In-Faq

Thousands of crores would have been spent last night in India celebrating a Roman priest clubbed, stoned and later beheaded to death outside the Flaminian Gates in Rome in 269AD. I’m not quite sure why Valentinus, better known as Saint Valentine, is suddenly so big in India, but it’s obviously the right time to ask a few questions about saints:

1 Let’s start with St Valentine. On Feb 14, 1929, seven associates of a gentleman christened George Clarence Moran passed away due to the activities of which other well-known Chicago resident?

2 The Catholic church has a remarkable sense of fair play. If anyone is to be canonized as a saint, there is always one member of the church deputed to argue against the canonization. What two-word phrase has this tradition contributed to the English language?

3 Nizamuddin Dargah would have to be among the better-known dargahs in our capital city. Other than the Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya, and the Mughal princess Jehanarah, which other famous medieval personality’s tomb is within the main complex?

4 The Christian saints Crispin and Crispinius were both martyred on October 25, 286AD. The day also marks two of the most famous land battles in history. One was the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, where the English Longbow archers demolished the cream of the French nobility. The other was in 1854, and probably better known. Which much-described incident happened on October 25, 1854?

5 Which revered Hindu saint started life as a highway robber and got his more popular epithet as he was covered by anthills during years of intense meditation?

6 Which fictional personality’s sole claim to academic excellence was a Scriptures prize while at Malvern House Preparatory School?

7 This actor’s big break was in the ITC television series, The Saint, extremely popular in the mid-’60s. He later became the face of an even bigger entertainment franchise. Who is the actor and the character that he portrayed in a series of films?

8 Whose modern-day depiction is almost completely based on how artist Haddon Sundblom imagined him in a series of Coca Cola advertisements in the 1930s?

9 Luther Presley wrote the lyrics, Vigil Stamps wrote the music. Identify this gospel classic, which is particularly associated with the city of New Orleans?

10 Around 1424AD who ‘heard’ the voices of the saints Margaret, Michael and Catherine, an incident that had disastrous repercussions for another country over the next seven years?

Answers

1. Al Capone. The incident, dubbed as the St Valentine’s Day Massacre established Scarface Al as the undisputed gang lord of Chicago

2. The person is known as the ‘Advocatus Diaboli’ or the Devil’s Advocate

3. Amir Khusrau, Sufi musician and saint, generally regarded as the father of Qawwali

4. The Charge of the Light Brigade, during the Battle of Balaklava

5. Valmiki, ‘Valmikam’ means anthill in Sanskrit

6. Bertie Wooster

7. Roger Moore, who went on to play James Bond

8. Santa Claus

9. When The Saints Go Marching In

10. Joan of Arc, over the next seven years she inspired the French to a series of victories against the British

Joy Bhattacharjyais, in this age of televisions pundits and Facebook gurus, simply grateful that facts are not opinions.

Follow Joy on Twitter >@joybhattacharj

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