Episode one O 9 of Are you quizzing me Right off the bat?
Here's the audience question, the answer to which is revealed
right at the end of the episode. Make sure you stick around for
it. The question is, when and where
was the last telegram ever sent? When and where was the last ever
telegram sent by a regular Postal Service?
And on that note, let's have the music.
Welcome to Are you quizzing me? I am Vineet Nair with my Co host
Aditya Kashyap. This is a quizzing trivia
podcast show. Join us as we dive deep into
history, science, pop culture and so much more.
Let's get quizzing. Welcome back to Are You Quizzing
Me? Your favorite trivia podcast
show. Today is yet another special
episode because we have a guest quiz.
Master stepping in Vineet is unavailable.
So Hari Krishna HK, one of our most regular guests, one of the
most prolific guests on this podcast is back to help us out
with some wonderful trivia. I must clarify at this point
that we both recorded an episode which we are not able to use.
So we have some questions from HK that have already been used
in an unaired episode, which will make a comeback in the
future as well. But HK, thanks for doing it the
second time. Welcome back to Are you using me
for what, the 10th time I think? Yeah.
Always happy to be back and hopefully this time in a better
audio form because that's the biggest complaint that I've had
is that don't use your earphone mic.
If anybody from the Apple team is listening, your Airpods mic
do not work for a podcast recording.
So please look into that if you can.
I've heard that they're not that great for regular meetings.
Also, I've heard complaints many times.
So well then Apple really needs to start using their own mics in
their own meetings and know how bad they are.
But we will not waste any more time.
HK. The audience question, by the
way, is something I think you'll enjoy.
So I was thinking of an audience question that you perhaps even
if you don't know the trivia, which you might, but even if you
don't know it, it'll something you might enjoy.
So at the end of the episode, let us know what you think the
answer is. Since it's a guest episode, how
about you start us off with some trivia?
OK, so here's my first question. Deriving from an old Turkic word
meaning elder brother. What title was reserved in the
Ottoman era for senior military officers such as the commander
of the Janissary? I'm going to stop there.
If you know the answer, then well and good.
Otherwise I have a more helpful clue for the same word.
Older brother Ottoman Empire, some sort of OK?
A lot of these army positions sound like they could have
French origin so I'm not sure if that would be the right answer.
But just because Turkey is somehow close enough to Spain
and Armano is a brother. So I'm thinking, is it by any
chance Colonel? Just similar vowels I was going
for. No, no, no.
You're way off. Oh, take your colonial hat and
get it. Throw it out of the window
because we are not talking about colonial terms yet.
So it appears today. So now you are going to see why
appears today as part of the title of the Imam of Nazari,
Ismail ISM, one of whom started a committed award for
architecture. What is happening?
So that's how you know this word in recent times.
What do these connect? Yeah, it's the title of the Imam
of Nazari Ismail ISM, which is one of the 12 or Shia Islamic
sect. OK, so an Imam from one of the
Shia sects of Islam. His title is the same as the
title for the older brother. Generally there are.
I don't know that there are multiple imams, but yeah, I'm
not sure. OK.
Sorry, can you clarify?
Is this a title that has only been given to this one person or
is it given to all of the leaders?
No, this is the title. So for example, like Nizam is
the title Ayatollah? Yeah, Ayatollah or Nizam is the
title for the ruler of Hyderabad, even if their
original whatever names are something something.
So it's similarly this God I got.
It's the title, though you might confuse it to be a name.
OK. Unless you know the origins.
So this is a title and not a name.
And I think the latter half is very helpful, which is
architecture award. Yeah, coveted award for
architecture. And if you've ever been to
Delhi, you definitely have seen this name.
In the architecture context. Yes, in the monument context.
Even so they do awards for architecture.
They also have a lot of grants for restoring monument.
OK. I think they're famously
restored a wonderful monument in Delhi, multiple one very famous.
And then I think they're now restoring some monuments in
Hyderabad, the same team. OK, no, again, not something I
can deduce get so Any other hints?
Can you guess what monument in Delhi that they would have
restored at least? I'm imagining there are a lot of
monuments in Delhi that have been restored.
This is not some tiny tiny teeny tiny.
And you know, one can tell that it's been restored because
probably before our times, it did look as good as it looks
nowadays, like top three monuments of Delhi.
Top three monuments of Delhi. OK, let's do this.
There is Qutub Minar. No, it's not the Qutbmin.
I mean, it's been restored, but not by this.
I don't think it's by this team. But red, red, red.
I think ASI that's under ASI control.
I mean this also is under ASI control.
But yeah, then I would say Humaya's tomb.
Humaya's Tomb. Humaya's tomb has been restored.
OK. Yeah, and if you visited the
Humaya's tomb recently, this trust name would be there
everywhere. Like all the boards will
literally have them because they help restore.
So not just Humayun's tomb, they helped restore like the nearby
Sundar Nursery. And then there's also this Kani
Kanam Abdul Rahman Kani Kanam's tomb, which is also, they ended
up painting the sub's board, which is the roundabout that is
just outside Nizamuddin's tomb. I think they helped restore that
also. And now they're restoring Qutub
Shahi Tomb in Hyderabad. I said it's a title that sounds
like a name because it's very difficult to give more clues
because it's a very short title. OK, let me see.
So this is a trust, It has given architecture awards, does some
restorations. Older brother.
Is this by the way, the older brother thing, something that is
still used? Yeah, in Turkish.
Is that what older brother is called?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It comes from the word meaning
elder brother. No, I'm actually completely
lost. Wow, absolutely blank on this.
It's helping. It's something that you can hint
towards. Also, I think we have to play
like word association at this point.
OK, I'll give you the title is literally 3 letters.
The key part, the word we're looking for is literally 3
letters. That's why it's very hard to
give anything that is. I can't believe I'm almost at
the point of asking you for the first letter, but if it's three
letters, I don't know. Yeah.
It's too embarrassing to ask for the first letter.
