Questions

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The flora and fauna of Cubbon Park captures our attention more than anything else. But when you take time to look closely at the statue, you will marvel at its sheer grandeur. Sculpted by Sir Thomas Brock, the 11 feet high marble statue is larger than life. It brings out the personality of Queen Victoria, who had been the Monarch of Great Britain from 1837 till 1901, depicting a rather proud, stern person with pronounced features.

In 1906, the statue was unveiled in the city by George Frederick Ernest Albert, Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and York, making it stand in all its glory in its 111th year. Even though there is a wealth of history to the statue, and it was made to appear imposing, the busy Bengalureans would probably refer to it as just another landmark. As the workers are busy in discussion on the instructions given to them, life continues as usual in the Park.

Queen Victoria ruled Great Britain for how many years?

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In mid-2012 I completed my first massive online open course, or MOOC, the kind widely offered by Coursera, EdX, Udacity and so on in partnership with different educational institutions. It was on clinical trials and ethical practices, offered by Johns Hopkins, on Coursera. This was shortly before the MOOC sensation hit India, and when Coursera, which was founded by two Stanford professors, itself was just a few months old. The MOOC bug had bit me. The course I’d completed was mainly designed for health care professionals who would be involved in actual clinical trials, not college students who had no prior knowledge of that area. I decided to enroll in the course because it was the only biology related course open at the time. However, I did see hope in that sometime in the future I’d be able to get a glimpse of what classes are like in the hallowed halls of major educational institutions around the world. By early 2013, Coursera and EdX had partnered with so many educational institutions and expanded their course offerings to include everything from food and nutrition to Greek mythology to business, that I was spoilt for choice. I spent hours going through course catalogues and poring over course descriptions, almost delirious with excitement at the fact that I was actually going to be able to take classes offered by universities I had only dreamt of attending.

The C in MOOC stands for which word?

Read each sentence to find out whether there is any error in any part

As I was leaving for Delhi(a), he asked me whether(b) I could buy a tape recorder for him(c). No error.(d)

Select the antonym of

to reveal

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Genetic variation is the cornerstone of evolution, without which there can be no natural selection, and so a low genetic diversity decreases the ability of a species to survive and reproduce, explains lead author Yoshan Moodley, Professor at the Department of Zoology, University of Venda in South Africa.

Two centuries ago, the black rhinoceros – which roamed much of sub Saharan Africa – had 64 different genetic lineages; but today only 20 of these lineages remain, says the paper. The species is now restricted to five countries, South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. Genetically unique populations that once existed in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Mozambique, Malawi and Angola have disappeared. The origins of the 'genetic erosion' coincided with colonial rule in Africa and the popularity of big game hunting. From the second half of the 20th century, however, poaching for horns has dramatically depleted their population and genetic diversity, especially in Kenya and Tanzania.

What is important for evolution?

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It was a bittersweet moment for me when I found out that I had been selected for the Sakura Science Exchange programme, a Robotics and IoT workshop in Japan. A fully-funded opportunity of a lifetime. Fly off to Saitama without a care on the world, and all I had to do was put into practice what I love to do – computer science. The bitter part of the episode – that I would lose two weeks of IB education, an almost literal mountain to cover when I got back – was quickly forgotten when I envisioned myself programming robots in the country that gave us Anime and sushi! It was with the eagerness to have an extended vacation in an un-visited land, and the opportunity to learn more about a subject that I am passionate about, that I headed to the Kempegowda International Airport outside Bengaluru. Little did I know this would be the experience of a lifetime, more for the endearing values of the Japanese culture that made their mark on me than anything else. The first feature of Japanese society that called out to me was the Discipline. Walking into the Narita International Airport, used as I was to the noisy crowds back in India, I quite literally lost my breath to the sight that awaited me. Be it the security check or baggage claim, somehow there was a silence that felt right. Everyone went about their activities without any confusion. And, contrary to the bharatiya custom of lazy pot-bellied officials, every guard and all counter personnel did what they were supposed to do to ensure this flow was maintained.

What was it that the writer did not like about his trip to Japan?

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I don’t know whether the Madras Photographic Society has anything to do with the recently-publicised Chennai Photo Biennales, the first last year and the next scheduled for 2018, but participant or not, it certainly deserves a bow for being the country’s first photographic society. Its founder was an Army doctor, Alexander Hunter. The Society was founded in 1857, shortly after Lord Canning arrived as Governor-General. Canning and Lady Canning, both photography enthusiasts, were responsible for creating the famed Government series, The People of India. Hunter had still earlier, in 1850, privately started the Madras School of Arts. The School, taken over by Government in 1852, moved from Popham’s Broadway to Poonamallee High Road. There, he and an eight-member committee revised the syllabus, offering two streams, Industrial and Artistic. Hunter was put in charge of the institution, renamed the Government School of Industrial Arts, in 1855. It was the first formal school of Art in the country. In it, Hunter introduced Photography.

Hunter retired in 1868, to be succeeded by Robert Chisholm. No mean photographer, Hunter encouraged the School, it is now the Government College of Arts and Crafts to build up a photographic collection. Unfortunately, little is left of his work, especially the monuments of South India captured by Government photographer Linnaeus Tripe and his assistant C Iyahsawmi. Hunter himself did a series of pictures of the ‘Seven Pagodas’ (Mahabalipuram) and worked with his wards on photographs of the five hill tribes of the Nilgiris. It was at a prize-giving of the School that Hunter urged the Governor to provide it more suitable premises. They came up on the PH Road site in Chisholm’s time and to his design — and remain there.

Who was in charge of the Government School of Industrial Arts before Chisholm?

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It is a labour of love and the result of painstaking research. Chikankari - A Lucknawi Tradition by Paola Manfredi, an Italian, is a book that shows her close and long association with the craft. Lucknow’s chikankari is known across the world yet very little research or documentation has been done. Articles or features have appeared off and on but this book is amongst the first of its kind, which aims to document the vast treasure called Chikan. What makes the book extremely interesting is that unlike other books that tend to rely on second hand material, with exhaustive references and quotes, Paola Manfredi has filled her tome with passionate grass-roots level research. The narrative more in the nature of a personal journey, with all the quirks and street-smart practicality, makes the book refreshing. As Paola says in the book, it is not a scholarly or academic research but more of a documentation of the world of chikankari.

Paola questions the use of chikan as a word for embroidery, highlighting that it has a broader connotation encompassing haute couture, the fine art of making a garment, embroidering it and finishing it with finesse. She is no stranger to chikankari having worked with SEWA and several craftsmen. Her love for white on white embroidery also found a calling in chikan. Paola came to India to work in textile exports and as she says, “If you like textiles ... India is a heaven, an inexhaustible treasure trove.”

When did Paola get her first experience of chikankari?