Let's Fire Up Those Neurons!

Discussion in 'Education & Personal Growth' started by Gauri03, Jul 23, 2014.

  1. sokanasanah

    sokanasanah IL Hall of Fame

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    Answer for puzzle #2335:

    Our Hero is
    Major-General Charles Stuart aka "Hindoo Stuart" - a very interesting fellow.

    The construction of the puzzle was rather straightforward:

    (1) The two flags, one the forked saffron banner waved by the Hindutva enthusiasts and the other with the 'OM', along with Zeenat Aman in Raj Kapoor's famous film "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" refer to the 'Hindoo' part. The film reference is dated for most people, but that bathing scene was one of the most iconic in her cinematic oeuvre, so it was included for that and other reasons as well, as we shall see below.

    (2) The bedouin of course is Prince Charles. I chose this cosplay pic partly to avoid a standard, overly obvious photograph and as a reference to 'going native'.

    (3) Mary and Anne of course refer to the House of Stuart. I chose the female Monarchs deliberately. Since our Hero is male, the hope was that you would focus on 'Stuart' and not other irrelevant details. I avoided Charles I and II as a disambiguation effort. If you look at Wikipedia, there's a whole page of Charles Stuarts of varying degrees of eminence!

    (4) The little building is Hindoo Stuart's tomb in the South Park Cemetery, Calcutta. It looks like a tomb, with the low platform and the structure resembling a casket in front. This was included for confirmation.

    (5) The pic of Mandakini from the film "Ram Teri Ganga Maili" was the somewhat superfluous non-clue, included as a reference to the good general's ... er ahem ... 'tastes' - as we shall see below!

    'Charles' + 'Stuart' + 'India' or 'Hindoo' would bring him up. Or alternatively, you could have found the wikipedia disambiguation page and sorted it out through the east-India Company connection and worked out the rest from there.
     
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  2. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Soon, this thread would become a "Hall of Fame Thread".
     
  3. sokanasanah

    sokanasanah IL Hall of Fame

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    I first came to know of Stuart because his collection of Indian sculpture in the form of Hindu religious idols formed the core of the Indian collection of the British Museum. But obviously, there is more to this fellow (Google will help learn more)!

    How could anyone resist a Major-General who writes a pamphlet entitled:


    "The Ladies Monitor, Being A Series of Letters First published in Bengal on the Subject of Female Apparel Tending to Favour a regulated adoption of Indian Costume And a rejection of Superfluous Vesture By the Ladies of this country With Incidental remarks on Hindoo Beauty, Whale-Bone Stays, Iron Busks, Indian Corsets, Man-Milliners, Idle Bachelors, Hair-Powder, Waiting Maids, And Footmen"

    Recently, there have been on IL, multiple discussions about appropriate attire for women - about venturing out in a 'nightie', about age-appropriate clothing, mothers-in-law engaged in enthusiastic fashion competition with their daughters-in-law and so on. To all participants in those discussions, I heartily recommend the General's musings on the matter.

    He's general for heaven's sake! A man's Man! If he says go for the Sari, then a Sari it is!
    :rotfl

     
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  4. sokanasanah

    sokanasanah IL Hall of Fame

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    But wait! There's more!

    I could not resist including those pics of Zeenat Aman and Mandakini in their respective wet-sari scenes. This was a homage to Hindoo Stuart. Allow me to quote my favorite footnote from William Dalrymple's book "White Mughals" (Viking, 2003) that has a brief portrayal of HS and of course, Stuart himself from the book referred to above:

    "Stuart was also perhaps the first recorded devotee of what the Bollywood film industry now knows as the wet-sari scene: 'For the information of ladies recently arrived in this country, it may be necessary to state that the Hindoo female, modest as the rosebud, bathes completely dressed ... and necessarily rises with wet drapery from the stream. Had I despotic power, our British fair ones should soon follow the example; being fully persuaded that it would eminently contribute to keeping the bridal torch forever in a blaze.' "

    Readers, and more importantly, posters on the 'The Most Unromatic Thing Your Husband Did' thread - pay attention rosebuds!
    :biglaugh
     
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  5. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Now I not only understand the connection with ZA and M but also your rationale for choosing those two images. But it created the lengthiest detour for me in solving the puzzle. Imagine 61 year old spiritual pursuer trying to understand the images and finding the answer.
     
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  6. sokanasanah

    sokanasanah IL Hall of Fame

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    Ah, but I did warn you that some images were not real clues!

    "Of the clues, some point to said dude, one is confirmatory, and some may be interpreted as an oblique pointer, but included here more for amusement in a manner that will become clear with the answer. So, although relevant, you are better off recognizing and ignoring those, unless you are a search ninja."
     
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  7. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    You did. I should have paid more attention to the instructions instead of jumping into the puzzle. My bad.
     
  8. jskls

    jskls IL Hall of Fame

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    I got stuck at House of Stuart, took a detour to Westminister Abbey got sidetracked with Zeenath and Om flag to ISkCON ... Oh my what a detour. I Should learn how to use google search effectively :) good to know about Charles Stuart Soka...
     
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  9. deepslikes

    deepslikes Platinum IL'ite

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  10. vaidehi71

    vaidehi71 IL Hall of Fame

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    I got detoured after reading Mary and Anne. Never struck the Stuarts.
    The picture clue was the one which made me follow him but after my JAG puzzle disaster answer, thought another false lead.
     

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