CULTURAL QA 01-2024-05A All the BELOW QA are from Quora digest to me on 05-01-2024.
Quora answers need not be 100% correct answers .Compiled and posted byR. Gopala krishnan, on 05-01-2024 Q1 Whatare some of the most mind-blowing facts? A1 PriyankaShrivastava, Project Manager at Quatrro (2015–present)Updated 6y The “World War 1” ended at 11th hour on the 11thday of the 11th month of 1918 Iceland isthe only country without mosquitoes, snakes or other reptiles. Iceland has one of the largest gunownership rates in the world and lowest crime rates as well. A tiger’sroar can be heard as far as 1.8 miles (3 km) away. The first colgate toothpaste – Colgate’sAntiseptic dental powder. Baby elephants don’t know how to use their trunksto drink until they are nine months. Harry Potter was first rejected by 12 different bookpublishers. The first Apple computer – Apple I was with woodenframe. TheLamborghini Gallardo is capable of going from 0-45 mph in 2.8 seconds. Acheetah can do it in 2 seconds flat. Alexander the Great, Napolean, Mussollini andHitler, all suffered from ailurophobia,the fear of cats. Q2 Doyou know a joke about a nun? A2 Andrew Bent,Sep 9 A man was about to enter a bar when he wasapproached by a nun waving a ‘Total abstinence’ banner.‘Don’t go in there’ she said, ‘alcohol is the devil’s work’. ‘But I just wantone pint, it’s been a tough day and I need to unwind’. ‘No you mustn’t, no good will come of drinking alcohol’. ‘Have you ever tried it’? the man asked, ‘nocertainly not’. ‘Well perhaps you should try it just once. I’ll get you adrink and if you don’t like it fine, but at least you’ll know what you’retalking about’. ‘Well alright’ said the nun, ‘just get me one small drink,what do respectable ladies generally drink?’. ‘How about gin?’ the mansuggested. The nunthought for a moment, ‘In that case get me one gin, but put it in a cup so peoplewon’t know I’m drinking alcohol’. The man walked into the bar and said to thebarman ‘A pint of bitter and a small gin please, and can you put the gin in acup?’ ‘Oh no’ said the barman ‘is that bloodynun there again?’. Q3 Are there any reference to cats in Puranas? A3 Devala rees If a cat ormongoose touches your cooked food, you should purify the food by putting sesameseeds and darbha grass in water and then sprinkling that water on the foodbefore eating it. Kurma Purana 2.17 says not to eat the flesh of acat. Kurma Purana2.33 prescribes an expiation for the sin of killing a cat or a mongoose, andthe following verse prescribes an expiation for eating a cat. VariousDharma Shastras (Vishnu Smriti 50.31, Atri Smriti 19.227, Yagnyavalkya Smriti3.270, Parashara Smriti 6.9) say that killing a cat is a sin requiring expiation, as doesMahanirvana Tantra 11.140. Vishnu Smriti 23.53 says that cats are always pure. Shankha Smriti 16.40 says that if a cat is aroundwhile you are performing some rite, it is auspicious. PadmaPurana, Uttara Khanda chapter 30 mentions the holy abode Siddhashrama on thecharming bank of the river Sarasvati, where formerly dwelt the learned brahmanaKapila, knower of the Vedas, engrossed in the practice of vows and fasts, whopossessed an amazingly powerful sacred lamp. He also had a pet cat who attained high spiritualevolution while in the body of a cat. MatsyaPurana 118.57 mentions cats running at great speed. Baudhayana Grihya Sutra and Vaikhanasa GrihyaSutra prescribe expiations if a cat walks on the Yagnya Kunda. Brahmavaivarta Purana and Devi Bhagavata Puranadescribe Shashti Devi and mention that her vahana is a cat. Agni Puranasays that a cat crossing your path from rightto left is a good omen, especiallywhile you are leaving your house. GaneshaPurana refers to a demon who took the form of a cat to hunt Ganesha’s rat. VariousPuranas reference an Asura called “the cat” - not literally a cat, it’s notexplained how he got this name. Mahabharataoccasionally mentions cats in passing. Obviouslythere are many references to large cats like tigers, lions, leopards, etc. Q4 