When Santa Lived In Basavanagudi

This time of the year brings back memories of Christmas at The Home School.

Come December and a happy buzz used to pervade THS. After all, it was the only occasion that was celebrated by the school. True, the school promptly 'declared a holiday' to mark almost every special day of the Hindu or Muslim calendar. The blackboard on the gate used to say things like: 'Tomorrow the school will be closed for Varamahalakshmi Vratam' and so on. But Christmas was different.

For one, there was Santa. Every year he was there, a tall, imposing jolly fellow in his trademark red and white outfit. Not very plump though. He used to give us all presents after we sang carols. I don't think we believed that he came from the North Pole or wherever else, but we weren't quite sure of his port of origin.

As it turned out, he came from the PT room just around the corner from the Assembly Hall where we waited for him every year. An enterprising classmate came upon our dear PT Master, Mr. Sims (I hope this is how he spelled his name), trying on a cotton beard a few days before the big day. Christmas was never the same again.

Come to think of it, Santa never said a word during all those years. Just mumbled something into his cotton beard. No wonder.

I said Santa gave us presents. The presents have a history of their own. In the beginning, the school collected what was a big amount in the early 1980s (maybe Rs.125?), added some of its own money and bought some exciting stuff. My favourite was the Noddy book and a rocket-shaped pencil box with a bullet-shaped nozzle. You could take out the pencils and other contents, blow into the plastic and close the cap tight. And then you chose your enemy carefully and pressed the tube. The nozzle would pop and fly out quite fast and strike your target, or at least someone else.

A few years later, somebody decided that the best way to make sure all the children used the right shoe polish was to give shoe polish kits as Christmas gifts. I don't remember whether this brilliant idea occurred at the same time that we discovered Santa lived in Basavanagudi, but anyway it took the sheen off Christmas. No Noddy, no missile pencil box; only a shoe polish dabba and a brush! Wow!

Carol singing was a big thing. Sometime in the beginning of December, Mrs. Marker (for the longest time I thought her name was Miss Marca) called each of us to her piano and made us sing some notes. She then decided what part we would play in the group. It wasn't a trained choir or anything like that. But she played the piano well and sang well; we were willing learners.

Mrs. Marker migrated to Australia sometime after I left THS in 1986. For a very long time, to me Australia meant kangaroos and Miss Marca.

 

Question Ably - 22: Answer

As some of you correctly answered, X is Simon Wiesenthal. The book is "The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness".

Wiesenthal is of course most well-known as the Nazi hunter who was instrumental in tracking down Adolf Eichmann, the SS officer who played an important role in sending hundreds of Jews to their deaths in Poland and Hungary.

Question Ably - 22

A slightly long question. Escuse pliss.

X is a prisoner of the Nazis. While doing hard labour in a makeshift military hospital for wounded German soldiers, he is summoned to the bedside of a man swathed in bandages. The man asks if X is a Jew, and when X says yes, the injured man reveals that he is a member of the dreaded SS. He confesses to taking part in a mass killing in a horrific manner of two hundred Jews. He then asks for forgiveness from X. X listens to the soldier but leaves the room without a reply.

X recounts this incident in a bestselling book and opens up his action (of refusing forgiveness to a dying man) to scrutiny by readers. Many, including the likes of Gunter Grass, Charlie Chaplin, Arthur Miller, reply. The book is still used to discuss the morality of vengeance and forgiveness.

X and the book please.

Question Ably - 21

Many got the answer to this one: Silsila.

Going by the inputs a friend gave me, the question may not have been technically very correct. But since many gave the correct answer, I'll assume that it was OK :)

Question Ably - 21

Over the centuries, formal Islamic education has formed various 'schools'. Every school's pedigree is traced back through a line of successive masters and students and as it gets closer to the time of the Prophet, the authenticity of the school is more firmly established.

