amar Prem 7) Naushad 8) Ashani Sanket, the film which deals with the famine in Bengal in 1943 9) Supremo 10) Luna Vasahi 11) Charlie Chaplin 12) Gin 13) Hari Singh 14) Jude the Obscure 15) William Shakespeare