"To other countries, I may go as a tourist, but to India, I come as a pilgrim" - Martin Luther King, Jr
INTRODUCTIONS
It was 'National Curry Week' this week, therefore 'Celebrating India' was our theme choice.
We started by asking, 'Who has been to India?'
If anyone has visited, 'What was it like?'
And, 'For those who have not been, who would fancy a holiday there?'
And, 'For what reasons would you like to visit India, or not?'
IDIOMS
Next we looked at these idioms and asked members to complete them...
Indian SUMMER (October good weather)
Delhi BELLY (upset tummy)
Too many chiefs and not enough INDIANS (too many people telling others what to do, not enough people doing the actual work)
Take with a pinch of SALT (I don't entirely believe it)
Sugar and spice and all things NICE - that's what little girls are made of (boys are made of slugs and snails and PUPPY DOG TAILS)
Cowboys and INDIANS (a children's game)
Elephants never FORGET (they are supposed to have a good memory)
Three wise MONKEYS (The saying is, 'See no evil, hear no evil, SPEAK NO EVIL'.)
Rub salt in the WOUND (make it worse)
Variety is the SPICE of life (keep yourself open to new experiences)
Salt of the EARTH (someone with no airs or graces, what you see is what you get)
Holy COW (cows are sacred in India)
Peter Piper picked a peck of PICKLED Pepper * (see below)
It was twenty years ago today Sgt. Pepper taught the BAND TO PLAY (lyric)
In a PICKLE (you have a problem)
Cut the MUSTARD (make the grade)
Bring out the BRANSTON (advertising slogan)
Some like it HOT (1959 comedy film starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemon & Marilyn Monroe)
* (full tongue twister)
"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?"
REMINSCENCE
Probably the first curry members ever tasted was a 'Vesta Curry', which was popular in the 1970s but you can still buy today.
Ask members if they remember this dish, which was dried and you had to add water to it and boil it, as well as boil in the bag rice.
How did it compare to the real thing?
Ask members what their favourite curry dish is? Also, what is their favourite Indian restaurant?
When is the last time members had a curry, either in a restaurant or as a takeaway?
MUSIC & PICTURE QUIZ
ROUND 1. About India
1. What is the Capital of India?
2. What are the official two languages of India?
3. True or False. The population of India is over 1 billion?
4. Bombay is now called what?
5. What is the main religion of India?
6. What is the currency of India?
7. What is a length of material worn around the head by Sikhs called?
8. Which garment worn by Indian women consists of a drape of coloured fabric 4.5- 8 metres in length?
9. What is the coloured dot worn on the forehead by Hindus? (the sacred symbol of the cosmos, or the point at which creation begins)
10. What is the most sacred river in India? (pilgrims bathe in the waters at Varanasi)
11. What is the physical, mental, and spiritual discipline which originated in ancient India? (demonstrate some poses)
12. Which ancient Hindu text describes human sexual behaviour?
13. What is an automated rickshaw called?
14. What is Banghra a style of?
15. SONG. 'Jai Ho', A R Rahman - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FArc18Muso
Who hosted 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' in the UK?
It returned last year hosted by?
ROUND 2. TV & Film
16. What is the Indian film industry called?
17. Which 1968 'Carry On' film had an Indian theme?
18. Which 1983 James Bond film was shot predominantly in and around the city of Udaphur?
19. Who directed the 1984 film 'A Passage To India'?
20. Which 1984 Indiana Jones film was set in India?
21. Who starred as Indiana Jones in the series of films?
Who starred as his father in 'The Crystal Skull' movie?
Is it actually possible for Sean Connery to be Harrison Ford's father, age wise?
22. What colour is a Marigold?
23. 'Coronation Street' features which Indian corner shop owner?
24. 'The Simpsons' features which Indian character, also in the role of a shop owner?
25. SONG. 'Whispering Grass', Don Estelle & Windsor Davies - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10dmK7O-KSY
Which UK comedy series set in India is this song associated with?
What was shouted at the end of each episode?
26. SONG. 'Goodness Gracious Me' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-ov-vBxDuE
Ask members to identify the singers in this song?
