Latest answers

Latest answers

Friday, March 27, 2009

239. Ode to Humanity

In 1958, Sahir Ludhianvi in a poem titled Mere ahd ke haseeno (Beauties of my generation), presented the event as a success of humanity over nature. Taking aim at those who saw their futures as astrally determined, Sahir saw in the event another sign that humanity had trumped nature. Which event?

Wo buland-baam taare, wo falak-maqaam taare
Jo nishaan de ke apna, rahe be-nashaan hamesha
Wo haseen, wo noor-zaade, wo qilaa ke shaahzaade
Jo hamaari qismaton par rahe hukmraan hamesha

Mere ahd ke haseeno, wo nazar-nawaaz taare
Mera daur e ishq parwar tumhe nazr de rahaa hai
Wo junoon jo aab o aatish ko aseer kar chuka hai
Wo qilaa ki vus-aton se bhi qiraaj le rahaa hai

Mere paas rehne waalo, mere baad aane waalo
Mere daur ka ye tohfa, tumhe saazgaar aaye
Kabhi tum qala se guzro kisi seem-tan ke qatir
Kabhi tum ko dil mein rakh kar koi gul-o-zaar aaye

Thursday, March 26, 2009

238. Twainspeak...



What was inspired by a Mark Twain remark and was anthologized in the volume shown above?

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

237. Alpine Diet?

Inspired by a “strange dish” that he was served during a hike in the Swiss Alps, what did the physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner introduce to bolster the diet of his patients around 1900?

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

236. One word to bind them all....

Connect

a. A 1928 recording by Louis Armstrong and his orchestra named after a slang term used in the Jazz world for marihuana

b. A term used by geocachers to refer to those not involved in or aware of the sport of Geocaching

c. A term inducted into the OED in 2003 standing for a person lacking a skill

Monday, March 23, 2009

235. Approximately thereabouts....

Which latin term meaning “in approximately” is widely used in genealogy and historical writing, to denote dates or periods which cannot be determined accurately?