Childhood / Youth
Ashwin's love for writing was so high that he would copy out his much loved books like the Mahabharatha, Russian folk tales, etc., for hours on end as a child. Composed and narrated by Veda Vyasa, who was the original scribe of the Mahabharatha?
Ganesha
Ashwin plays indoor badminton on and off. In a badminton game, the winner is the first one to reach how many points?
21
On his first trip abroad with his family, he visited many European countries. At Salzburg, Austria he saw the locations where a famous movie-musical had been filmed. Which movie was this?
Sound of Music
Ashwin's favourite go-to processed food (he can eat it at any time of the day - right from breakfast!!!), is made by a company that his uncle works for. What is the snack and which company makes it?
Maggi by Nestle
This is one of the few animated English movies that Ashwin really loved as a child. He later fell in love with the book by Rudyard Kipling and visited the forest in India where the story is based as well. Name the movie.
The Jungle Book
Till the age of 8/9, Ashwin would close his ears and start crying almost a week before Deepawali started and continue till the festival ended, in fear of the noise of crackers. Deepawali is ALWAYS celebrated on which day of the lunar cycle?
Amavasai / New moon day
Which of Ashwin's childhood tennis idols, one whose poster was pinned up in his room as a child, did he get to see playing live in this city and what was the name of the tournament/championship?
Boris Becker at the Chennai Open
At his LKG pair-fancy dress competition (Ashwin was Tenali Raman, his classmate was Krishnadevaraya), Ashwin narrated the lines for both of them as the other child froze in front of the audience! Name the kingdom and the capital city of this ruler-minister duo which ranks as one of Ashwin's all time favourite places of historical interest to visit.
Vijayanagara empire and Hampi
On his now frequent visits to Goa, Ashwin has developed a taste for Feni, the drink native to the smallest state in our country. What are the two sources / root ingredients of the two types of Feni?
Coconut and Cashew apples
Arun mama used to call toddler Ashwin, "Director", as he was obsessed with and violently insisted on people repeating stories word-for-word and/or re-doing actions exactly as done before, if at all there was any interruption. Today, the director of the movie, "Inglorious Bastards", is one of his favourites. Name him.
Quentin Tarantino
Ashwin was born on April 14th, 1983. What connects the day and year of his birth with his Tamil, Telugu and Marathi heritage?
The New Year of all these communities occurred on that day that year - Tamil Puthandu, Telugu Ugadi and Marathi Gudi Padwa.
Ashwin and his cousins from Jagadambal St all learnt swimming at the Shenoy Nagar swimming pool. The excavation of what is thought to be the oldest swimming pool has been discovered in India/Pakistan. Which famous excavation site is this?
Mohenjo-Dara (from 2,800 BCE)
Ashwin's favourite subject is History. Rajput history holds a special place in his heart. What is the perimeter wall around the Kumbhalgarh fort in Rajasthan, which Ashwin has visited, famously known for?
It is the longest wall in India and the second longest wall in the world.
Ashwin's LOVE for medhu vadais is well known, with everyone at home saving medhu vadais just for him. Which deity is commonly adorned with a vadai malai?
Hanuman
Ashwin isn't known for his dancing skills and would rather sing a song than dance to it! But as a kid he used to enjoy dancing to a song from Agni Natchathiram (Raja, Rajathi Rajan intha Raja). Which renowned music director composed this song?
Ilayaraja
Ashwin discovered Osho's writings while in high school and has been deeply influenced by his philosophies. Born Chandra Mohan Jain, what was the name Osho originally adopted as a spiritual guru/acharya?
Acharya Rajneesh / Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
Once, when Ashwin bowled to Sriram, Sriram's upper lip was torn off and his front teeth got broken. This type of bowling, though completely an accident in this case, has been practiced intentionally in international cricket to intimidate opponents and is called Bodyline Bowling. Which team started this?
England
Ashwin, Divya and a couple of their friends trekked to Kedarnath - the longest trek Ashwin has attempted so far. Who built the temple at Kedarnath? His statue was recently installed at Kedarnath and unveiled by PM Modi.
Adi Shankaracharya
Ashwin's standard dinner on Saturdays, as he was growing up, was Bhel Puri from the Madras Bhel Puri shop. Bhel Puri is made with some variations in different parts of our country - name any one variant.
Bhadang - dry version from Mumbai
Jhal muri - spicier version from Kolkata
Churmuri - with grated carrot and mango from Bengaluru
As a child, Ashwin's best-loved movie star was Amitabh Bachchan and the song, "Mach gaya shor sari", in which Amitabh was paired opposite Parveen Babi, was one of his favourites. Which movie is this song from?
Khud-Daar
Ashwin's heel skin-flap got sliced off when his leg got caught in his father's bike. Appa, his peripa, sewed it on using his experience in plastic surgery. Who is considered the father of plastic surgery?
Sushrutha
"Appu aur Pappu", a serial telecast on DD in 1985-86 was one that Ashwin was addicted to and enacted scene-by-scene, over and over again. The name of the elephant in this serial - Appu - was inspired by what?
Appu, the first ever mascot of the Asian Games, hosted in New Delhi in 1982
Ashwin's only solo trip so far, has been to Pachmarhi, a hill station in Madhya Pradesh. Pachmarhi is considered the queen of which range of hills?
Satpura (Satpura ki Rani)
Ashwin loves milk sweets. Once, in his eagerness to eat the last palgova, he hurriedly removed the sweet wrapper, threw the sweet in the dustbin and put the wrapper in his mouth, and then, realising his error, cried for a couple of hours. Which state in India is his favourite, the milk peda, originally from?
Mathura, UP. The land of Krishna.
One of Ashwin's favourite movies is "Gangs of Wasseypur" by Anurag Kashyap. Which town/state is the coal mafia that is shown in this film based in?
Dhanbad, Jharkhand