In the Indian subcontinent, four such important schools are the Sufi Islamic orders of the Chishtiyya, the Naqshbandiyya, the Suhrawardiyya and the Qadiriyya.

What is the formal name (in Arabic) for this chain of teachers and students?

(Hint: Mr. Bachchan senior should know.)
     

On A Misty Morning

The train rolled out of Haridwar for Delhi at 6.22 AM. The mist hung over the landscape like a white veil, transforming the quotidian into a thing of beauty. I had a window seat and clicked away. The tinted and dirty glass played its part well.

 

Question Ably - 20: Answer

Christmas pudding or plum pudding is the answer.

The physics connection is J. J. Thomson's 'plum pudding model' of the atom.

More later. Off on a trip across the Vindhyas!

Question Ably - 20

Food historians trace the ritual origins of this dish to a decree of the Roman Catholic Church in medieval England which mandated that the dish be made on the 25th Sunday after Trinity, with 13 ingredients representing Jesus and the 12 Apostles, and that every family member stir it in turn from east to west to remember the Magi's journey in that direction. 

But why is this dish a favourite with physicists?

  

Question Ably - 19: Answer

Zucchini. That's the answer I was looking for. Here's how it relates to the question: zucchini is a member of the squash family, though one of the smaller members. In Italian, the word for squash is 'zucca'. Since zucchini isn't as big as the other squashes, it's small size is captured by the '-ini'.

I was thinking of other '-ini' food words in Italian to mean 'little' and remembered 'crostini' ('little toasts') and 'fettucini' ('little ribbons').

In English, 'zucchini' is used both as singular and plural. 'Zucchinis' is also accepted usage.

The British and French call this the 'courgette', from the French 'courge' for squash with the '-ette' added, again to signify its smallness.

Wiki tells us that the zucchini is an '...immature fruit, being the swollen ovary of the zucchini flower'. Not exactly appetizing, but that's how it is.

This question elicited the most answers, though only one was correct. Thanks to them my knowledge of veggies has grown exponentially over the last one day. A look at some of the answers:

Carrot: It is a vegetable.

Chayote (seemae badanaekayi in Kannada, chow chow in Hindi): This was a good try but didn't satisfy all the elements of the question.

Eggplant: Another good try. But this one is native to India.

Pumpkin: Phew! This was close. This is a fruit, a member of the squash family like the zucchini. The name's origins are Greek. I got away because of the other parts of the question.

Cucumber: Nowhere as close as pumpkin but this satisfied some elements of the question. It originated in India.

Tomato: Name originates from Central America.

Capsicum: Satisfies the fruit - veggie anomaly, has Greek origins in the name but some other elements of the question are unanswered. 

Good round!

Question Ably - 19

Botanically, it is a fruit; in the kitchen, a vegetable. While in America (and even in India) it is known by its European name, the Brits call it something else. Its non-English name is a plural of the diminutive (that is, contains a suffix denoting the smaller version of a larger counterpart). Cookery enthusiasts in India have debated over the vernacular names of this ingredient, mostly without reaching agreement except on the point that the vegetable is not Indian.

Question Ably - 18: Answer

Going by how many answered correctly and how quickly they did that, it looks like QA - 18 was too easy.

For the record the answer is Saif Ali Khan, the 10th Nawab of Pataudi.

As an aside, when I was looking up Wiki, I saw 'pretender' in (brackets) next to the names of Saif and his father, and his father's name appeared twice. This elicited two reactions from me: outrage (on behalf of Saif) and excessive caution (I re-counted the names).

All these days I had assumed that a 'pretender to the throne' was a usurper or other illegitimate occupant. After deeper Wikiing, I now see that 'pretender' has a wider meaning. It means a person who claims a position of rank or honour that is no longer available, is abolished.

That explains why Saif's father, Tiger Pataudi is listed as a regular Nawab of Pataudi till 1971 (when titles together with Privy Purses were officially abolished in India) and then as a 'pretender' from 1971 till his death.

