Tuesday 1 December 2009

Question for Dec 1 - PS

Farrokh Bulsara was born on Thursday September 5th 1946 on the small island of Zanzibar. At the age of 8, he went to boarding school in St. Peter’s, a public school in Panchgani, a beautiful hill station near Poona. At the age of 17, Farrokh and his family fled from Zanzibar for safety reasons due to the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution. He went on to earn a Diploma in Art and Graphic Design at Ealing Art College. Due to racial abuse he had suffered in his early teens, he legally changed his name to X in 1972. In April 1970 he met Y.

Y is an accomplished scholar. He studied astronomy and physics at Imperial College in London. He then proceeded to study for a PhD degree, also at the Imperial College London departments of Physics and Mathematics, and was part way through this PhD programme, studying reflected light from interplanetary dust and the velocity of dust in the plane of the Solar System. And then he met X, and discontinued his PhD program.

Epilogue:
- Eventually, on 23 November 1991, X made the the following announcement to the press:
Following the enormous conjecture in the press over the last two weeks, I wish to confirm that I have been tested HIV positive and have AIDS. I felt it correct to keep this information private to date to protect the privacy of those around me. However, the time has come now for my friends and fans around the world to know the truth and I hope that everyone will join with me, my doctors, and all those worldwide in the fight against this terrible disease. My privacy has always been very special to me and I am famous for my lack of interviews. Please understand this policy will continue.
A little over 24 hours after issuing the statement, X died on 24 November 1991 at the age of 45.

- Eventually Y went on to earn his PhD in Astrophysics in 2007 and is currently the Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University. Announcing Y's appointment, Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Board, Sir Malcolm Thornton said:

"On behalf of the governing body of Liverpool John Moores University, I am delighted to announce that Y will be the new Chancellor of LJMU. Not only is Y an icon in his own sphere but he is a real academic star as well. He perfectly embodies the 'can do' attitude of LJMU; he is going to be a great Chancellor for the students and a wonderful figurehead for the University."
Identify X and Y. (Question partly inspired by today being the World AIDS day.)

10 comments:

Sailesh Ganesh said...

X is Freddie Mercury, of Queen. Dunno about Y though. Some other member of Queen's band?

Gypsy said...

X = Freddie Mercury
Y = lead guitarist of "Queen"

shiv said...

I know Farrokh Bulsara is Freddie Mercury of Queen. I am not sure who Y is.

anuj said...

x-Freddie Mercury

Gaurav said...

Freddie Mercury & Brian May

Kiran Vyakaranam said...

X is Freddie Mercury
Y is Brian May
That was a rather laborious read for a simple answer :P

Gaurav Kane said...

X= Freddie Mercury
Y= Brian May

Nikhil said...

Easy one if you know your music :). X=Freddie Mercury, Y=Brian May (of Queen).

IC said...

Farrokh Balsara is Freddie Mercury. Y was also a member of Queen, can't recall his name.

The Answer said...

X is indeed the one and only Freddie Mercury and Y is Dr Brian May

Congrats all!