MELA quiz for Rendezvous 2025 at IIT Delhi | To Chimp A Butterfly Prelims | co-set with Balagopal Menon | run as an open quiz for rendezvous

To Chimp A
Butterfly
Bala and Ramish

Ba A/V Check

Ba The QMs would like to thank Abhishek, Aditya, Anish, Baiba, Mako, Rush, and
members of GOVB for GPing the set and providing valuable feedback.
The QMs would like to thank Aakash and the QC rep team for their help in
smooth conduct of the quiz.
Acknowledgements

Ba -
There are 25 questions in the prelims, all worth 1
point each.
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Questions 10-20 are star marked (*) and will be
used to resolve ties.
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Top 8 open teams qualify for the finals along
with the top 2 college teams.
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The decision of the QMs will be final and
binding.
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The use of any and all electronic devices is
prohibited during the quiz. (We request you to
keep your phones on silent)
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The prelims follow the MELA sequence
Rules

Ba Lets get started!
PRELIMS

Ba Attached in the next slide is a snippet from a 2013 movie which was partly
based off of folk singer Dave Van Ronk’s autobiography and follows the
struggles of an aspiring folk singer. Identify this movie.
The song being performed here is an old folk ballad called 500 miles from
home, famously performed by Bobby Bare. Its tune was used in 1990 for a hit
song in a film that revolved around crime and love. Identify the song.
1.

Ba The voice of vengeance reaches from beyond the grave in “Waqt,” the first
episode of the series Dui Shaw. The group of five young men, responsible for
setting a local place of worship on fire, are killed off one by one within a day
after their deed.
When the last of the five realises the scheme, he locks himself inside a
soundproof room. However, he is unable to escape the call of death at night
time.
If the first person died just before dawn, the next two at different times in the
noon, and the fourth right around sunset, what does the title allude to?
2.

Ba X is a Chinese novel, that follows a monkey-protagonist, Sun Wukong who
has been tasked to become Tang Sanzang’s first disciple. Sanzang, with
Wukong and 3 others for his disciples, journeys to a mythical version of India
to attain enlightenment by obtaining a series of religious texts. Identify X.
In 1980, a reluctant author was asked by his publisher to start a series if he
wanted to end the earlier one. Taking cues from the aforementioned, he
modelled the characters and trivialised the quest from religious texts to
something which has become iconic now. Take a look at an illustration from
X on the next slide, and identify the work that this author started then.
3.

Ba The following SNL sketch is set in the supposed aftermath of what?
4.

Ba Right after they finished their Scandinavian tour, their original bassist, Chris
Dreja, issued a cease and desist letter that forbade the supergroup from
using the name they were known by up until that point in time.
“____ balloon,” was a popular phrase at the time, and was often used to refer
to something that was expected to be unpopular as it would sink
immediately without much of a trace. Both Keith Moon and John Entwistle
apparently used this phrase in referring to the prospects of this budding
supergroup.
What name, revealed to the world as the title of their debut album in January
1969, did they eventually go with?
5.

Ba In Need For Speed: Unbound, the developers included an easter egg, where
driving a specific car at 88 mph for 3 seconds leads to flames appearing in a
line behind the rear wheels.
What cultural phenomenon is this a reference to, only confirmed by the car
that is required to achieve this easter egg ?
6.

Ba These characters were first introduced by Pierre “Peyo” Culliford in 1958. He
soon started making a standalone series focused on these fantastical
creatures from the very next year.
The manner in which these characters behave with each other has often
been the subject of discussions within cultural theory. In fact, Marc Schmidt
authored a parody article in 1998 positing that these characters represent a
socialist utopia within European culture. The joke has since been lost to time
as people often take these theories seriously. In fact, a recent Guardian
review of the latest film adaptation of this series carries the subtitle: “Has
Hollywood distorted the ______’ communist roots?”
Which series are we talking about?
7.

Ba Real Life is a 1979 mockumentary-esque film and follows a documentary
filmmaker who attempts to live with a dysfunctional family for some time.
The poster repurposes a 36 year old painting, portraying an ideal family,
happily talking to each other. This provides a contrast between the
dysfunctional family portrayed and the notions of an ideal, jolly American
family.
Which painting was repurposed in the poster ?
8.

Ba This is a photo of Elmer, a composer best
known for movie scores such as Sweet Smell
of Success, To Kill a Mockingbird etc.
He has a relatively uncommon surname (due
to his partial Ukrainian ancestry) but shared
the same with another prominent figure in his
field. The two were friends and when the
twain met, they came up with a simple
solution, using nicknames (which included
their surnames) which demarcated the
territories they majorly worked in. What pair
of nicknames did they adopt ?
9.

Ba Attached on the next slide is a clip of a bug that some users faced in Counter
Strike 2 last year. Basically, extra models would spawn on the map and stand
there, giving people jump scares when they spotted one.
People started to refer to these action-less models as Xs, something rooted
in German Folklore; ‘a noisy apparition’ popularised by an early 1980s movie.
Identify X.
10.*

Ba What 3 worded title is common to two collections of short stories, released
by prominent authors at a distance of about 90 years?
While the newer collection stays true to the title and follows the protagonists
and their tragic love lives, the older collection talks about bullfighting,
prizefighting, infidelity, divorce, and death; things that the protagonists get
into when they are not around the love of their lives. One of the newer
collection’s stories was adapted into an Oscar winning 2021 film.