Give me the 1st letter, the last letter.
I'll tell you about the middle letter.
So actually the first or the last letter is the same also.
Oh. OK, OK, OK, then something.
I'm assuming Urdu sounding. Yeah.
So I'm going to say it's a, it's a vowel.
Stupidest way I've ever gotten to an outside, but I'm assuming
it's a vowel and a vowel at the end and some consonant in the
middle. Yes, exactly right, Exactly
right. OK.
IMI imam IMI. No, that sounds very weird.
Oh, is it ADA or Aga? I think it's is it Aga?
Aga. Aga Khan Aga Khan Trust Aga
Khan. So Aga Khan is not a person's
name. Aga Khan is a title.
You are kidding me. Yes, it's a title for the Imam
of Nizari Islamism. Currently we have I think Aga
Khan the 5th. Oh, that is so cool.
That is very unexpected. Very cool.
Oh, also, they're not 12 or Shias, so they're like, it's a
different segment. But yeah, Agha Khan is their
title and Agha Khan trusts are called a lot of heritage
situation works. And the Agha Khan Award for
Architecture is, I think, one of the most award in architecture.
Wow, very unexpected, very cool, thank you for that.
TIL. I love it.
I always appreciate how the kind of questions you come up with
are so you it's always a little bit of Delhi.
I can predictably guarantee that there will be an Ottoman Empire
question somewhere there or some medieval European history
related link somewhere. There will be Delhi somewhere.
Perfect. There's Delhi a lot of places
this time, so you will see. Oh.
OK wow, so this is the Delhi Special.
Yes, the Delhi Special in some ways.
Well, my my segue to this is cities and names.
Names of cities. Wonderful.
This is the etymology, and there are multiple etymologies
associated to this name. I'm going to give you all of
them. And if at any point, even
halfway through you realize what the city name is, stop me and
tell me what your answer is. The first one is the people who
were originally of that space of that area of that land had a
word in their local language Istroma.
Istroma was used for multiple reasons.
Potentially the name Istroma, which directly translates to
their current name, was used for multiple reasons.
One of them could be that it was supposed to mark a boundary.
It was a marker for a boundary between the hunting grounds of
two distinct groups. So boundary marker for the
hunting grounds of two distinct groups is stroma was supposed to
describe that and is stroma is like I said, is the local
language word which is translated to what we currently
know it as. That is the first potential
etymology. The other reason that is stroma
was given the name is stroma could be that it was also a
place where people would keep the game that they have haunted
out to die. OK, third reason for naming it
is stroma. Could be that the tree found in
that area had a certain physical attribute attached to it,
certain attribute that described it.
So I've given you 3 potential reasons that it was called
stroma, which translates to the current word current name.
The first one was that it was supposed to be a boundary marker
between hunting grounds of two groups.
Second one, it was named is stroma because it was also where
they dried their game, the fish or the game that they haunted.
Third reason is also that it could be potentially because the
physical attribute of trees found in that area.
OK, nothing comes to mind immediately from these.
So I have made each of these clues very big.
I've made each of these etymologies slightly weak.
So let me go back to what I had said.
OK, The first one, it was supposed to be a painted
boundary. The painting aspect of the
boundary is important. That was a painted boundary
between 2 hunting grounds. OK.
The second thing that might lead you to it is the fact that they
potentially were using this for using stroma to dry the game
that they had haunted or fish that haunted.
So now imagine if I was drying my hunt or my meat that I have
freshly haunted. What would potentially be around
that area? OK, the third thing would also
lead you to the answer which was the I said a physical attribute
of the tree. The tree part of it is also
relevant to it. OK, so they're hunting it and
drying it in trees. I did.
So there's probably some animal that they're defending against
is my guess. No, so not they're not drying it
in trees. By the way, I said stroma, the
name stroma was used to dry the meat.
Potentially that is one of the reasons it was maybe called
stroma. OK.
Is it like a mountain? Then much much smaller, much
smaller and more man made. OK, like some sort of mound or?
Not even a mound. Smaller or very specific, very
pointed. OK.
If that word play helps you. Some sort of cross or stick?
Stick. OK, great.
So you got the stick part of it, which is why I mentioned the
physical attribute of the trees and I was talking about the
stick, the wood that they would use to potential this.
So now it is a stick that they were drying it on.
Now going back to the first one, I said it's a painted marker of
a boundary, OK? So if it was painted and the
second clue also tells you about what potentially colour it would
be if it was drying. Red Stick.
Red stick. Perfect.
OK, now you got it. Stroma means red stick.
Red Stick. OK, which?
Place gets its name from his stroma.
It's literal translation not to English, but to another
language, and it means Red Stick.
Baton Rouge. Baton Rouge.
Well done. Baton Rouge is the answer.
Great job. Yes.
So Baton Rouge, for anybody who doesn't know, is the state
capital of the state of Louisiana in the United States
of America. Bouton Rouge has had a pretty
interesting history, interesting events that have happened over
the course of American history over there.
But the reason I always saw interesting was Bouton Rouge
clearly means the red stick, Bouton being a stick, Rouge
being red. And this is Louisiana was under
French influence, King Louis, who it's named after.
So Bouton Rouge is the French translation for Istroma.
So potentially there are three etymologies for why this was the
case. First one being that it was
supposed to mark the boundary, a red stick marking the boundary
for 2 hunting grounds. Second was maybe there was a
stick that they used to dry their game on South.
The blood would perhaps seep onto the stick and it would be
stained red over years. And the third reason was there
were red cypresses which were in that area and so they would use
the stick from that tree for whatever reason and hence it got
the name is Stroma, which means red stick or has escaped very
cleverly deduced Baton Rouge. Yes, all done.
Good job. No, I was very wonderful, I
think, especially with Native American words and translations
in the cities. This was on the podcast and I
think Manhattan also has some etymology like that.
