prelude  Safety pins are commonly used to fasten pieces of fabric or clothing together. They are widely used to fasten cloth diapers (nappies), as the safety clasp prevents the baby from being jabbed. Similarly, they can be used to patch torn or damaged clothing. Safety pins can also be used as an accessory or jewellery, such as earrings, chains, and wristbands. The origin of the safety pin dates back to the Mycenaeans during the 14th century BCE (Late Mycenaean III era). They were known as fibulae (singular fibula) and were used in the same manner as modern day safety pins. In fact, the very first fibulae of the 14th and 13th centuries B.C. looked remarkably like the safety pin. The origin of the fibulae is detailed in Blinkenberg’s 1926 book Fibules grecques et orientales. The safety pin was reinvented in July 1849 by American inventor Walter Hunt. The rights to the invention were sold for $15. (More information on the safety pin will be carried next week) The Quiz Competition of the Cotton College Annual College Week Celebrations, 2008 was held on November 17, 2008 where I conducted the quiz show. The questions featured in today’s Harmonisers are a few of the questions that were asked during the event. E-mail 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. Purchase The Colosseum quiz book, comprising the best of the last ten year’s quiz published in this column, from N. L. Publications, Lawyers’ Book Stall and Book Land in Panbazar.

side screen   1) Picture Clue: Identify this person. (Himjyoti Talukdar, Sunlight Colony, Ashram, New Delhi)

harmonisers  2) Which is the first story of the Burhi Aair Sadhu by Lakshminath Bezbaruah? 3) This product happens to be the first item from Assam to get a Geographical Indication (GI), equivalent to a patent, from the office of the GI Registry in Chennai in the year 2007. Identify. 4) Nationality: American, Place of Birth: New Ipswich, Year Born: 1807, Editor of a newspaper in Assam that was published for 36 years. Who was he? 5) In the Mahabharata, who were Prativindhya, Shrutasom, Shrukirti, Shatanik and Shrutakarma?

unities  6) Name the film where Dilip Kumar and Madhubala played lovers to the music of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. 7) Chocolate sauce was used to stimulate blood in this horrifying murder sequence in a shower, since it showed up better than imitation blood on black and while film. Name the film. 8) Which cameraman for P. C. Barua’s Devdas graduated to direct his own version of this film starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala in 1956?

do-re-me  9) It has a red dot, symbolising ‘The rising sun’, set on a white background. Its official name is ‘Nisshoki’, but is more commonly known as ‘Hinomaru’. What am I talking about? (Jyotirupa Roy, B.R.P.L. Township, Dhaligaon) 10) Who played the role of Draupadi in Peter Brooke’s 1989 movie The Mahabharata, which was made in English and French? (Alankar Kaushik, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh) 11) “Tom Arnold”, “John Daly”, the “Dirty Palmer”, “Hard Arnold” or “Stiff Palmer” and “ Palmer Senior” are its five varieties. Name this popular drink which is named after one golfing legend. (Anupom Bora, Mazgaon, Tezpur) 12) What did P. H. Newby receive in 1969, the first one to do so? (Alakananda Medhi, received on SMS) 13) Which Indian city is believed to have been founded by Karna, the eldest of Kunti’s sons in the Mahabharata? (Gitartha Bora, ADP College, Nagaon) 14) Who is the wife of Agni in Indian mythology? (Mridushmita Borbora, Kenduguri, Jorhat)

crescendo  15) How do we better know the British General James Thomas Brudenell who led the famous Charge of the Light Brigade in the battle of Balaclava during the Crimean war? (Prosenjit ‘Piklu’ Dutta, Tezpur)

ANSWERS  1) The last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. This is the only photograph of any Mughal Emperor 2) Mekurir Jiyekor Sadhu 3) Muga Silk 4) Dr Nathan Brown, editor of Arunudoi 5) They were the five sons of the Pandavas from Draupadi 6) Mughal-e-Azam 7) Psycho 8) Bimal Roy 9) The flag of Japan 10) Mallika Sarabhai 11) ‘Half and Half’ or ‘Arnold Palmer’, after Arnold Daniel Palmer 12) He won the first Man Booker Prize awarded in 1969 for Something To Answer For 13) Karnal 14) Svaha 15) Inventor of the winter woollen garment, the Earl of Cardigan.