Wiki also explains that used in this context, 'pretender' is not disparaging. The French origins of the word were value-neutral and meant a 'claimant'.

Anybody who says she knew all this gyaan all along is nothing but a pretender.

Question Ably - 18

Complete the sequence of names: Faiz Talab Khan, Akbar Ali Siddiqui Khan, Mohammad Ali Taqi Siddiqui Khan, Mohammad Mukhtar Siddiqui Ali Khan, Mohammad Momtaz Siddiqui Khan, Mohammad Mozaffar Siddiqui Khan, Mohammad Ebrahim Siddiqui Ali Khan, Iftikhar Ali Hussain Siddiqui, Mansoor Ali Hussain Siddiqui, _______________.
    

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. 

An Evening in Lucknow: Book Review

My review of K. A. Abbas' 'An Evening in Lucknow' as it appeared in the Deccan Herald on Sunday, September 25. 

Reading a Forgotten Voice

An Evening in Lucknow, K. A. Abbas, Harper Collins, 2011, Rs.299

This anthology of short stories introduces us to a writer who has faded from popular memory. To a few old timers who are perhaps familiar with a piece or two by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, the collection offers an opportunity to become better acquainted with his writing.

As if to acknowledge that Abbas is no longer widely known, the book has a few chapters at the end which helpfully give us an insight into the man. We learn that Abbas found his bearings in pre-independent Bombay as a journalist, writing short fiction, novels, plays and film scripts of a high calibre on the side, including the screen play for ‘Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani’ which was made into a hit film by V. Shantaram. Abbas was drawn to the freedom movement in the course of which he cultivated a lifelong association with Pandit Nehru that combined a deep friendship with hero-worship. Those who feed off Hindi cinema trivia may remember Abbas as someone who gave Amitabh Bachchan his debut cinema role in ‘Saat Hindustani’.    

A letter from Mulk Raj Anand written in January 1947 praises Abbas’ short story ‘Sparrows’, which at one time was included in a collection of the great short stories of the world. The senior writer observes, “The strength of your short stories, my dear Abbas, lies in the fact that you have grasped the weaknesses of your characters amid their strengths.” A couple of interviews of Abbas help us understand his involvement with the left-leaning Progressive Writers’ Movement among other things.  

In order to appreciate Abbas’ craft, the current generation of Indians who read English short fiction may need to keep aside their sensibilities derived from a staple diet of Western fiction. Reading him is like seeing a black-and-white Hindi film of yesteryears. His stories empathize with the poor and the disadvantaged and palpably show a social concern. Most urban Indians, cut off as they are from poverty not merely in rural India but even in their own cities, may find this difficult to relate to.

The most celebrated among the stories is ‘Sparrows’. It tells us of Rahim Khan, a loutish man who is feared and shunned by his family and village. When he discovers a nest of fledgling sparrows in the rafters of his humble home, he shows towards them a tenderness he is not known to possess, saving them from a downpour at the cost of his own life.

In ‘Sylvia’, the eponymous nurse feels so passionately about her calling that she is willing to say no to a marriage that would force her to quit her job, even if that means that she will stigmatized by society. In ‘The Sword of Shiva’ four caste men gather beneath a tree as a storm rages. Together, they are symbols of caste oppression in rural India – priest, landlord, the record keeper and moneylender. They are even willing to kill people of ‘low caste’ rather than let them into the shelter of the tree. But the forces of nature strike them down, thereby instilling a sense of justice in the old Hindi cinema way.

This O. Henryesque style meets a Shantaram-like cinematic sentimentality in many of the stories. Contemporary readers may find the sentimentality a little too much in-your-face.  But these stories certainly deserve a place in our bookshelf for their humanism.

***

Question Ably - 15

There are a few other ways of depicting this emblem. But this white over red format is considered traditionally 'proper'.  What is this?