Yeah, there's something with New York and like again, a bunch of
the stuff that's named after Native American words or but
Speaking of boundaries and roads, this kind of is like a
tangential perfect. So I think I kind of
unintentionally started it last time.
Also speaking about roads in Delhi.
So this is another Rd. in Delhi. It's named after this person.
He was the first leader of this country, call it country, which
was the first of Britain's African colonies to gain
majority rule independent. Among his many titles were
Osagaifo, which means Redeemer in the Akan language.
So as mentioned, he has a road named after him in Delhi.
Who is this leader whose first name has been kind of brought
back into the spotlight because of recent events now?
Recent as in the date we're recording this podcast and now
when it's going to go out. I'm not sure how recent it would
be at that time, but I would say still it would still be relevant
even at that time. OK.
So let's just put a timeline on it.
So it is in 2025, yeah. March, April, May, June, July,
somewhere around there. So the so the the recent events,
the first name is back in this thing literally because of
something that's happened in the last week of June.
Last week of June. Oh, that is very recent.
OK. Yeah, like 3 days ago.
Two 2-3 days ago. Yeah.
We are recording this on 27th of June, so very, very recent.
But yeah, so the I can give you the year the country gained
independence in 1957. So he was the first leader of
this country. So if you can guess the country,
then maybe the leader will become obvious.
And you said this leader has a street in Delhi named after him?
A road in Delhi named after him? Yeah, OK.
That's also in a way actually a hint because it's not like, you
know, Delhi streets are named after like every leader.
Often times their leaders who are aligned in some way with
Neruvian politics is the most common reason.
Or at least non aligned movement.
And he was also, I think, one of the members of that.
OK. Because he said it was one of
the first few countries to gain independence from British
colonial rule. Because initially I was thinking
Liberia, but Liberia never gained independence from
Britain. Yeah.
It was set up as a Free State for formerly enslaved people.
I. Said 1957.
So it's in the the recent realm. The other British colony that I
think gained independence around that time, one of the first, was
I believe Ghana. Ghana is the country.
OK, now we need the name of the first leader of Was it the
president? Prime Minister?
What is? It I think he was the president.
I mean, I think he was the Prime Minister, first Prime Minister
and then he became president. OK.
Basically, we call him the father of Ghana in some sense,
the modern Ghana in some sense, right?
This I have no clue whatsoever because Ghana history and
politics is clearly something I don't know too much about.
But you said it has something to do with Nehruvian politics.
And you said the first name is gain relevance because of recent
events, as recent as like a few days ago, yeah.
And last week of June. What has been happening that has
captured imagination surprisingly in India as well?
Oh. Surprisingly India.
I was going to say last week of June usually in Delhi means
monsoon but that's very regular. No, no, no, no.
So even a little bit of a meme that this event has so much
attention in India, right? And I'm sure there's like going
to be some very good memes that come out of this.
Wait, but the name exactly is being used referencing the
leader? Or is it just happens to be
coincidence that that name is? Yes, yes, yes.
So the name was in tribute to the leader.
Like this person was a, because he was the first kind of, he was
a stalwart of like he basically was the leader of Ghana's
independent movement also at the time, Pan Africanism and African
unity. And he, you know, I suppose all
those ideas. So there are a lot of people who
kind of pay tribute to him in many ways.
And so this person involved in recent events, his middle name
is basically this person's first name.
Oh, this? Is an Indian person.
Yeah, it's an Indian person. Indian origin, yeah.
Oh, and then a few days ago means probably the New York City
mayoral race. Yes, yes.
OK, the names have to that. I only know his first name and
his last name but I don't know his middle name.
What his name? Mum Dani.
Mum, Dani. Mum, Daddy, Yes, you almost
sound like right now. Very, very problematic.
I just went to Mehmood. Muhammad Mehmood.
I was going to go, OK, apologies, I am not that basic
Zoran. Mamdani is his name, but Oh my
God, what's his middle name? Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, no, yeah, this is this is going to be completely
beyond me. That's as far as I think I'm
going to go on this road. Middle name is Zoran Kwame
Mamdani, called Kwame because the leader's name is Kwame
Nkrumah. Wow.
He was the first leader of Ghana independence and there's a road
after him in Delhi also and one of the kind of leading I think
there's the Kwame is a very common.
I think there's probably other black activists also who have
the name Kwame, Yeah, in their names and whatnot.
Not mistaken because, yeah, he's one of the leaders who
celebrated because he kind of espoused these African Union,
Pan African, like the kind of the newly like this was also, I
think the time, right? Like this time that like show
that Africa could roll itself. People did not expect.
There was a lot of skepticism and he was one of the no, no, we
are capable. And so there's I think a lot of
support, though I think as with any great leader, his legacy is
in the cleanest. But yeah.
Interesting. And I'm, I'm embarrassed to even
admit this, but I did not know he's Mira Nair's son till like a
day ago. Yeah.
This is very People seem to be surprised by that.
Yeah, I had no idea. Yeah, yeah, this is more lower.
Apparently he was the one who convinced Mira Nair to not
direct Harry Potter and instead direct the namesake.
Oh, apparently she was offered, I don't know which one.
I think it was Order of the Phoenix, but I think he was
like, don't direct that, direct your own movie instead.
Insane. And she lost out on billions of
dollars. Yeah, that's why.
I'm looking. Did you know that he had a rap
career? Briefly, yes.
Do you know what his name was? Cardamom or something, Right?
Young cardamom. Young cardamom.
Yes, yes, yes. Something.
I was thinking young cardamom and I was like, what?
That's a very interesting, strange choice of a name.
Listen, Hindi young cardamom would translate to closely
enough to choti Elaichi, which is actually a spice like
elaichi. And there's a buddy elaichi and
a choti elaichi. So I just wonder if he just
likes Elaichi Choti Elaichi and he's like, I'm going to go as
young cardamom. Maybe he's a fan of the Spice
Girls, you know, So maybe that's why.
Yeah, yeah. Good for him.