11.*

Ba Pictured below are some murals made by an Indian artist who went to study
murals at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, under the tutelage of a world renown
muralist. He is also known to have refused to join the progressive artists
movement.
Identify the Indian artist, brother of a prominent Indian politician and his
teacher at Palacio de Bellas Artes.
12.*

Ba Attached here is a still of an alternate
supergroup called Boygenius from
their cover for the Rolling Stone
magazine, wherein they copied the
clothing choices and pose from
another band’s Rolling Stone cover
from some 30 years ago. Which
band’s Rolling Stone cover did they
recreate ?
13.*

Ba What connects the characters of Nazriya Nazim (in this 2024 film) and Manju
Warrier (in this 2025 film), with our former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi?
14.*

Ba Attached on the next slide is a snippet from Martin Scorsese’s After Hours.
This particular scene derives from ‘Before the Law’, which was written in the
20th century. This parable is however, best known as an embedded narrative.
Identify the author of the story in question.
15.*

Ba This word was actually used to refer to members of the lower class. In fact,
the etymology posits that it comes from a root word which meant “a bother.”
The colourful, elaborate outfits associated with this class have also
suggested a kinship with a similar Romani word which means an “enticer,” or
“someone who seduces.”
The word has also found its way into the English lexicon as it is believed to
have given rise to the words “masher” (used to refer to a dandy in Victorian
England) and May Queen (a personification of May Day who is shown wearing
a white gown and a tiara).
What is this word?
16.*

Ba Attached on the next slide is a snippet from a music video. The song in
question was released by a band as a part of their 1992 album. Identify the
Band.
The music video was inspired by a 1960s meta film, which starts with a
surreal traffic jam sequence and follows a famous film director who suffers
from stifled creativity as he attempts to direct an epic science fiction film.
Identify this film.
17.*

Ba Pictured here is a legendary item from League of
Legends. It is named so due to its appearance (majorly
the three blades).
All in all though, it is a reference/homage to an item in
another game. In that game, the item (also golden and
triangular in shape), was left behind by goddesses
after they created the Hyrule realm. One of the
protagonist’s primary goals in that game is to prevent
the item in question from getting in the hands of
Ganon. Which other game is being talked about?
18.*

Ba Even after retiring from his position in 2020, Nandkishor Rana finds himself
returning to his erstwhile place of work every day, at 9 AM sharp, to help out
with their day-to-day activities. He claims to have spent a majority of his time at
this place since childhood. Thus, it only makes sense for him to keep doing
what he loves.
His specific place of work, named after the politician-physician, B. C. Roy, is
located inside the offices of which organisation at Nehru House? It is not to be
confused with a national counterpart whose operations are overseen by the
MoE.
It was established in the late-1950s by an individual from Kayamkulam, Kerala.
Identify this person, who, after discontinuing an eponymous publication in the
1970s, devoted most of their time to the upkeep of this place.
19.*

Ba A particular object was a common feature in portraits during the Elizabethan
era, and was considered a sign of wealth.
Robert Baker, the largest lace-maker at the time, was also the go-to person
people visited when they needed one of these made for themselves. Baker’s
business was so successful that he earned enough money to build a lavish
house for himself in the West End, which he called __________ Hall, named after
the objects that made him wealthy. In 1673, the street was officially renamed
after the Hall as it had by then become the most noticeable structure in the
area.
Either identify the objects in the painting, or name the street in London.
20.*

Ba Attached on the next slide is a scene from Tar (2022).
People couldn’t help but point out the similarities with a performance from
2024. Both performances are done at a point where the artists want to re-
gain public attention and both are performed in front of gamers (even among
gamers, some of the most obsessive communities (with respect to
cosplaying etc.) having a large share of females). Which performance or
Which performer(s) am I talking about ?
21.

Ba As claimed by Keegan-Michael Key’s character, which 1967 film is the
following “prop” taken from?
The movie in question was the result of an idea that its director once had to
show “two schnooks on Broadway who set out to… swindle the backers.” A
2005 musical adaptation of the film saw Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick
in the titular roles.
22.

Ba Whose words have been adapted thus in the climactic scene of the 2024
film, The Room Next Door?
The name of the work featuring the original lines is mentioned in this excerpt.
23.

Ba What is the one word that is common to:
a. This 1927 triptych by Otto Dix.
b. An essay by Georg Simmel, which was originally written as a lecture that
was delivered to mark the 1903 Dresden Cities exhibition.
c. A 1925 science fiction novel by Thea von Harbou. The work was adapted by
von Harbou, two years later, into a more famous film that ended with the
following lines: “The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must Be the
Heart.”
24.

Ba If things went according to plan, the last track of Jean-Michel Jarre’s 1986
album would have included a saxophone solo by Ronald McNair. In fact, Jarre
had even planned a concert in Houston, to promote his album, where it
would have been arranged for McNair to join and perform, via a live feed.
What could have been record-setting moments were tragically, cut short.
What happened to McNair?
What was the ten-letter name of this album, a reference to the fact that
each piece, which saw Jarre collaborating with a different musician, featured
a unique meeting of minds?
25.

Ba A quick recap, please
tally your answers and
start wrapping up your
attempt.
RE-RUN