10 Questions, 1 Playlist, and a Band from the Mahabharata
A little Sabbath, and some cool links // Brainfueled 87
A weekly newsletter: I cover my occasional musings, what I’ve been reading, watching, and listening to, with 10 quiz questions and a bunch of cool links; sent out every Sunday at noon.
Last week’s edition is here.
Listening - Black Sabbath 🤘
I have started listening to all of the band’s albums chronologically, and it just gets better with time. It begins with some horror and blues, some songs shift into rock and roll, and then move toward hard rock. I’m not sure which song I could call heavy metal, but it is all so great. For now, from the five albums I’ve heard, my favorites are in this mega playlist - kindly sort by artist :) as it’s too much to fit in one photo. With close to 20 albums, it is going to take time, but I need to listen to all of it.
Quiz Questions
You may comment with your answers on the Substack post or reply via email. Answers will be shared next week.
See last week’s answers here.
The country of Benin introduced the ‘My Afro Origins Law’ to reconnect with the African diaspora and promote cultural tourism. US singer Ciara became one of the first public figures to be granted citizenship under this law. It allows descendants of what group of people, forcibly taken across the atlantic, to apply for citizenship online?
The former model Joan Anderson passed away this week at the age of 101. What term did she famously coin after observing groups of people swivelling wooden rings around their waists during a visit to her native Australia?
In finance, terms like DINK ("double income, no kids") and FIRE ("Financial Independence, Retire Early") are commonly used. Another such term is HENRY, which refers to people with a substantial salary but who haven't accumulated significant wealth or assets. If NRY stands for "not rich yet", what does HE stand for in HENRY?
Who, now a well-known rapper, appeared as an officer in episode 560 of CID? He has served as a judge on MTV Hustle, and his top three most viewed songs on YouTube are Dooriyan, WOH, and Yaadein.
Titled Ambikapathy, the Tamil version of which movie was re-released in theatres on August 1 with an alternate, happier ending created using Artificial Intelligence (AI)? The original is a 2013 romantic drama directed by Aanand L. Rai.
Identify this Oreo flavor, 4 letters.
The Philippines and Sri Lanka have been added to the list of visa-free destinations for Indian passport holders. India now ranks 77th on the Henley Passport Index - which country ranks first?
The governing body for chess, the International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, is commonly known by its acronym FIDE - based on its name in which language: Fédération Internationale des Échecs?
A synonym is one of two or more words or expressions in the same language that have the same or nearly the same meaning in some or all senses. What do you call a word that has two opposite meanings (with the same spelling of course); such as weather that can mean ‘to withstand something’ or to ‘wear away over time’?
Jannik Sinner, the 2025 Wimbledon men's singles champion, belongs to Italy. Iga Świątek won the women's singles title the same year - which country does she belong to?
Bonus
(play) Bandle.app a daily song guessing game
(watch) Punk Rock vs Sharia Law
(watch) David Gilmour - Sorrow (Live at the Circus Maximus, Rome)
(watch) Shukracharya - Panchabhuta || Ancient Indian Vedic Metal
The Kolkata-based band Panchabhuta, which calls itself a Vedic Metal band, finished 5th this year at the Wacken Metal Battle (winning post here), competing against 12,633 bands that applied from across 30 nations. They performed on Thursday at the Wacken Open Air in Germany (the biggest metal fest in the world), representing India after winning the India-subcontinent round. A kickass band - a very well-deserved win. I watched their performance, which they livestreamed, but the video is now private, unfortunately.
I did see them in Bangalore performing at the India-subcontinent finals, and everyone around enjoyed their performance. Hope they do well in the coming time, releasing more music. They fuse traditional instruments like the ghatam, pepa, sarod, and more along with the standard metal instruments - drums, bass, and the electric guitar - and perform songs based on the Mahabharata.
Expellow from Switzerland won the competition.
Before you go…
Liked this edition? Share it with a friend—it helps spread the word.
Reply with what you have you been reading, watching, and listening.
Got a great quiz question? Send across—I might feature it in the next edition.
Looking forward to seeing the quiz answers from you.
See ya next week!
Answers:
1. People with lineage to the transatlantic slave trade
2. Hula hoop
3. High Earners
4. Dino James
5. Raanjhanaa
6. Mint
7. Singapore
8. French
9. Contronym
10. Poland