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Which ancient Indian grammarian wrote the 'Ashtadhyayi'?
- Patanjali
- Panini
- Katyayana
- Bhartrihari
Answer: Panini
Panini wrote the 'Ashtadhyayi', a foundational text of Sanskrit grammar, around the 5th century BCE.
Who wrote the novel 'The Great Gatsby'?
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Ernest Hemingway
- John Steinbeck
- William Faulkner
Answer: F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald published 'The Great Gatsby' in 1925. It is a critique of the American Dream during the Jazz Age.
Who is the author of the Malayalam novel 'Chemmeen'?
- Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai
- O.V. Vijayan
- M.T. Vasudevan Nair
- Vaikom Muhammad Basheer
Answer: Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai
Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai wrote 'Chemmeen' (1956), which won the Jnanpith Award. It deals with the lives of fishermen.
Who wrote the poem 'Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna'?
- Ramprasad Bismil
- Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala'
- Maqbool Shah Lakhnavi
- Hasrat Mohani
Answer: Ramprasad Bismil
Ramprasad Bismil, a freedom fighter, wrote this patriotic poem urging Indians to sacrifice their lives for independence.
Who wrote the play 'Waiting for Godot'?
- Samuel Beckett
- Eugene Ionesco
- Harold Pinter
- Jean-Paul Sartre
Answer: Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett, an Irish avant-garde novelist and playwright, wrote 'Waiting for Godot', a key work in the Theatre of the Absurd.
The Man Booker International Prize is awarded for:
- Best debut novel
- Lifetime achievement in fiction
- Best poetry collection
- Best non-fiction work
Answer: Lifetime achievement in fiction
The Man Booker International Prize (now International Booker Prize) honors a living author of any nationality for a body of work in fiction.
Who wrote the novel 'Don Quixote'?
- Miguel de Cervantes
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- Jorge Amado
- Pablo Neruda
Answer: Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra wrote 'Don Quixote', published in two parts in 1605 and 1615. It is considered the first modern novel.
Who was the court poet of Akbar and a prominent figure in the Navratnas?
- Tulsidas
- Surdas
- Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan
- Meera Bai
Answer: Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan
Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan was one of the nine jewels (Navratnas) of Akbar's court and a renowned poet in Braj Bhasha and Persian.
Who was the first Indian to win the Sahitya Akademi Award?
- R.K. Narayan
- Premchand
- Sri Aurobindo
- It is awarded to multiple authors in the first year (1955)
- None of the above
Answer: It is awarded to multiple authors in the first year (1955)
The Sahitya Akademi Award was first given in 1955 to 24 writers across various Indian languages. There wasn't a single 'first' winner.
Who is the author of 'The Diary of a Young Girl' (Anne Frank's Diary)?
- Anne Frank
- Elie Wiesel
- Primo Levi
- Victor Klemperer
Answer: Anne Frank
Anne Frank wrote the diary while hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II. It was published posthumously by her father.
The 'Panchatantra' tales were originally written in which language?
- Pali
- Sanskrit
- Prakrit
- Tamil
Answer: Sanskrit
The Panchatantra, a collection of animal fables, was written in Sanskrit by Vishnu Sharma around 200 BCE.
Who wrote the novel 'Train to Pakistan'?
- Khushwant Singh
- Amrita Pritam
- Chetan Bhagat
- Vikram Seth
Answer: Khushwant Singh
Khushwant Singh wrote 'Train to Pakistan' in 1956. It depicts the Partition of India through the lens of a border village.
Who wrote the Tamil epic 'Silappatikaram'?
- Ilango Adigal
- Thiruvalluvar
- Kamban
- Subramania Bharati
Answer: Ilango Adigal
Silappatikaram is one of the five great epics of Tamil literature, attributed to Ilango Adigal, a Jain monk and brother of the Chera king Senguttuvan.
Who wrote the epic poem 'Paradise Lost'?
- John Milton
- John Keats
- Lord Byron
- Percy Shelley
Answer: John Milton
John Milton published 'Paradise Lost' in 1667. It is an epic poem in blank verse concerning the biblical story of the Fall of Man.
Who is the author of the book 'Wings of Fire'?
- P.J. Abdul Kalam
- Manmohan Singh
- Atal Bihari Vajpayee
- Pranab Mukherjee
Answer: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam co-authored 'Wings of Fire' with Arun Tiwari. It is his autobiography detailing his journey from Rameswaram to becoming the President of India.
Which Indian author won the Booker Prize in 2008 for 'The White Tiger'?
- Arundhati Roy
- Kiran Desai
- Aravind Adiga
- Salman Rushdie
Answer: Aravind Adiga
Aravind Adiga won the Man Booker Prize in 2008 for his debut novel 'The White Tiger', which critiques social inequality in India.
Who wrote the 'Prithviraj Raso'?
- Chand Bardai
- Firdausi
- Amir Khusrau
- Tulsidas
Answer: Chand Bardai
Chand Bardai was the court poet of Prithviraj Chauhan and wrote 'Prithviraj Raso', an epic poem about the king's life.
Who wrote the national anthem of India, 'Jana Gana Mana'?
- Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
- Rabindranath Tagore
- Sarojini Naidu
- Muhammad Iqbal
Answer: Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore wrote 'Jana Gana Mana' in Bengali. It was adopted as the National Anthem of India in 1950.
Who wrote the magical realism novel 'One Hundred Years of Solitude'?
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- Jorge Luis Borges
- Paulo Coelho
- Isabel Allende
Answer: Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a Colombian novelist and Nobel Laureate, wrote this masterpiece of magical realism in 1967.
Who is the author of the Bengali novel 'Pather Panchali'?
- Rabindranath Tagore
- Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay
- Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay
- Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
Answer: Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay
Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay wrote 'Pather Panchali' in 1929. It was later adapted into a famous film by Satyajit Ray.