Presence of mind

I read this a long time ago.​ Even though the incident is hard to believe because there is no proper proof, it is still quite interesting and memorable.

C. N. Annadurai was a prominent chief minister of the Tamil Nadu state of India who was known for his proficiency in languages - particularly English and Tamil.

Once he went on a foreign tour to Yale university during 1968.

He was awarded the Chubb Fellowship at Yale University, being the first non-American to receive this honour

There he was requested to speak to the students. During an interactive session held with students, guys were allowed to ask some puzzle like questions that tests one's English proficiency.

One of the guys in that hall stood up and asked him to say a hundred words in English which don't contain the letters A, B, C or D.

Annadurai immediately started to tell the words one by one.

They are one, two, three up to ninety nine!

Everyone present in the hall were surprised and waiting for his 100th word. If he said 'hundred' he would have failed but after 'ninety nine', he said 'STOP'.

The hall was filled with a minute of huge applause.