Good for. Him also apparently in one of
his videos, Lupita and yo-yo is also there.
Oh, I think he grew up in East Africa, somewhere in East Africa
if I'm not mistaken. So I don't know if it's because
of that or whatnot, but yeah. Very cool, Logan.
Speaking of, actually, Madhur Jaffrey is a name that featured
recently on one of the Are You Using Me episodes.
And the author and actress Madhu Jaffrey was also in one of his
music videos playing his grandmother.
Ah, little bit of a throwback there.
OK, so Kwame is the name of the first leader, the father of the
nation of Ghana. And Kwame is the middle name for
Zoran Mamdani. Very cool.
OK, so there's a Kwame Marg or Kwame Street or Kwame Rd.
Kwame Grooma Marg in Chanakyapuri, Delhi OK you want
to visit? Predict predictable.
There'll be a Delhi road question somewhere also.
Yes, I love it. And this would be a great
opportunity because we already recorded this podcast episode
earlier. Of course, there were different
questions. So I'm just going to bring one
of the references from there where I asked HK if he knew why
there is a street in Hong Kong by the name of Rednexala.
Rednexala. Yeah.
Rednexala Terrace. Rednexala Ave.
Rednexala Terrace and HK you want to tell us you cracked it
very quickly when you recorded that episode.
Also you want to do it this time around.
Yeah, it's. Alexander in Rivers, Yeah, it is
Alexander written backwards. And so I think it has to do with
how the script is. Sometimes the old Chinese script
was written right to left and English obviously written left
to right. So in somewhere in that
translation, transliteration of things, Alexander got reversed.
And that's how one of the roads in Hong Kong gets its name.
But yes, I love it. HK is nothing if not predictable
in his trivia, which due credit is very unpredictable.
Sometimes the trivia is unpredictable.
Perfect, since we are talking about famous people after whom
things are named as weaker segues.
That is, I'm going to tell you about famous sibling pair of
siblings and you have to tell me what have they contribute or
what their name has led to or named after, right.
So Chang and Eng Bunker? OK.
Born in 1811, were born in Asia and eventually moved to the
United States in 1829. They had some financial success
all the way till 1839, doing a certain activity, after which
they quit that activity and they settled in North Carolina.
They became American citizens. They ended up buying slaves.
So these are people who are Asian, but they ended up buying
slaves in the United States of America and and ended up
fathering like 21 children. A lot of these people are still
there. They in fact meet together I
think once in a while as a huge family reunion after the Civil
War, because obviously the abolition of slavery happened.
They lost part of their wealth and of course the slaves, they
went back to doing their activity at some point and soon
thereafter they passed away. So I haven't told you what
activity they were doing and I haven't told you specifically
where in Asia they were from. OK.
So the two things that I was a little vague about, can you tell
me what did Chang and Eng Bunker?
What name was derived from them? Chang Eng Right, CHANGEAG and
bang. So let me clarify Chang and Eng.
Their names did not lead to the name, but their life and what
activity they did and yada yada yada yeah led to the name.
One thing immediately comes to mind.
General source chicken for some reason.
Because restaurant business and whatnot.
No, no. Good guess.
No.
But not general source chicken. OK, but is it food related or
no? Solid guess, but no.
I would have probably also gone with food if I heard this
question, but no, it's not food related at all.
OK, something they did and it's not even now like I would know
it for example. It's not in use as much anymore
but OK. Yes you would 100% know it.
Most people our age will know it.
May be younger people won't know it in a decade or so.
OK. All of us have heard it.
Interesting. People who grew up in the 90s
maybe maybe even in early 2000s have heard it.
It was in common use till the recent.
Is it a phrase? It's 2 words, I'll give you
that. OK, OK.
The two words, something to do with their lives, something to
do with what they were doing. And you've been very vague about
what they're doing. And so, I mean, there's only so
many things one can do, like in terms of broad categories or
they ran a business or they were like, you know.
You would consider them, I guess, in some way
entrepreneurial. Remember I also have not
mentioned where they were from specifically.
I just said they were from Asia and they moved to the USI didn't
mention specifically where in Asia because if I did, that
would lead you to the answer very quickly.
Is it Singapore? Oh no, Why?
Why would you assume Singapore though?
No, I was just guessing, but yeah, with China would be the
obvious guess, but like, you know, but then why would that
leave immediately? They were of Chinese descent.
They were of Chinese descent, Chinese origin, but not from
China. Interesting.
OK. Much closer to Singapore than to
China. Or, well, I guess in between
Singapore and China. In between so then Hong Kong.
I don't think Hong Kong is in between Singapore and China.
Yeah, that's true. That's true.
It's still time. So.
So if it is not that, then it's likely Malaysia or basically the
Straits. It's likely one of the.
You are much closer with that, yes.
It's not Malaysia. No, it's not Malaysia, but it's
in the peninsula. Interesting.
OK. So, OK, so it's Thailand or
something? OK, perfect.
They're from Thailand. OK.
They're from Thailand. OK, Yeah, Sriracha is it?
Is that the rooster sauce? Oh again, good case.
But I said not food, not food at all.
No, no, no, not food later. Sorry.
Yeah, but Thailand? These two brothers were from
Thailand, OK, but not Thailand because obviously it wouldn't
exist as Thailand back then. Right.
Yeah, see, I am Siamese twins. Perfect, it was Siamese twins
that I was looking for. Chang and Eng Bunker now
obviously called conjoined twins, what you would call
conjoined twins, and for the longest time was referred to as
Siamese twins because it was from Siam.
Siam, Siam. How's it pronounced Siam, Right.
Yeah, Yeah. So Siam, which is the old name
for Thailand. These two men were from there.
They moved from there to the United States in 1809.
When I said that they were doing a certain activity which is
slightly entrepreneurial, I guess.
Circus, yes. So they were touring.
