prelude  Bed, an article of furniture, is designed for rest or sleep. There is substantial evidence that beds were popular among the ruling classes of Egypt, Babylonia, and Persia. Between 1575 BC and 1075 BC, the Egyptian bed had an elaborate footboard decorated with carving, gilding, and inlay. There was no headboard, but just a simple headrest. After the 7th century BC, Greek bedsteads and couches also became grand pieces of furniture, being inlaid or veneered with ivory, tortoiseshell, and precious metals, and sometimes being provided with feet of solid silver or gold. They also had a simple form of springing, consisting of woven strips of leather. Luxurious beds, similar to those in Greece, were made by the Etruscans. Two funeral bedsteads, veneered in ivory, were found by archaeologists in Etruscan tombs of the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. Until the dissolution of the Republic, Roman beds were characterised by extreme simplicity. Thereafter, they surpassed in splendour those of the Persians, Greeks, and Etruscans. By the end of the 1st century AD, simplified versions of the Roman bed or couch had spread to the Rhineland. However, beds were still something of a luxury for most people. 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. Send your name in each SMS.

side screen  1) Picture Clue: This mausoleum near Sikandra contains Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian motifs within the overall Islamic features of the design, such as the four minarets. In whose memory was it built?

harmonisers  From Asmita Laskar, New Delhi – 2) In Greek mythology, who were also called ‘Oiropator’, meaning ‘man killers’? 3) Whose motto is: ‘In God we trust, everything else we check’? 4) When Mick Jagger was celebrating his first night with Bianca in a London hotel suite, this man climbed in through the window to congratulate him. Jagger nearly shot him, thinking he was a burglar. Who? 5) The first journalist to go into space was Toyohiro Akiyama of Japan. Which animals did he take along and why?

unities  From Maharnav Gogoi, Lakhimpur – 6) Which state became the first one in India to have its own TV channel, with the inauguration of Mana TV in March 2001? 7) Which superstar was selected for cinema through the United Producers Talent Contest and made his debut in Chetan Anand’s Aakhri Khat? 8) Which word is of Greek origin and means ‘a place for seeing’?

do-re-me  9) When President Bill Clinton visited India, he stayed in New Delhi’s Maurya Sheraton Hotel. What does the word ‘Sheraton’ mean? (Jitendra Sarma, Balowa, Nalbari) 10) ‘Hema’ is the original name of which legendary singer of India ? (Dipak Dutta, B.B. Complex, Lakhimpur) 11) The film Shatranj Ke Khilari is based on whose novel? (Gaurav Bhatta, Hostel 2, GMCH, Guwahati) 12) He was born on April 23, the day of the Commemoration of St. George, the Patron Saint of England and he was baptised on April 26, 1564 in the Stratford Parish Church. Identify this dramatic genius. (Pragati Dutta, Tezpur) 13) What is the name of Thomas Hardy’s last novel? (Saurav Sarkar, Darrang College, Tezpur) 14) What prompted Akio Morita to invent the SONY Walkman? (Bhgyajeet Bhuyan, DD News, New Delhi)

crescendo  15) In my autobiography I wrote: “Everybody is worried about dying, but the cause of death is birth. So if you do not want to die, you do not get born! Krishna is God, the source of all that exists, the cause of all that is, was or ever will be Allah, Buddha, Jehova or Rama. All are Krishna, all are one.” Who am I? (Prosenjit ‘Piklu’ Dutta, Tezpur)

answers  1) The Mughal Emperor Akbar who founded the city of Agra in 1566 was buried here. This view shows the Buland Darwaza (Gate of Magnificence), the southern gate of the mausoleum 2) Amazons – the female warriors 3) Airline pilots 4) Keith Moon (drummer of the Who) 5) Six Japanese frogs, to see if they could leap in space. They did. “Frogs are frogs everywhere,” he said 6) Andhra Pradesh 7) Rajesh Khanna 8) Theatre 9) Furniture 10) Lata Mangeshkar 11) Prem Chand 12) William Shakespeare 13) Jude the Obscure 14) His craving for listening to Beethoven while playing golf 15) George Harrison