Let's Fire Up Those Neurons!

What about the bit after the hyphen? Left for the quizzee to discover, eh? This one was a real brain scratcher btw!

 

Answer for post #1051-1052

The Pokhran Nuclear Tests (Specifically Pokhran-II but I'll take Pokhran)

Image 1, the Smiling Buddha, was the codename for the 1974 Pokhran tests. The picture of the Thar desert was a direct clue to the location of the tests. The other two images were indirect clues to the Pokhran-II tests conducted in 1998. Deerpark was code for the bunker used by the scientists to detonate the 5 nuclear devices during Pokhran-II. A secondary connection of the deer park image was to the Buddha, being the location where he preached his first sermon. The ardhanareeshwara, the androgynous form of Shiva and Shakti, was a dual reference to the codename for Pokhran-II, Operation Shakti, and the five nuclear devices that were detonated, Shakti I-V. Shakti means energy, (energy sufficiency was part of India's defence for conducting the blasts) and power (a demonstration of military strength).

The two chief scientists responsible for planning and executing the tests were APJ Abdul Kalam (Codename: Major General Prithviraj) and R Chidambaram (Codename: Major General Natraj). 'Spooks' were obviously the CIA who remained unaware of the tests until after, causing them international embarrassment. The credit for fooling CIA spy-sats went to the 58 Engineers of the Indian Army, who spent many months playing a cat and mouse game, strategically moving equipment and sand, to fool the spy-satellites.

If you enjoy reading military trivia, here's an old but very interesting article from the archives of the India Today.

This shloka from the Bhagvad Gita was made famous by Oppenheimer who said he was reminded of these words when the first atomic device was successfully detonated in 1945. His quote, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds" is considered to have a mistranslation of the Sanskrit word 'Kala' as death, which would be better interpreted as time. Nevertheless, the quote has become almost synonymous with nuclear testing, thus being an over-over-overkill clue as Soka put it.

 

Schedules are the nemesis of fun. Even the funnest things in the world become a chore when you have a deadline to beat. I say, let folks show up as and when they please. I'll take occasional spontaneity over scheduled entertainment any day. I'll step up with the puzzles, at least one every week, pinky promise, ok?