Touring. OK, now interestingly enough,
they did not want to be part of somebody else's quote UN quote
freak show, right? So they were doing it on their
own accord. But yes, it was in the same
realm as one of those in quotes freak shows.
The Wonders of the the Bearded Lady and.
Yeah. So interestingly enough, these
Thai men, these Chinese Thai men owned slaves.
And I was surprised to know that.
And there is this phrase, I'm forgetting what the exact phrase
was. I'm hoping it comes back to me.
But the idea that they were given a white adjacent status
that obviously you're not white. Right, right, right.
Yes, but. Because you're a slave owner, so
you are slightly higher in the social rankings because you've
done well for the financially, you own slaves, etcetera.
And you're obviously not black. I think just being black
automatically put you at the bottom rung at that time.
So very interesting that even in the racism there is, there is
this stratification always of who is considered worthy of even
being close to the topmost echelons.
But anyway, that is a social commentary aside.
Chang and Ng Bunker and Bunker is the name that they adopted
when they moved to the US Of course, before that they had a
Chinese name, which I do not think I'll be able to pronounce.
They lived in Thailand, they were born conjoined, and they
lived their entire lives as conjoins.
And yeah, eventually they moved to the US.
They had children, which is, I mean, I don't want to think too
much about it, but like, you know, it's crazy to think that
like. So very interestingly, I think a
lot of conjoins talk about this idea that people are forever
fascinated with their sex lives. Yeah, I think that is something
that people are always fascinated with, which again, to
somebody who's conjoined, when I would imagine is very intrusive
and just like a none of your business what I'm doing, where
I'm doing. But I guess to the rest of us
who have nowhere close to lived experience, who probably don't
know people also who are conjoined.
So I guess, I guess we leave it up to the people and how they do
it and the way they live their lives.
Hey, you brought up the fact that they had 21 children.
I would I I don't think it was relevant to the question.
I was giving you information, I was telling you how their family
is living still in the US and they occasionally still meet.
As of 2006, By the way, descendants of Chang and Ang's
21 children number around 1500. Much of the family still lives
in North Carolina, and the family has hosted annual get
together since the 1980s on the last Saturday of June.
So. Well, actually we are recording
it on the last Friday today. The tomorrow would be the
gathering for Chang and ENG's family.
Yeah, in the US So yeah, some famous people in it as well.
There was one of them was a Democratic nominee for governor
of Florida in 2010, and another one was a 2013 Pulitzer Prize
for music recipient. So yeah, some famous people
there. Oh, very interesting.
Speaking of subjugation. Oh.
These three colours, XYZ are the colours of the flag of country
A, let's say, and they've been chosen, the three colours from
the flag of this country to represent kind of this ideology
during the country's history of never being taken over by a
colonial path. What's the country and kind of
what colours are we talking? This I have a feeling is the Pan
African, Pan Africanism or? Yes, Pan Africanism is the
ideology. Right, so then it has to be red,
black and green. So you're right in that it's Pan
Africanism, but so interestingly, there are two
flags associated. The red, black and green flag is
associated with this guy called Marcus Garvey, who also, this is
a very fascinating 99% invisible episode, which will be one of
my, I guess, pop culture recommendations where we talk
about like how that flag came about to be like, you know, how
is ideology a very interesting person.
This is not that it is also Pan Africanism but the three colours
are not that one of the colours is different but because these
three colours come from the flag of a country.
He chose the three colours to represent like 3 ideas.
Black to represent the colour of the skin, red to represent the
blood and toil green to represent the green lushness of
the continent. Of these three colours, similar
in the sense like there are some that are in common, but they are
the flag of a country, Which country could it?
I feel like the reason you said that it has never been
subjugated under colonial rule is why I actually thought about
it. Yeah, but now that I'm thinking
if it's, I'll come back to the country because a vague memory
of the countries but I'm not able to grasp on it right now.
But the common colours in most African nation flags red, black
and green over. My first guess is, that's why I
said it. The other one, I'm thinking of
South America, so there is a little bit of yellow and a
little bit of blue there. So I'm going to guess, is it
blue instead of? Yes.
So it's not blue. OK, so yeah, I was going towards
South Africa. So is it OK now I'm just
guessing red, black and yellow? Is it yellow managers?
So yellow is there, red and yellow it's red, yellow, green.
OK, OK, not black. Yeah, it's not black.
I would imagine black would be the one thing that would be in
common, but just because of the racial.
It's so super interesting. Ghana, which we talked about,
right? So the flag of Ghana is red,
yellow, green because of this other country's flag.
And it also has a black car because of Marcus Garvey and the
other pan Africanism, this thing.
So because he started this thing called the Black Star Liner
which is like this ferry service where blacks could travel OK
otherwise they would be with segregation.
They would be given only the lowest classes or like very bad
lodgings. And he was like they need to
live dignity. And so we would start our own
ferry and we would run our own ferry where they would be
treated with respect. So the Black Star in Ghana as
flag is because of Marcus Garvey and that link and the other 3.
Colours are because of this other SO.
It's red, yellow, green and they appear in actually I think more
African country flags than red, green and black.
OK, interesting. Yeah, you're right.
Now that I think about it, the yellow is probably featured
more, also brighter colour to have.
Which is the only African country to have not been
subjugated by a colonial path? Now see that's the only reason I
figured out that was Pan Africanism, because you said
only country. But now I'm not able to.
Congo is not 8. Ghana is not 8.
I'm thinking of the bigger countries.
South Africa is not 8. Kenya is not 8.
You're very close with Kenya. It's a country that borders.
Kenya. Oh OK, so Kenya is bordered by
Somalia? Somalia was British Somaliland.
British Somaliland think in a borders Eritrea as well.
Eritrea was Italian colony. How was it OK that I did not
know? Djibouti is a French colony.
Oh, Ethiopia, Ethiopia. Ethiopia is right there.
Yes, Ethiopia is the country colours, black colours kind of
inspired a whole but. Of course, Ethiopia colours are
yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. So that is why Pan African
colours are red, yellow and green, OK?
