Question Ably - 17: Answer

The cricketer is Travis Dowlin of the West Indies who is MS Dhoni's only ODI wicket so far. Dowlin was castled by Dhoni in a Champions Trophy group match in September 2009 in South Africa. Here's the video. 

Question Ably - 17

This West Indian cricketer is perhaps forgotten in the Caribbean. His record is not something to write home about. His last ODI was in Feb 2010. His last test outing was in Jun 2010. Rather unremarkable stats with bat and ball. But he holds a special place for the Indian fan. Why?

Mis(s)taken Identity

TIME reports that Theresa Culpepper, a woman from Atlanta, called the local police to tell them about her stolen truck. When the cops came to her door a few hours later, Theresa assumed quite reasonably that it was about the truck. So imagine her horror when she was led off to jail, not for disturbing the peace of the police about a silly truck, but for committing aggravated assault!


Turned out that another lady called Theresa had delivered some stinging upper cuts to her victim or done whatever else that qualifies as aggravated assault. She was the one the Atlanta police wanted to throw in the cooler. Theresa's lawyer said that except for the first name match, there was nothing else that could have misled the cops to do what they did.


So someone in Atlanta police must have thought, "What was the name again? Theresa? Didn't she call about the truck this morning? Bring her in boys!" And they kept Ms. Culpepper in jail for 53 days before her lawyer convinced them they wanted the other Theresa, the one with the Shaolin knuckles.

But what you've read so far isn't nearly as strange as what follows.

A TV channel tracked down Theresa the Assaulter. If I were the lady, I'd have quickly assumed a rich baritone and said, yes, this is Karthik, when should I lecture on Wittgenstein? 


But T the A didn't do any such thing. She wondered aloud why she hadn't been arrested yet! "Oh! Am I getting arrested? What a relief! I've been waiting 53 days to do time but nobody's come for me!" is what she said (or so I am informed by undisclosed sources).

Now all this makes me thankful that Atlanta isn't any South Indian city which I may inhabit. Given that this part of the globe teems with Karthiks as China does with Changs and Antarctica with Penguins - at any rate teems more than Atlanta does with Theresas - I would live every minute of my life expecting to be led away in chains for the crimes of my namesakes.

However, a couple of things reduce my anxiety. One, Karthik is a very uncool name among thieves, murderers, embezzlers and their ilk. Second, if I do get locked-up, it will be a matter of days before one or two other Karthiks are thrown in for company. And there's room only for so many of us. 

Question Ably - 16: Answer

The answer to X (the person) is David John Moore Cornwell who wrote under the pseudonym John le Carre (I couldn't figure out how to add the accent using this text editor, sorry). The word Y is 'mole'.

le Carre's reader referred him to the following passage of Francis Bacon's 'Historie of the Reigne of King Henry the Seventh' published in 1641:


'As for his secret Spialls, which he did imploy both at home and abroad, by them to discover what Practices and Conspiracies were against him, surely his Case required it: Hee had such Moles perpectually working and casting to undermine him.'


le Carre writes about the 'mole' origin in his foreword to 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'.  

Question Ably - 16

X writes in the foreword to one of his celebrated novels: 


"The origin of my use of the word 'Y' to describe a long-term penetration agent is a small mystery to me, as it was to the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary, who wrote to me asking whether I had invented it.......But the OED couldn't find the trace and neither could I, so for a long time, I thought perhaps I had. Then one day, I received a letter from a reader, referring me to page 240 of Francis Bacon's.........."


Identify X (a person) and Y (a word).

Zoological Weapons Advisory

I was ambling along a street in Chennai yesterday when this caught my eye.

Abba Ke Zamane Mein

The Karnataka Quiz Association (KQA) comes up with some hilarious names for quizzes. One of my favourites is 'Abba Ke Zamane Mein'. For a long time I thought the questions would draw from events of my father's generation. Only when I saw that the years covered are the 60s, the 70s and the 80s did I realize I'm half 'Abba' already!

Question Ably - 15 - Answer

(Image Courtsey: Wikipedia)

This is the Tudor Rose, the traditional floral emblem of England. It features a white rose over a red rose, symbolizing the end of the War of the Roses between the Houses of York and Lancaster. 

The White Rose was the emblem of the House of York and the Red Rose that of Lancaster. Henry Tudor of Lancaster defeated Richard III of York in 1485 to bring an end to the War of the Roses and establish the Tudor reign for the next 117 years.