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, _______________.