I don't know whether Marcus Garvey took his inspiration from
Ethiopian. It could be also because this
was around that time. So the I think Ethiopia famously
defeated the Italian forces in late 1890s sometime that was
when a lot of the independence movements were also taking
steam. And Marcus Garvey designed the
Pan African, his Black Unity flag in 1920s.
That history is very interesting also like you know, why he why
he was for to do it or what not. But yeah, by the way, like the
countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African
Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea,
Bissau, Mali, Senegal, S, Om and Prince and Togo all have red,
yellow, green in them and African symbolism.
Rasafari flag also has the same colour and I think it has some
connection. To the roots, yeah.
They've been used by this. So they adopted it, I think as
well, yeah. I had, I don't know if you
remember it, in college, I used to roam around with this Bob
Marley bag. So that's how it's emblazoned in
my head, the colours. Just to clarify, by the way, I
was in Singapore. I was not doing any drugs.
It just so happened to be a Bob Marley bag.
Yes, yes. Lest somebody come after me.
So don't do drugs. We did not condone the usage of
narcotics. Do only the legal stuff when
you're of legal age and then ruin your health with all of
that because that's OK. The government has said it's OK
to do that. Yeah, the only drug I approve of
is coffee. So.
Oh yes, you know what, HK? This is something I'm surprised
that you haven't asked me any coffee question.
I was thinking and I couldn't find anything well enough.
So I think this is going to be my standard theme of like, you
know, everything is like 1 coffee question.
Yes, there's to be a Delhi road question.
There has to be a coffee question, something to do the
Ottomans or the Romans or something on there.
This is this is the absolute Twitter brain between like
another connect to Ottoman Empire in the Soran Mamdani
question. So Zoran is a Shia Muslim
because he's the Democratic primary candidate.
He's going to face against Eric Adams, most likely who's going
to be the as an independent or Republican and they're going to
be the front arrest. Eric Adams was famously involved
in corruption from the Turkish government.
Oh yes, he was. Yeah.
But the hottest thing in 16th to 18th century was the Ottoman
Safavid conflict. So someone on Twitter was like,
you know, this is the new front of the Ottoman Safavid War in
New York, 2025. Zoran Mandani versus Eric Adams.
Oh. My God Eric Adams corruption was
hilarious. That man was corrupt where I
think he was getting money through like the routing it
through Turkish Airlines or something.
Which means he was flying within the US by taking flights which
went to Istanbul and then came back.
He was flying in cities inside continental United States.
With the layover in Istanbul because he took Turkish Airlines
and they were giving him bribes of like first class tickets or
something like that. OK.
I just should just clarify in case we are on grounds we sued
allegedly, OK. I don't know if any of that has
been proven. Allegedly, yes.
But allegedly Adams was flying all the way to OK.
This is an example if you are flying from New York City to
whatever San Francisco. He was going from New York City
to Istanbul and then coming back to San Francisco.
That's one way to beat jet lag. Oh Lord, his corruption
allegations were absolutely comedy gold.
But coming back to trivia, well, this question segues rather
nicely because you're talking about colors and colors and
flags. Always bright, always nice,
attractive. I want to talk about something
else which is very colourful, usually associated with bright
colours. This is in the Disney's Animal
Kingdom, which is part of Disney World in Florida, in the United
States of America. There's a spot which is, like I
said, supposed to be usually associated with bright colours.
And if you use that space, if you use the facilities provided
at that space, you are given some sort of acknowledgement at
the end of it, which has, and I'm looking at various pictures
that people have posted of this, this piece of paper, which has
things written on it like Disney's Animal Kingdom Dash
Notes. I want you to tell me what Dash
is, which is that space, which is that place?
Dash Notes played with X, yes or no, 8 snacks, yes or no?
Took a nap, Yes or no, And then other notes, sometimes
associated, OK, this is the acknowledgement, or let's say
some sort of piece of paper that you get if you use that place,
views that space, views that service in Disney's Animal
Kingdom. OK.
Do you want to try to take a guess as to what that place is?
These something like something with slot because like you know,
to can have or what not lazy. So it's like a lawn chair or
something like that? OK, so now let me try to help
you along with it. Like I said, if you use the
service available that if you use that place.
So not, not a not really an animal exhibit.
OK. But the most common or most
obvious answer for something like this would be not that it
would fit the bill exactly, but a service provided a theme park
would be like a food stall, right?
Or like a washroom, something like that.
So service like that. Yeah.
Or an information counter. So a service point in Disney's
Animal Kingdom in Disney World in Florida, where if you use
that service, they give you this piece of paper.
And I also mentioned this is usually associated with a lot of
colours supposed to be colourful.
Colourful. So rainbow is multi coloured.
What is multi coloured? Yeah.
What are the things they said? So it is supposed to be cute.
It's not exactly supposed to be accurate, but here Disney's
Animal Kingdom Dash notes Dash being the service of the place
that it is. OK is played with other Dash yes
or no? Ate snacks yes or no?
OK, took a nap. Yes or no?
Is it some sort of kids or not like, you know, like is it like
a ball pit or something like that?
OK, very good, very good, very good.
OK. So I'll give you, I'll give you
points for Kids Zone in the sense that it is some sort of a
day care, but it's not for kids, OK?
Interesting, so it's not for kids there?
Is it for baby animals? No, I I don't know if you'd be
anyways allowed to take baby animals inside.
Animal World? Yeah, that's true.
That's really Disney World. Yeah.
Other pets. It could be for some other pet.
So is it like a dog or a cat? Pets would be a good guess, but
no, it's not pets. OK, it's not pet.
Now I should clarify, when they say ate snacks or took a nap, it
is very much in jest. It is supposed to be cute.
It's supposed to be funny. OK, right, right, right, right.
This thing doesn't actually eat snacks or take snaps.
Is it like a laptop deposit service or something like that?