Question Ably - 14

The person in the upper picture recounts a phase in his youth: "Put simply, I was having an 'identity crisis'. It was my good fortune I could spend so many hours with the man who had coined the term. I recognized that an identity crisis is not a sickness but another chance to realign the shape of one's outer life with the core of one's being, with one's true self. What I really wanted, I discovered, was a special kind of life of the mind which I believed _______ could give me. I wanted to be like him".

The 'him' in the quote is the person in the lower picture.

Name both men and fill in the blank in the quote. (Hint: The word is a field of study, a discipline.)

Question Ably - 13

'Sir Christopher Wren
Said, "I am going to dine with some men.
If anyone calls
Say I am designing St. Paul's"

What verse form, named after its creator?

My review of "Carte Blanche", the new Bond novel, was carried on Jul 24 in the Deccan Herald.

Carte Blanche, Jeffery Deaver, Hodder & Stoughton, 2011, Rs.499

Orbis­ Non Sufficit – The World Is Not Enough. At least for Double Oh Seven on celluloid when he’s doing all those things other boring spies don’t do. And without getting his gabardines soiled.  The twenty two films released so far have fans worldwide wanting just one thing more; the twenty third.

As for James Bond between the covers he always plays catch-up to his on-screen doppelganger. The buzz surrounding the making and release of the next Bond movie isn’t quite there when it comes to the written word, perhaps because nobody has thought of issuing press communiqués announcing the galley proofs. So the good man on the Clapham omnibus was ruffled mildly to see Royal Naval Marine Commandos, presumably on shore leave, rappelling down the tower of St. Pancras International to hand over the first copies of the latest Bond novel to author Jeffery Deaver, who was waiting patiently below in a red Bentley Continental GT with a Bond girl in black leathers at his side. It must have been a nice change for Deaver after all those gruesome, bone collecting, Lincoln Rhyme books.

For two months every year, Fleming vacationed at ‘Goldeneye’, his estate in Jamaica and used the time to write twelve James Bond novels during the years 1953 and 1964, beginning with Casino Royale. Possible sources of inspiration for the dashing spy are many, but it is generally agreed that Fleming borrowed considerably from his own persona to craft the character. Like Fleming, Bond rose to the rank of Commander in the Royal Navy, loved fast cars, exotic locations and women, and above all, was a spy.   

After Fleming died in 1964 “of living too much” as he commented on his lifestyle, his literary executors had Kingsely Amis (writing under the pseudonym ‘Robert Markham’), John Gardner, Raymond Benson and Sebastian Faulks write Bond novels. Deaver, the second American Bond author after Benson, joins them as bearer of the Fleming torch (cigarette lighter would do nicely but the new Bond does not smoke).  

In Carte Blanche, Deaver gives James an anti-aging reboot that keeps him in his thirties and simultaneously gives him a contemporary past. So our master spy is now a veteran of the Afghan war who lives in a flat in Chelsea. Officially, he is a security and integrity analyst with the Overseas Development Group charged with assessing business risks. M continues to be his boss and is male.

In his choice of wardrobe and accoutrements, James judiciously mixes the venerable with the chic. So we have Canali suits comfortably coexisting with the wares of Turnbull & Asser. Though he has his father’s E-Type Jaguar, he prefers a new granite grey Bentley Continental GT. Technologically, James is minimalist. He does not run around with too many groovy gadgets, relying on some nice tech services supplied by Q, his Indian gizmo wiz.

Befitting our times, the evils James has to contend with are not so much persons as scams. One of them is a waste disposal scam presided by Severan Hydt, he of the long, yellowing finger-nails and decay-fetish, who leaves no one in doubt from the start that unlike his rubbish he must be disposed of sans recycling. James follows Hydt and his operations across Serbia, the UK, the Emirates and South Africa.

