I was watching the 2007 film Jab We Met , and discovered that the small town featured in it, Ratlam, exists in Madhya Pradesh. This week’s quiz is all about small towns from around the world.

No small matter 1 A Small Town in Germany  is a bestselling espionage novel by British author John le Carré. Which was the ‘small town’ mentioned in the novel?

2 According to the Government of India, what is the minimum population required for a place to be classified as a town?

3 A small town in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh was the birthplace of Abdul Karim Khan in 1872. Over the next century, the name of the town became a byword in Indian classical music. Which town did Khan put on the world music map?

4 In 1879, which town was created by Quaker businessmen George and Richard in the small hamlet of Bournbrook Hall, about four miles south of Birmingham? The brothers’ surname and the name of the town have become international brand names.

5 In which writer’s works would you come across the fictional town of Castle Rock in Maine? It features in at least three of his works and got its name from a mountain fort in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies .

6 Los Santos, with neighbourhoods like Idlewood, Willowfield, Santa Maria beach and Vinewood Sign, which are suspiciously similar to suburbs in Los Angeles, is the fictional setting for which hugely popular computer game?

7 Duffel bags get their name from a small town of the same name, renowned for the hardy and thick Duffel cloth produced there. In which country is the town of Duffel?

8 In 1997, which element was named after a town in Russia that had been a centre for research in physics for over 30 years?

9 The Iowan town of Riverside prides itself for something that is scheduled to happen 213 years later, in AD 2228. What momentous event is supposed to take place that year in Riverside? Fiction.

10 On June 18, 1991, which town in Kerala became the first in the country to have 100 per cent literacy?

Answers

1. Bonn, the capital of West Germany during the Cold War, where it seemed former Nazis were slowly taking control again

2. A population of at least 5,000. Also, at least 75 per cent of the male working population should be engaged in non-agricultural pursuits

3. Kirana, the home of the Kirana gharana, one of the illustrious schools of Indian classical music. Well-known exponents of the gharana include Bhimsen Joshi, Ustad Amir Khan and Gangubai Hangal

4. Bournville; it was the Cadbury brothers who set up their factory and township

5. Stephen King, who also created the towns of Derry and Jerusalem’s Lot for his novels

6. Grand Theft Auto

7. Belgium; Duffel coats also get their name from the same town

8. Dubnium, named after the town of Dubna; it is the 117{+t}{+h} element in the periodic table

9. Captain Kirk of the starship USS Enterprise is supposed to be born there that year. Not surprisingly, it’s already on the must visit list of hardcore Trekkies

10. Kottayam. Ernakulam became the second town in February the next year

Joy Bhattacharjya is a quizmaster and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup

Follow Joy on Twitter @joybhattacharj

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