Quiz on famous people who went off the radar

This week’s quiz is about famous people who chose to walk away from the limelight.

1 On October 13 this year, the daughter of Ustad Allauddin Khan passed away. One of the greatest exponents of the surbahar, she stopped performing in the late 1950s to save her marriage with a husband who became increasingly insecure about her success. Name this peerless performer and her celebrity husband.

2 He won the World Championship in his sport in 1972, and then refused to defend his title in 1975. He came back for a hugely publicised rematch in 1992 and then became a recluse, finally requesting Iceland to grant him citizenship. Name the player and the sport he dominated.

3 Which famous recluse’s last officially published work was a novella titled Hapworth 16, 1924 , which appeared in The New Yorker in 1965?

4 The last work of this decade-long series appeared on December 3, 1995, and the last caption was “It’s a Magical World, _____ ol’ buddy. Let’s go exploring.” The author stepped away from the public eye immediately after. Name the series.

5 In which work of fiction would you come across Miss Havisham, a wealthy spinster who was jilted at the altar and lived like a recluse in a ruined mansion with her adopted daughter Estella?

6 This work won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and the novelist immediately became a recluse. She did, however, assist her close friend, Truman Capote, in his research for his much-acclaimed In Cold Blood . Name the author.

7 This poet was a recluse all her life. After her death in 1886, her sister Lavinia burnt all her correspondence as instructed but saved her notebooks. The poems in the notebooks won immediate acclaim and the poet is regarded as one of the greats of American literature. Name her.

8 Who stopped acting and became a recluse in 1941 at the age of 35, after the failure of the film Two-Faced Woman ?

9 Closer home, which Indian actress retired in 1978, midway through the shooting of the film Nati Binodini with Rajesh Khanna, and never again appeared in the public eye?

10 A founder member of one of the world’s most influential rock acts, he left the band in 1968 with increasing mental health issues. He later went back to stay with his mother and devoted his solitary life to painting and gardening. Name the song recorded in homage to him by his former group in 1975.

Answers

1. Annapurna Devi and Ravi Shankar

2. Bobby Fischer; chess

3. JD Salinger, who became reclusive after the colossal success of his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye

4.Calvin and Hobbes , by Bill Watterson

5. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

6. Harper Lee, best known for her classic, To Kill A Mockingbird

7. Emily Dickinson

8. Greta Garbo; she had won an Academy Award a couple of years earlier for Ninotchka

9. Suchitra Sen, the Bengali film legend who also starred in Gulzar’s Aandhi

10. ‘Shine on you crazy diamond’; Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd

Joy Bhattacharjya is a quizmaster.

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