@ravix:
1. No it was not possible to create the file f/g, eg. if i type
# emacs f/g
it opens the file g within a unknown directory f in the buffer but it only saves the file inside directory 'f' once i issue 'mkdir f'. This is understandable as directories are container files and to the filesystem a file say my_coolmp3.mp3 within the music directory is a file with actual name as /home/user/music/my_coolmp3.mp3. Atleast thats my understanding of the file system concepts.

someone correct if wrong.
Also a file may have several hardlinks to a file so maybe its one of the hardlinks. But a file gets deleted only when the last possible hardlink is deleted.
2. the output i get for the stanzas,
$ echo date is 'date'
date is date
$ echo 'date is 'date''
date is date
$ echo date is date
date is date
$echo 'date is date'
date is date
are all the same.