Art and Culture Mixed Practice — MCQs with Answers (Set 23)

Rukmini Devi Arundale revived Bharatanatyam, transforming it from a marginalised art into a respected classical dance form.

The correct answer is 1935, Malgudi. Hamish Hamilton published Swami and Friends in 1935. The book introduced the town of Malgudi. Memory hook: first book, first town.

The correct answer is Graham Greene. The British writer helped Swami and Friends find a publisher. He also suggested the short name R.K. Narayan. Memory hook: Greene, the name-giver.

The correct answer is Madras (present-day Chennai). He was born there on 10 October 1906. His grandmother raised him in the city. Mysore was where the rest of his family lived. Memory hook: born in Madras, college in Mysore.

He received the Bharat Ratna in 2001, capping four decades of India’s top civilian honours.

Khan played daily at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, becoming a living symbol of religious coexistence.

Khan was the third classical musician honoured with the Bharat Ratna, after M.S. Subbulakshmi and Ravi Shankar.

His 1937 Kolkata performance brought national attention and helped elevate the shehnai to classical concert status.

Premchand is credited with roughly 300 short stories and about 14 novels, alongside numerous essays, across his career.

The correct answer is All India Progressive Writers’ Association. It was launched on 9 April 1936 at a conference in Lucknow. Premchand presided over that conference. Memory hook: Lucknow 1936, Premchand in the chair.

The correct answer is Soz-e-Watan. He wrote this story collection as Nawab Rai. The British banned it and burnt its copies. In 1909 he took the name Premchand. Memory hook: banned book, new name.

The correct answer is Dhanpat Rai. He was born Dhanpat Rai Srivastava in Varanasi in 1880. Nawab Rai was his first pen name, not his birth name. Memory hook: Dhanpat is the birth name, Nawab the first pen name.

Amitabh Bachchan received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2018, at a ceremony delayed to 29 December 2019. 2015 was his Padma Vibhushan year and 2001 his Padma Bhushan year — different honours entirely.

Amitabh Bachchan was MP from Allahabad, representing the Indian National Congress, from December 1984 to July 1987, before quitting politics.

Amitabh Bachchan has won a record four National Film Awards for Best Actor: for Agneepath (1990), Black (2005), Paa (2009), and Piku (2015).

Zanjeer (1973) made Amitabh Bachchan a superstar and created his defining “Angry Young Man” persona, ahead of later hits like Sholay and Deewaar.

Amitabh Bachchan was born Amitabh Srivastava; his family later adopted Bachchan, the pen name of his poet father Harivansh Rai Bachchan, as their surname.

Anoushka Shankar became an acclaimed sitar player, while Norah Jones became a Grammy-winning singer in an entirely different genre.

The Concert for Bangladesh, in New York, is considered one of the first major celebrity benefit concerts, a format later events like Live Aid followed.

He led music at All India Radio in New Delhi from February 1949 to January 1956.

At age 10, Shankar joined his brother Uday Shankar’s dance troupe, touring Europe as a dancer, before switching to the sitar.

The correct answer is Diwan-e-Ghalib. This is his collection of Urdu ghazals. He oversaw its printing four times, in 1841, 1847, 1861 and 1862. Dastanbu, by contrast, is his Persian diary of 1857. Memory hook: Diwan for ghazals, Dastanbu for the diary.

The correct answer is It was stopped, since he had remained near the Mughal court during the uprising. Ghalib was a suspect in the 1857 revolt, and his pension was stopped. It was restored in 1860. Memory hook: stopped in 1857, restored in 1860.

The correct answer is Dabir-ul-Mulk and Najm-ud-Daula. Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II gave Ghalib both titles. A third title, Mirza Nosha, also came from the emperor. Memory hook: Dabir for the pen, Najm for the star.

The correct answer is ‘Superior’; replaced ‘Asad’. Asad was his first pen name. He changed to Ghalib after finding another poet already used Asad. Sources translate Ghalib as conqueror, victor or dominant. No source uses the word ‘superior’ itself, but it is close in meaning. Memory hook: Asad first, Ghalib later.