Whatare some strange things banned in countries? A4 Petter Brenna Rian,been immersed inmany cultures Updated 7y You guysmight think Norway is a super relaxed, liberal, open-minded country where werarely ban anything. You are wrong! There are lots of things banned in Norway,and here are a few: Corner fridges Reason:Corner fridges do not pass environmental certifications. Candy resembling tobacco products Reason: Thisgoes along with Norway's strict laws about tobacco and alcohol (such as banningof advertisement for such products). Sales of products that look like tobaccoproducts is illegal. Hookah Reason:Generally its not allowed to import any new tobacco product that has not been"traditionally" on the Norwegian market. Lupins Reason:Lupin is one of a handful of plant species that are banned because Norway wantsto keep the ecosystem NORWEGIAN. Basically, we are racist or plantist(?)towards some plants. Bonus fun fact about Norway banning stuff: Skateboardswere banned from 1978 to 1989. At the time, Norway was the only country in theworld where it was illegal to sell, buy, and ride a skateboard. Edit: Lupins and other plants are banned primarily because they take over anddamage the existing ecosystem. ThanksRobin Corey. Reason why skateboards were banned: Theskateboard was introduced from the USA, and since the government was unfamiliarwith the activity, they were looking into the potential dangers ofskateboarding. At one point they received statistics from the USAof the number of injuries, of varying degreeof seriousness, caused by skateboarding. These statistics also showed injurieson children. Apparently the numbers were so high that the government imposed aban due to safety concerns. However,skateboarding became increasingly popular in the 1980s, so the ban waseventually phased out. Afterconducting more research into the hookah in Norway, it appears that the hookah itself is legal, but tobacco for hookah is illegal.So that would be the equivalent of legalizing guns but making bullets illegal.Thanks to Gisle for pointing that out. Q5 Whatare the most "Tamil things" about you? A5 Gopalkrishna Vishwanath, Willingresponder to survey questions1y If you pokeme with a needle when I am not expecting it, I won’t say “ouch”. I will involuntarily exclaim“Aiyyo!” confirming that even if I speak better English and Hindi, I am,deep inside me, a Tamilian. I prefer idli and dosa any day, any time to puris,paranthas, bread toast, and cornflakes. I prefer rice to chapaatis, pongal tokhichdi. I have nowgiven them up totally but when I used to drink coffee/tea, I always preferred coffee totea. Among all the beaches I have visited, Marina Beachhas a special fascination for me. I met thegirl who was going to be my wife, for the first time in my life, at MarinaBeach in 1973. My wife was born in Chennai. Every time I visit Chennai, I tryto find time to visit Marina Beach. While I am now happily settled in Devanahalli inKarnataka, if I am forced by circumstancesto leave Devanahalli or Karnataka state and settle in another state, I would choose a good place inTamil Nadu. Probably Coonoor, Ooty, or Kodaikanal. The restof Tamil Nadu is too hot for my liking and after being used to the weather inBengaluru/Devanahalli I will find the other places in Tamil Nadu too hot forme. In additionto the languages I already know if I am asked to choose one language in which Iwould like to have the same proficiency that I have in English, it would be Tamil. I know Tamilbut my proficiency is poor compared to my knowledge of English and Hindi. I willconclude with one point that describes what the least Tamil thing about me is!I know Hindi and I love this language! It wasn’t imposed on me. I learned it on my owninitiative and am happy to know it. I am now trying to bring myknowledge of Tamil to the same level as my knowledge of Hindi at least, if notmy knowledge of English. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/948772227.4563042.1704466286888%40mail.yahoo.com.