Is it like a phone deposit service something?
OK, very cool, very cool, very cool.
So yes, you are on the right track that it is not an it's an
inanimate object. Yeah.
But let me bring you back to the fact that I said it's colourful
usually. And I would also like you to
think about why would there be a specific place to deposit
something inanimate. And I'll tell you the reason
also actually very vaguely is for safety reasons for the
animals inside what is something that people would have very
commonly in Disney World, but can't be taken inside Animal
Kingdom. Phones is one thing, but.
Yeah, I think people take phones because you would want people
take pictures and stuff anyway. So I don't think that's.
True but same thing I've seen cameras but I guess that way
they are also fine. So is it like hats or something
like that? Scarves or something?
You don't want animals to take hold of something.
Some loose a pendant. Something loose is actually a
very good idea, but think about something again.
Hats and scarves, maybe not the most attractive to the target
audience at Disney World or target audience, obviously.
Kids. Yeah.
What do you think kids like to buy in places like this that
would be very dangerous potentially to the animals in
Animal Kingdom? It's some kind of toy.
Yes, very close. So I'll phrase it in a certain
way. If it gets away from these
people, from the kids, animals might at some point eat it and
that is very dangerous for them. Balloons.
Balloons, It's a balloon daycare in Disney's Animal Kingdom.
Wow. So they have a space where
because a lot of kids obviously buy balloons when they enter
Disney World. So if they want to go into
Animal Kingdom, you're not allowed to take balloons in.
Because obviously if it's very easy to let go of balloon or
balloon to escape. And then at some point when it
loses air and it falls into the the space for the animal, they
might eat it, consume it. And that's obviously not good
for them. So they have a balloon deposit.
You can't take it inside. So they have a balloon daycare.
And then when you come out of it, they give you this note or
this report, which says Disney's Animal Kingdom balloon daycare
notes played with the other balloons.
Yes, no hate snack yes, no took a nap, Yes, no.
And I'm seeing one of the pictures in front of me.
There's a there's a space for other notes as well where it
says shared very well. We give goldfish for snack time.
This cute little thing that they do at Disney World.
All right, HK, that brings us to the last question of the episode
and that one is yours. So give me your question.
It's the last and it's the very, it's a very indulgent question,
like vineet kind of channelling my vineet here a little bit.
Let's go. The the lion and the blank tree
was the design used by the British East India Company for
its single and double Moher coin.
I think moher is like the highest value or what not the
gold coin basically. As to why these two unlikely
motives were combined, there are several possible explanations. 1
explanation is that John Flaxman, who's I think believed
to be the designer, drew inspiration from Punic Voynich
and the designs that he had seen during his many years travelling
and working in Italy. In various civilizations of the
Mediterranean and the Middle East.
This tree and its leaves were associated with victory, tease,
endurance, immortality, and fertility.
It was given away to victors in the ancient Olympics and was the
sacred sign of Apollo. So do you have any idea what
that what tree I'm talking about?
Olive tree would be because it's an Apollo Olympics.
No, that's the obvious sensor, but.
Yeah, it seems like, oh, that's how you're channeling your
beneath. You're trapping with obvious
answers. OK, OK.
Yeah, and more so now this is the kicker.
So there's a slight variation of this motive is something that we
Indians encounter on a daily basis, though perhaps some would
say we are encountering it less frequently these days.
So identify the tree and where would we see it now and what has
changed the set of variation, right.
So I think if you find the tree then you will probably be able
to get to the second-half. OK.
So they were using it on the Mohr, you said lion or
something, right? Lion and the tree or some
whatever tree, dash tree. It seems a little weird, like
it's not something that you would want to combine.
Like you never think why. Like I literally saw it today.
I went like, ha, why I'll buy these two things.
Like, you know, what's the funda for?
Like why these two things are combined.
Turns out at least the tree has a lot of symbolism and I've kind
of taken away more symbolism. So the reason it's a sacred sign
of Apollo is because Apollo is believed to be born under this
tree. And so similarly, Jesus Christ
is also believed to have been born under this tree.
And so this tree features in symbolism in Judaism, in Islam
also because the calls for prayer were given on top of this
from on top of the tree or the first calls for prayers were
given on from on top of this tree.
This tree is very popular in in the mid military and Middle
East. Then I want to take a guess
because you said you're not using it as much anymore.
I want to take a guess because also you said Mohs and currency
and that's what I'm thinking. People are not using currency as
much anymore. This has to do with some sort of
stamp or logo or something. Not logo, but whatever the
signage that is on currency and Indian currency specifically,
which makes me because the first guess obviously would be the
Ashok pillar, the the lions, but that's there.
I don't recall any trees in that.
No. The other is the RBI logo.
Yeah. So what is the RBI logo?
No, I think there's a tiger in it and there is a tree.
And The thing is, I'm pretty sure there we have talked about
the RBI logo in another episode like we need and I have done
this in another episode. Yes, but did you talk about the
tree is the question. Yeah.
Now that I'm not able to remember the tree now, because
I'm pretty sure we have discussed this, there's a tiger
in it. And so that's the tree.
That's the tree that is in the RBI logo.
Yeah, isn't the RBI logo. OK, OK, OK.
And it has so much significance. I did not know that.
Yes, yes the tree has so much significance.
For example Hannibal has coins that have the lion and this tree
also on it. From that time onwards, the
Hannibal is kind of pre. Christ.
The polos tree is this tree. Just because I'm thinking Eve,
because you said Christianity and all that Eve.
So I'm thinking apple, but I don't think apple tree is that
iconic. No, I said Islam also and I said
the call to prayer was given on from on top of this trees,
Mediterranean and Middle East is actually a big So what tree?
What do you think? Okay, Mediterranean, Middle
East, then I would say palm tree.
I think it is a palm tree. Yes, the tiger and the palm
tree. It is the palm tree, yeah.
So why is there a tiger and a palm tree in the RBI logo,
right? Like so why is that combination?