Our latest Bond lady combines brains and beauty with a good scam; she almost had to, with a name like Felicity Willing.  Not as subtle as Honey Rider and Kissy Suzuki, but still. Deaver is the quintessential Brit writer manqué, hoping to sound authentic by employing the idioms of old Blighty and references to cricket, curry and Bollywood. All of which make his book a bit like a curate’s egg.

Question Ably - 12

His work of non-fiction is ranked one of Penguin India's all time non-fiction bestsellers. He was awarded the Magsasay Award in 2007. Amartya Sen refers to him as one of the world's great experts on famine and hunger. Incidentally, he is the grandson of V. V. Giri, the former president of India. Identify.

Amanuensis

Amanuensis: one employed to write from dictation or to copy manuscript.
From Latin: servus a manu - slave with secretarial duties.
First known use: 1619
(Source: www.merriam-webster.com)

Of all places, I came across the word in The Persons With Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection Of Rights And Full Participation) Act, 1995.

S.31 reads: All educational institutions shall provide or cause to be provided amanuensis to students with visual handicap.

Question Ably - 11

This is a species of palm resembling the bamboo but with a solid core unlike the bamboo's hollow core. It is vine-like, using barb-tipped leaves to clamber for several feet to the tops of trees. The fruit yields a red resin called 'dragon's blood' and was used as medicine and varnish in antiquity. Mostly used to make baskets and furniture, its home is mainly in Indonesia and its name's origins are Malay. In many countries including India, it is the 'poor man's timber' along with bamboo. What?

Hindu temples in Pakistan

I read this insightful article in the NY Times by Manu Joseph on the general attitude of Indians towards Pakistan as a country (visit http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/12/world/asia/12iht-letter12.html?ref=terrorism). He ends the piece by saying, "For instance, most Indians might find it hard to believe that there are Hindu temples in Pakistan and that they are not apologetic shrines where persecuted minorities hide and pray. They are as vibrant as temples in India and are sustained by Hindus who have prospered in Pakistan. In fact, outside one temple in Karachi, a man stood at the door and refused to let in Muslims who had begged him for a quick peek. He was unmoved, but he let me in because I was Indian." 

Intrigued, I googled and found this interesting photo-essay on http://hindutemplespakistan.blogspot.com/. Take a look. Some temples appear to be falling into ruin. Others seem quite fine.

Question Ably - 10

Very simple. Identify these three gentlemen. That should help you connect them.

Question Ably - 9

This one is for the geeks.

In 1988, when the Internet had only about 50,000 computers, 10% of them were crippled by a worm. The worm, a first of its kind, was released into the Internet by a graduate student at Cornell, _______ Tappan ________. What was intended to be a harmless prank became serious, thanks to a design error. The young man surrendered to the FBI. He was convicted, released on probation, fined $ 10,000 and ordered to do community service. He eventually got a Ph.D. from Harvard, made millions developing and selling software and currently teaches at the MIT.

This question is not about him. It is about his father, a pioneering cryptographer who was part of the core team that developed Unix. He is said to have assisted the US government in penetrating Saddam Hussain's defence computer systems leading to crippling missile strikes against key Iraqi installations. The father died last Sunday at the age of 78. Name him to also get the first and last names of the son.  

Question Ably - 8

The origins of this word are dubious. But consensus has it that its roots are in air force slang of the war years. Merriam-Webster cites 1942 as the year of first known use. Originally, the word meant the biggest of bombs. It was soon appropriated by a completely different industry which gave the word its current common usage. What word?

Hint 1: The word may have been two separate words as originally used but the airmen won't vouch for that.

Hint 2: Some netizens say that the word was adopted widely in its current sense after Spielberg's 'Jaws'

Question Ably 1 - 7: Answers

A good response to Question Ably so far.

Mulligatawny seems to be the one almost everyone got. Many got the answer to QA 2 (about the two brothers) and QA 4 (the cricketer question)

Just to make life simple, the answer to each question will be posted as a comment to that entry.