This song was the inspiration for the TV comedy series 'Goodness Gracious Me'. Here is a YouTube link to one of their best sketches, "I'll have the blandest thing on the menu!"
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6perng
27. SONG. 'The Bare Necessities', 'The Jungle Book' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dhSdnDb3tk
What was the name of the Indian boy raised by wolves and other animals in the 1894 Rudyard Kipling book 'The Jungle Book'?
Other characters were? - BALOO, SHERE KHAN, BAGHEERA & KAA
ROUND 3 . People & Animals
28. Who is this? She was known as 'Empress Of India' from 1 May 1876 until her death on 22 January 1901.
29. Name the Indian activist who led the campaign against British rule in the 1920s and 30s?
30. Name the Albanian born Indian Roman Catholic nun and missionary, made a saint in 2016?
31. Name the Indian cricketer turned politician. Now Prime Minister of Pakistan?
32. Name the famous Indian chef with a UK TV series in the 1970s?
33. Which Indian mausoleum did Princess Diana sit outside for photos in 1992?
34. Which animal is considered sacred in India?
35. The Bengal tiger numbered how many individuals in 2011?
36. Which elephants have the smaller ears, African or Indian?
37. Which Indian beers are named after a bird and a snake?
38. SONG. 'Ever So Lonely', Monsoon = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOFmDK_1cVg
What are wind and rain storms called in other parts of the world?
('MONSOON' was first used in British India to refer to big seasonal winds blowing from the Bay Of Bengali and Arabian Sea in the southwest bringing heavy rainfall)
Supplementary question, which year did the UK have it's worst hurricane in living memory? (Michael Fish infamously got the weather forecast wrong)
ROUND 4. Food
INTERESTING FACT!
39. What is the most popular Indian dish in the UK?
40. What drink is the most popular in India?
41. What is liquid clarified butter used in Indian cookery called?
42. Which spice is used to colour and flavour Pilau Rice?
What flower does Saffron come from?
43. What is the name of the popular Indo/British curry soup?
44. Which Indian inspired breakfast dish is made out of basmati rice, smoked haddock and eggs?
45. What is the name of the popular Indo/British curried salad dish (invented for Queen Victoria)?
46. Spinach based dishes are called what?
47. Chick pea based dishes are called what?
48. Potato based dishes are called what?
49. Lentil based dishes are called what?
50. What is the hottest curry available in the UK?
51. True or False. A Scotch Bonnet pepper is 140 times hotter than a Jalapeño?
52. What is the proper name of Ladies Fingers (green vegetable)?
After all that hot food, you will need an Indian ice cream - 'Kulfi' - traditionally they come in three flavours? - PISTACHIO, CARDAMOM & SAFFRON
(Mango and Coconut are also common flavours)
53. Which hand do Indians traditionally eat with?
54. SONG. 'Games People Play', Joe South (includes sitar music) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5znh58WITU8
Ask members to name some board games that people play?
55. SONG. 'My Sweet Lord', George Harrison - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qJTJNfzvr8
George Harrison wrote "My Sweet Lord" in praise of which Hindu god?
Which Indian musician inspired George Harrison and introduced him to the sitar?
56. 'Mellow Yellow', Donovan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74nJCrDtqWU
True or false. Saffron is more valuable than gold?
57. 'Spice Up Your Life', The Spice Girls - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPqMf6WvbmM
Name The Spice Girls?
NAMASTE is commonly said in Yoga, whilst bowing heads to each other. It’s meaning is? - I BOW TO YOU
(Full text...
“I bow to you.
My soul honours your soul.
I honour the place in you where
The entire universe resides.
I honour the light, love, truth
Beauty and peace within you,
Because it is also within me.
In sharing these things,
We are united, we are the same,
We are one.”
Ask members to LIST AS MANY INDIAN DISHES AS THEY CAN
Bombay mix
Poppadom
Onion bhaji
Pakora
Samosa
Raita
Mango chutney
Lime pickle
Pilau rice
Korma
Madras
Jalfrezi
Balti
Biryani