QR – Cure – Quizzing Realms – 295

In one of his stories, X mentions that one Iqbal Singh once wrote to him, claiming that X was his long-lost brother, separated from their family during the Partition of India and Pakistan. Apparently, X had revealed his real name in an interview, and it was the same as Iqbal’s younger brother. Iqbal had lost his younger brother and sister, the two youngest persons in his family, while travelling from Pakistan to India during the Partition.

Years later, when Iqbal had gone to the funeral of family-friend Afzal Chacha, they had found the little girl now grown and married into a Muslim family, bearing the name Dilshad. It had convinced Iqbal Singh that he would find his youngest brother, nicknamed Punni. He did not even pay attention to X’s letter, which said that X was already 11 years old and living in Delhi when the partition took place.

X finally met Iqbal’s family in 1985, and eight years later, when Iqbal informed him that his (Iqbal’s) father, whom his children called Darji, had died, X wrote that he felt as if his own Darji had passed away.

Identify X. Hint: X has an active interest in astronomy, and even wrote a whole poem when Pluto was ‘demoted’ from planet-status.

Happy quizzing, and have a nice life, folks!

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Four answers, and all correct! This is indeed Gulzar, aka Sampooran Singh Kalra.