That is true. Is there any part of the world
where there would be a tiger and a palm tree?
Like those seem very different. I mean Sundarbans you could make
a very like like same thing for lions.
You could say in Gujarat from corner of like Gujarat coast you
could see a lion and. Maybe there will be some palm
tree? But tigers are jungle animals,
right? Like in Sundarbans, perhaps you
could say, I don't know, but but mangroves, again, not
technically palm trees, but you see tiger and palm tree.
Why is there a palm tree? So it turns out because the palm
is very significant, I think there's literally a passage in
the the Bible. It is about how there is a lot
of symbolism associated with being born under a palm tree.
OK, OK, very cool. So now I have to go back and
recall which episode and what was the trivia that Vineet had
asked me because that's where I remember the RBI logo coming up.
OK amazing. That is a wonderful note.
Haha. Pun to end this podcast on, but
obviously before we wrap it up, we have to discuss the audience
questions. So HK, I come back to you.
What do you think is the answer to the audience question?
The audience question was when and where was the last telegram
ever sent? The obvious like the logical way
to think about is the last user probably be in the US to honour
Mars. There's probably like somewhere
like you know where near where he lived or near where he was
born. Like they would maybe even
revive it to do it once. So, OK, let's clarify that.
I'm sure there are like special occasion uses and stuff where
you could, I guess, send a special telegram.
Yeah, but I'm talking about regular postal usage of a
telegram. When was the last official
telegram ever used? So US would have fit from a
cultural historical context, but then US had technological
advancement much earlier than a lot of other countries in the
world. That's true.
Which were perhaps still relying on these.
It's likely in India. Very good.
Yes it is. In II is obviously something I
also did not expect. But do you want to guess when
was it? When was the last telegram I was
sent? I mean, I would say it could
even be as recent as the nineties, 80s or 90s.
I would not be surprised. More recent than that.
More recent than OK, interesting
there was there any special occasion that they.
No, there was no special occasion as far as I know.
I don't think there was any special occasion.
OK, 2010. Close enough, 2013.
OK. The last telegram ever in the
world was sent in India was sent from the city of Nagpur on July
14th, 2013 at 11:55 PM by 1 Kavita Waghmare to her mother.
In it she wrote a poem wherein she prays and saluted her
mother's love, saluted the telegram staff for 163 years
long service and lastly saluted India and this was sent in 2013.
I was very surprised as the recently 2013 somebody used a
telegram to communicate way more recent than I would have
guessed. OK, that brings us to the end of
the questions. But the little spiel.
I would love for you to go ahead and subscribe to comment to
reach out to us on IU quizzing.me@gmail.com if you
want to share some thoughts, any feedback, any suggestions or
even trivia that you would like to hear in future episodes.
I have to acknowledge, by the way, that recently we have
gotten a lot of e-mail from friends of the show.
People have reached out to us once.
We need this back. Once you're back to regular
programming, we will go back to those listener questions because
those are always a lot of fun. And there's some lovely emails
that people have sent as well. Would love to share that with
the rest of the listeners. So do be part of that gang and
send us some questions because it's always fun for both Anita
and me. And go follow us on all our
podcast apps, subscribe and rate US.
It helps us to spread it. And actually the best way to
spread it is to recommend it to a friend, whoever you think
would enjoy trivia. Before I forget, because HK did
remind me we do have to do a pop culture recommendation on SO HK,
what is your pop culture recommendation?
I'm going to rehash my recommendations at least from
the last time, because I can't use my questions from the last
unsuccessful recording thanks to Apple Airports.
That's fine. So I recommended these two
books, both of which were on the shortlist for the International
Booker list, one which ended up winning the Booker prize, which
is Heart Lamp by Banna Mushtaq, which is a collection of stories
about Muslim women experience in Karnataka.
Wonderful book. And the other one, which is
think of was written in Danish called on the calculation of
volume, which is a wonderfully written time loop story familiar
with Groundhog Day or Palm Springs in a book and exploring
some very interesting ideas and themes around like what it means
to have absolute certainty in your life.
Because we something that we always fear is uncertainty, but
kind of flips it around and says how scary is certainty and how
comforting is uncertainty. Right.
As I said earlier, 99% Invisible, so this is a
wonderful episode. They had recently on Marcus
Garvey and the Pan African Black Unity Flag.
I think that we had an older episode of.
But yeah, always worth listening to that podcast.
Yeah, I remember you mentioned when you talk about time loop
movies, you also mentioned some Tamil film.
Yes, called Maanade. So that's a Tamil time loop
story, right? Political thriller time loop.
Very cool genre we have in the past talked about.
I have recommended time loop films because this is one of my
favorite genres of film. I really enjoyed it.
Phul Chukma for a Hindi movie that came out is the same genre.
I don't think it was received very well.
I haven't watched it yet. But yeah, you said that the
Tamil 1 is very good, so I will definitely catch that.
And just like you HK, I'm also going to repeat my
recommendation from the last unreleased episode, and that is
the show Hacks. Hacks is a comedy show and it's
about a stand up comic who is kind of winning in importance
and popularity. He's an older stand up comic and
she's working with a younger comedy writer to make her
material more interesting and more relevant again.
And it's this dynamic between these two ladies that makes the
show very interesting, fun. It's comedy drama, it's dark
comedy. It's some very interesting
moments as well. So Hacks is my recommendation.
And shout out to the woman who plays the young writer.
Character's name is Ava Daniels and the name of the actor is
Hannah Einbinder. Lovely performance by Hannah
Einbinder. Jean Smart, by the way, plays
the older stand up comic, a very talented actor herself, Jean
Smart. So those are the pop culture
recommendations for this episode.
And that brings us the actual end of the episode.
So thank you so much for joining us.
Thank you HK for stepping in again.
Can't wait to have you back and next time we will reuse your
questions and maybe have Vineet answer them.
Thanks once again. Put him through that.
See you guys next week.