- The document discusses various topics related to colors and water bodies, providing explanations for theories, traditions, and origins of names. - Some key points discussed include the symbolic meanings of red and white in temple paintings, the brown pigment "mummy brown" used in historical paintings, how the Japanese word for blue and green merged until WWII, and the naming of geographic features like the Red Sea and Black Sea linked to cultural color traditions for directions. - Multiple questions are posed and then answered about the topics above.

1. Colours and Water bodies
The Holi – Masi Magam quiz

2. • There are multiple theories for this. One
theory that found acceptance is that it
denotes ovary and sperm. Why there is a
reference to these two has several possible
answers. One is that thoughts of activities that
relate to these two be left outside. One other
is that this is symbolic of communion. Another
theory is that it denoted the male and female
forms, both of which are important.
• What?

3. • Why temple walls are painted red and white

4. • This is a painting by Martin Drolling. What he
used for the brown pigment in the painting
was an important component in the trade
between Spain and Egypt. The use of this
declined only in the 17th century because of
non-availability.
• What is this brown pigment called?

6. • Mummy brown
• Obtained from bitumen found with mummies
• Interesting fact: The Persian word for bitumen
is mumiya which gave mummies their name

7. • Many languages do not distinguish between
the two colours. One of those languages was
Japanese, which had the same word 青 (ao)
for both. A new word for one of the colours
came about only during World War II and
became popular because of its use by
programmers.
• Which two colours?
• Why did the word midori grow in popularity in
the 1950s and 60s?

8. • Blue and green
• Because of the advent of RGB

9. • This is a colour called Salmon. In the 15th
century, it was much easier to dye paper with
this colour rather than bleach the papers
white. First adopted by a company which
wanted to distinguish itself from a similarly
named company, this idea was quickly picked
by most in that field. Explanation for what?

10. • The colour of financial newspapers

11. • Saginaw County’s (Michigan) Sheriff, William
Federspiel decided to replace the prison
uniform from what it looked like (left) to the
earlier version (on the right) in 2014.
• This was because he felt that the one on the
left was becoming too fashionable. Why was
it?

12. • The TV series Orange is the New Black
• Another prison provides inmates with pink
innerwear.

13. • Jerald D. Kralik, a neuroscientist claimed that
acting submissively to red had evolutionary
explanations. In the first part of his argument,
he showed results of how rhesus monkeys did
not prefer to take apples from people wearing
red but took from those wearing blue or
green.
• What did he analyse and use in his argument
to show that humans acted submissively to
red?

14. • Olympic boxing videos
• Those in red performed better than those
wearing blue
• Also, when the two colours were swapped in
the footage and shown to judges, they
awarded more points to the person in red

15. • This was built by a widowed queen named
Udayamati in memory of Bhimdev I about
1000 years ago but discovered only in 1980.
The structure itself could have been seen as a
subterranean temple to highlight the
importance of water which is scarce in the
area.
• Which structure, that was added to a certain
hallowed list last year?

16. • Rani ki Vav in Gujarat, now a World Heritage Site

17. • This annoying new trend in movies has seen
quite a few irritated people writing about it
online.
• The explanation by the movie-makers is that
these two colours are the most contrasting.
One of the two colours was chosen because of
its closeness to the human skin tone.
• This however does not explain its usage in
movie posters (e.g. Jumper, GI Joe Rise of the
Cobra, Night at the Museum, Bourne Identity).
• Which 2 colours?

18. Orange and blue/teal

19. • This colour is associated with adultery, largely
because of the passage in the Bible which says
that The Great Harlot was dressed in this.
• Ironically, this is the same colour worn by
Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church.
• This is also the colour of the academic dress
worn by those graduating in the UK.
• What colour?
contd

21. • Scarlet
• For brownie points, identify this flower

22. • This is colour #50 of 135 in Crayola’s list of
standard crayon colours. Both the colour and
this exercise take inspiration from the same
thing.
• What is this colour called?
• http://www.nospoiler.com/y/yr-HHgxXTqg

23. • Inchworm

24. • This is the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or
Fountain of the Four Rivers designed by
Bernini. The four beings represent four rivers
of the four continents – Ganges for Asia,
Danube representing Europe, Nile for Africa.
What river that lends its name to a football
team represents America?

25. • River Plata (Argentina)
• The football team is River Plate

26. • What is this U shaped metal pole that fits over
the underside of the neck of a bullock?

27. • Oxbow
• Oxbow lakes get their name from this

28. • This is said to have been inspired by the tallit,
a traditional Jewish prayer shawl. But in recent
times, several leaders like Yasser Arafat and
Mahmoud al-Zahar (Hamas leader) have
claimed that they are a reference to two water
bodies between which Zionists seek to have
control. This, they allege depicts Eretz Yisra'el,
the land promised to Jews by God in the Bible.
• What is this about? What are the two water
bodies? contd

30. • The blue stripes in the Flag of Israel
• Euphrates and Nile

31. • Many traditions had colour coding for the four
cardinal directions. What was the colour for
North and South in many Turkish and Middle-
Eastern traditions? This colour coding is also
believed to play an important role in how two
water bodies got their name.

32. • North = black
• South = red
• This is probably why the Black Sea and Red
Sea are called what they are

33. • Icamiabas were warrior tribes who among
other things grew their hair long and spoke a
language which had a lot of shrieks. When a
certain Orellana went looking for gold near
something that was then named because of
the Cinnamon trees that grew there, he met
the Icamiabas and a fierce fight ensued.
• What did Charles I liken the Icamiabas to
when Orellana narrated the story of their
ambush?

34. • Amazons from Greek mythology
• And thus the Amazon river

35. • This is an adventure sport, popular in spots
along the rapids of the Ganges and Kaveri.
contd

36. • Waitomo Glowworm Caves in New Zealand
offers this activity. Its name is inspired by the
sport in the previous slide. Name both.

37. Answer
• White water rafting
• Black water rafting

38. • Maho Beach is an important tourist attraction
in the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.
• Something found near the beach (let’s call it
X) is the cause for hundreds of tourists each
month. Timetables that one would find at X
can also be found in all restaurants in the
beach. The beach has also seen the growing
popularity of a certain variant of windsurfing.
• Why is this beach popular?

39. • Plane spotting
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpdnLo
ram4Q)

40. • Redshift is a software inspired by the more
popular f.lux that gradually changes the
warmth of the screen display with day. The
screen is blue during the day while it becomes
red in the night.
• Why is this a good idea?

41. • It’s harder to sleep after seeing a blue screen
because the brain thinks that it is day

42. • Connect the Qutang, Wu and Xiling

43. • The 3 Gorges of the Yangtze over which the
3 Gorges dam (the largest dam) is built

44. • Thirunelveli halwa, which has bid to get a GI
status, has a taste that hasn’t been able to be
replicated anywhere else.
• This is attributed to a secret ingredient that is
used by the famed iruttu kadai and other
makers of the halwa.
• What is the ‘secret ingredient’?

45. Answer
• Water from the Tamaraparani river