Question Ably - 7

Bill Bryson writes in 'Down Under': "On our second day out from Broken Hill, we entered the mighty ______. Many people, even Australians, assume _____ is an Aboriginal term, but in fact it is a corruption of the Latin for 'no trees', and the name could not be more apt. For hundreds of miles the landscape is as flat as a calm sea and unrelievedly barren - just glowing red soil, tussocky clumps of bluebush and spinifex, and scattered rocks the colour of bad teeth. In an area four times the size of Belgium there is not a scrap of shade. It is one of the most forbidding expanses on earth."    Name _________.

Question Ably - 6

The English name given this soup is a (Anglicized) portmanteau of two words of a language native to the region where the recipe originated. We learn that there are many recipes for this soup with the non-vegetarian version having chicken, beef or lamb meat. What soup? By the way, literally translated, the two non-English words mean 'pepper water'.

Question Ably - 5

This iconic Indian retail brand is managed by the man you see in this picture. The company (owning the brand if you want to be technically correct) was established in 1960 as a one-man export company by his father, an American working for the Ford Foundation. As a retail brand it started out in 1976, though even now the company's name retains a word linking it to its export oriented origins. 

The brand is all the more iconic because it is said that the company doesn't advertise. [At least I don't remember any ads on TV or hoardings on the roads, except notices of new store openings.] It is also an innovative ownership model because a part of its stock is community owned. The man in the picture has also written an insightful book on India from a social entrepreneur's perspective. Since I know this makes a difference to your life by making you feel nice, I can tell you his sister is named after a climatic phenomenon.

Question Ably

I had circulated some quiz questions among friends where the focus was on the question, not on the answer. The idea being to have interesting questions a la the KQA questions. It's taken for granted that those who don't know the answer offhand will Google and Wiki to find out. That's perfectly fine. As I said, the spotlight is on the question.

Here are the questions 1 - 4. Question 5 was a picture quiz and will be posted separately.

Question Ably 1: The NY Times opines this 'may be the single best thing ever accomplished by a committee'. 54 people participated in the endeavour over 7 years in 6 9-man subcommittees called 'companies'. What?

Question Ably 2: A and B are brothers, both born in Jhelum, Pakistan. A went on to become the prime minister of his country. B went on to become and still is a leading painter, sculptor, and architect of his country. B's design of the Belgian Embassy in his country was rated by the International Forum of Architects as one of the 1000 best designed buildings around the world in the 20th century. A and B? 

Question Ably 3: In 2010 - 11, consulting firm McKinsey carried out a study of this family-owned and managed Indian company under the code name 'Kamadhenu' (named after the wish-fulfilling cow in Hindu mythology). But its recommendations are in cold storage pending resolution of disputes among the family members. Name the company.

Question Ably 4: X's highest test score was 256 against India. X was described by Y thus: "To say that he is the greatest batsman I have ever seen so far is to put it mildly." Ramachandra Guha informs us that X introduced Y to his (Y's) future wife. A sense of awe about X and perhaps gratitude for making the introductions led Y to name his son Z after X. (Ergo X = Z!)

Name X and Y. And if you're really desperate congratulate yourself on naming Z.

Answers on Monday.

  

Sach is life!

The Times of India (Jun 9, 2011) says:

He may be the cricket legend, but Sachin Tendulkar will have to bow down to beauty because the Bollywood sensation Katrina Kaif yet again topped the list of the sexiest women 2011 with her average rating being higher than that of Sachin. 

The head. It reels. 

Clean bowling

I just saw the full scorecard of Sri Lanka's first innings against England in the first test match at Cardiff. The stand-out performer is the liberally initialled HAPW Jayawardene for his 112, coming in at No.6.

But tucked away at the end of the scorecard is an amazing piece of statistic: Extras 30 (b 9, lb 21).  No wides and no-balls in 118.4 overs sent down by the Englishmen! Amazing!

I'm clean bowled by the clean bowling.