: Many of us would know the popular Mulligatawny soup is taken from the Tamil phrase, ‘Molugu Tanni (pepper water), or the ‘Aalamaram society' is actually ‘The Theosophical society.' But try this – The East India used to send its letters with an official seal which its officials often misused to send their personal mail. What popular slang used by people of the city has its origins in the wording on that seal.

“It is OC and it stands for On Company service. People say ‘osi' thinking it means, on Others' Cost',” answered a shy and rather reluctant quizzer, Usha Sudhakar, mother of Sidharth Sudhakar, who participated and later came third along with Vineet Johnson, at the ‘ What is your Madras Quotient?' organised by the Murugappa Group here on Sunday, as part of Madras Week celebrations.

Range of trivia

Last held 22 years ago, the quiz has indeed seen a generation elapse, but still seeks to help children know more about the city, said quiz master Navin Jayakumar. Covering a whole range of trivia about the city, stories from its past many adults would be familiar with, and recent events that have made the city important the quiz saw 300 students from 20 different schools attempting the written test of 30 questions after which, six top-scoring teams battled it out in the final rounds. Every team comprised two students and a teacher or a parent putting together their insights about the culture, customs and communities of the city.

From ‘Tiruvallikeni' that means a sacred lily pond and marked the expansion of the city from fort St. George and ‘Aayiram kuttuvillaku'(thousand lights) where traditionally, thousand traditional lamps were lit to mark the occasion of Muharram to the historic uniqueness of St. Mary's Church that still contains the documents of Robert Clive's wedding and the famous eatery of Murugan Idli Shop started by Manoharan after learning recipes from his aunt Nayagathammal of Madurai – the quiz had it all.

A question on which statue in the city reminds a cricketer of being permanently out had the children come out with a range of guesses including, Kannagi, Avvaiyar and Ambedkar, while the answer was Annadurai. Rounds filled with a medley of tunes and aptly named, ‘Paatu nyabagam illayo' and ‘Madrasa Suthi Pakka Poren,' had participants identifying the song from its tune, and the landmark locations in the city that appeared in its background.

While Srikrishna Murali and B. Amrut Bhargav of P.S.B.B. Nungambakkam, along with Shravan Kumar, a parent, managed to keep a steady lead, the second spot was decided after Sharadha Sriram, mother of Abhinava Sriram from Vidya Mandir cracked the last question about the Kapaleeswara tank being welcome for use by Muslims during Muharram.

Other finalists were Bhavan's Rajaji Vidyashram, St. Bede's School and A.M.M. Matriculation Higher Secondary School. Historian S. Muthiah and P. Ramachandran, President, TI Diamond Chains participated.