Its That Time Of The Year When Forex Dealers Go Quizzing

"Birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up." Who said this? Stumped?

The answer: heavyweight boxing champion Mohammed Ali, talking to The New York Times in 1977. This was one of the questions posed at an impromptu quiz organised by Reuters for foreign exchange dealers on Wednesday.

Yes, it's that time of the year once more when India's foreign exchange dealers turn their attention from the frenetic trading on the foreign exchange market to quizzes and uncorking the bubbly.

Trading has taken a backseat in December as the foreign exchange market has wound down into somnolence. The rupee has been gaining ground against the dollar every day because too many greenbacks are floating around. In other words, predictability rules the market.

"There is nothing much to do in December. Globally, the markets are closed during the Christmas season and every body is readying for a well-earned holiday.

Quizzing brings a little excitement to the screen. For a change, we don't look at quotes. We stare at the questions as we need to answer them in 30 seconds flat, "explains one dealer.

ABN Amro kicked off the annual quiz show last week. Sample one of the questions posed at ABN Amro's quiz: Line56.com is a B2B website that derives its name from the 56th line of a play. Can you name the play?

Answer: Shakespeare's "Hamlet." The line is "to be or not to be".

Quiz time usually begins in late November. This year, however, the season has started a bit later than usual because the market took time to settle down after the terrorists attacks in the US.

The Reuters quiz was open to all its clients in India with dealing systems. Only one entry per dealing room was allowed. A total of 20 questions were asked and each correct answer -- to be given within 30 seconds -- fetched the participants one point.

The BankAm team walked away with the first prize -- dinner for 10 dealers and a movie -- while StanChart bagged the second prize -- champagne and chocolates.

Here is a sample of the questions asked at the Reuters quiz on Wednesday: Which war led to the Tashkent declaration? What is a gyne? Which famous Greek philosopher never wrote a book? Of all the bones in the skull and the face, which is the only moveable bone in human beings? Which animal or being has three hearts?

Try your hand at answering them. Who knows, if you're in a dealing room and get all the answers right, you may just get to dine out free -- or uncork the bubbly.