Pointing to a lady in a photograph, Meera said, "Her father's only son's wife is my mother-in-law." How is Meera's husband related to that lady in the photograph?

Difficulty: Medium

Correct Answer: Nephew

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:

This blood-relation question combines a photograph with a fairly long relational chain: "her father's only son's wife is my mother-in-law". The goal is to connect Meera, her husband and the lady in the photograph. These sorts of puzzles appear often in reasoning sections because they test how well you can decode nested relationships involving fathers, sons, and mothers-in-law.


Given Data / Assumptions:

  • Meera is pointing to a lady in a photograph.
  • She says: "Her father's only son's wife is my mother-in-law."
  • Let the lady in the photograph be L.
  • L's father is a man F. F has only one son; call that son S.
  • The wife of S is Meera's mother-in-law.
  • A mother-in-law is the mother of one's husband. So Meera's mother-in-law is Meera's husband's mother.
  • We must find how Meera's husband is related to L.


Concept / Approach:

The key is to realise that S, the only son of L's father, is the father of Meera's husband. Once we know this, we can see that S is L's brother, and that Meera's husband is S's child. That makes L the paternal aunt of Meera's husband, and he, in turn, is her nephew. Because the question asks for the relation of Meera's husband to the lady, "nephew" is the correct term.


Step-by-Step Solution:

Step 1: Let L be the lady in the photograph and F be her father. Step 2: F's only son is S. Since he is described as F's only son, S is the unique male child of L's father. L can be another child (a daughter) of F. Step 3: "Her father's only son's wife is my mother-in-law" means: the wife of S is Meera's mother-in-law. The mother-in-law of Meera is the mother of Meera's husband. Step 4: Therefore, S is married to Meera's husband's mother. That makes S the father of Meera's husband. Step 5: Since S is the only son of F, and L is F's daughter, L and S are siblings. Specifically, S is L's brother, and L is S's sister. Step 6: Meera's husband is the son of S. If L is the sister of S, then from Meera's husband's perspective, L is his father's sister, i.e., his paternal aunt. Step 7: The relation of Meera's husband to L is therefore that of a nephew. A nephew is the son of one's brother or sister.


Verification / Alternative check:

We can verify this with a small family example. Let F have two children: a son S and a daughter L. S marries M (Meera's mother-in-law) and they have a son H (Meera's husband). Then M is H's mother and Meera's mother-in-law. Also, S is H's father. For L, H is the son of her brother S, which makes H her nephew. This fits perfectly with every piece of the original statement.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:

"Uncle" would reverse the relationship; L would have to be younger and Meera's husband older in the family tree, which contradicts the structure we derived.

"Son" or "Father" also contradict the generational levels. The lady in the photo is in the same generation as Meera's husband's father, not above or below him in the way those options would require.


Common Pitfalls:

One common mistake is to misread "her father's only son's wife" and think it refers directly to L herself, rather than going through the father and the only son. Always decode such statements from inside out: first identify the father, then the only son, then that son's wife, and finally connect that wife to Meera via the mother-in-law relation. Making a small diagram for F, S, L, and H can greatly reduce confusion.


Final Answer:

Meera's husband is the lady's nephew.

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