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World in a word

World in a word

Economic Times01-06-2025
Portuguese Nobel laureate in literature (1998) Jose Saramago held that words are like people - each one has its own character. This statement highlights the intricacy and uniqueness of words, drawing a fascinating parallel between them. Just as individuals possess distinct personalities, words also have character.Each word holds immense power, reflecting countless thoughts, emotions and experiences associated with it. Like people's aura, words carry weight and evoke different meanings. From gentle whisper of love to thunderous roar of anger, words can shape narratives, ignite imaginations and construct realities. Saramago's view serves as a reminder to cherish depth and diversity of languages, acknowledging its dynamic role in expressing our humanity.Rumi says, 'Kainaat ustavaar miz un lafz' - the universe is enshrined in a word. Thanks to the sacredness of every word, not just purity and piety of scriptural words, Indic thought systems believe that Akshar Brahmn is a divine reality. Hence, words must be weighed, measured and spoken with utmost care. Misuse and casual use of words may lead to an imbalance in relationships and create negative vibes. Yask's 'Nirukta', the world's first book on etymology , states that words weave us together. They can be used both as welders and weapons.While flippant use of words can drive a wedge, they can also bridge gaps and gulfs. Ergo, treat every word as a character that can bring about change.
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Prof Rajat Kanta Ray mesmerised, inspired history students for decades: Eminent personalities
Prof Rajat Kanta Ray mesmerised, inspired history students for decades: Eminent personalities

Hindustan Times

time11-08-2025

  • Hindustan Times

Prof Rajat Kanta Ray mesmerised, inspired history students for decades: Eminent personalities

Kolkata, Amid outpourings of grief over the death of professor Rajat Kanta Ray, whose lectures at the then Presidency College were a major draw among students, eminent personalities on Monday recalled how the historian had mesmerised and inspired all in his illustrious teaching career. Prof Rajat Kanta Ray mesmerised, inspired history students for decades: Eminent personalities Ray, also a former vice chancellor of Visva-Bharati, a central university founded by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore in West Bengal's Santiniketan, died on August 6 at the age of 79. Prasar Bharati's former CEO Jawhar Sircar recalled Ray's active support in taking select paintings of Rabindranath Tagore to several countries, while Victoria Memorial's former curator Jayanta Sengupta said Professor Ray had elucidated the importance of grasping "historical narratives". Visva Bharati's senior faculty member and historian Atig Ghosh described Ray as "the best teacher" among those he came across. "He was six years my senior but centuries ahead of me in scholarship and achievements. I shall miss his warmth and detailed comments on each of my recent pieces that his wife Nupur used to read out to him," Sircar said. "Without Rajat Babu's intervention, we would not be able to take selected paintings of Rabindranath from Kala Bhavan to seven important countries of the world— for the first time ever— during the 150th Birth Anniversary celebrations of Tagore in 2011-12," he recalled. Ray continued to "mesmerise generations of students" till the end, the former Rajya Sabha MP said. Sengupta, also the Alipore Museum director, recollected how "Sir made an amazing evaluation of the French Revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte" in a session. Ray taught at the Presidency College from 1975 to 2006, mentoring generations of historians and history teachers. "Despite having come in contact with many renowned teachers during my student days in Presidency College, Jawaharlal Nehru University and abroad, Ray was the best teacher I came across. I had the opportunity to get him as a teacher in the Presidency College from 2000-03," Ghosh, the Visva Bharati teacher, told PTI. "There can be some other historians who are as colossal as Ray, but he was the best teacher of history," Ghosh said. He recalled how Ray used to take his students on a heritage walk across the Presidency campus on their first day in the hallowed institution, "as we could see history unfolding before us as if in a live manner". Ghosh said Visva-Bharati has called a memorial meeting for Ray on the campus on August 19. Between 2006 and 2011, Ray served as vice-chancellor of Visva-Bharati. Ray was "unusually bold and was often disliked by a bunch of mediocre teachers who had got into Presidency thanks to political patronage of the Left Front", Sircar claimed. "I know this because some of them — led by a vitriolic Bengali teacher who taught Hindi — went after him in the 2003-2006 period and complained to me as higher education secretary of West Bengal. "I went straight to CM in 2005 and requested him to stop his partymen from harassing Rajat Babu, who was an outstanding teacher. CM supported me fully and after retirement, he continued to teach in the Presidency as Professor Emeritus," Sircar added. Presidency Alumni Association vice president Bivas Chaudhuri said Ray had received the 'Atul Chandra Gupta Distinguished Alumnus Award 2024' at a function and also delivered an illuminating speech, despite ill health. Ray, who had done his PhD from Trinity College, Cambridge, is survived by his wife and two daughters. His acclaimed books include 'The Felt Community: Commonality and Mentality Before the Emergence of Indian Nationalism', and 'Social Conflict and Political Unrest in Bengal 1875–1927'. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

This book tries to find life lessons on making correct choices from the Bhagavad Gita
This book tries to find life lessons on making correct choices from the Bhagavad Gita

Scroll.in

time08-08-2025

  • Scroll.in

This book tries to find life lessons on making correct choices from the Bhagavad Gita

By understanding the Self (Atman) as superior to the intellect (ego) and using this intelligence to make the mind steady, O mighty-armed one, you can vanquish the enemy in the form of selfish desire, which is difficult to subdue. — Chapter 3, Verse 43 The doctrine of karma is central to Vedic philosophy and for that matter to all the Indic religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Simply put, karma is the belief that every action automatically generates a corresponding result: 'As you sow, so shall you reap.' Karma is not a consequence administered by an external judge. Instead, it applies the natural logic of cause and effect that we observe in all our activities. You water a plant diligently; it grows. You forget to do so; it withers. Meritorious actions yield positive outcomes, whereas unworthy behaviour inevitably leads to suffering. Whether bitter or sweet, these fruits must be tasted in the current life or a future one to come, but they are inescapable. Today is the result of yesterday and tomorrow will be the consequence of today. Vedanta teaches that as long as karma is accrued, either positive or negative, rebirth over and over in a perpetual cycle is unavoidable. Karmic repercussions, pleasant or painful, compel one to return to the mortal realm. Therefore, Swami Vivekananda described karma as binding, whether in chains of gold or of iron. Of course, this does not imply that we should abandon virtuous action. The transition from bad karma to good karma is necessary before finally going beyond karma. Ultimately, life's goal should be to exhaust accumulated karma without creating additional karmic baggage. Building punya, or spiritual wealth, is the best use of our human birth, as the true goal of life is moksha, liberation. The world offers the opportunity to learn; thus the human body serves as an ideal vehicle to liberate oneself from the cycle of rebirth. The Gita emphasises that the precious opportunity of being born as an advanced life form is not squandered if spiritual wisdom is made one's highest purpose. Death does not wipe the slate clean. Instead, you reincarnate, bearing the burden of your previous karma, with each birth providing an opportunity to make redeeming behavioural changes. After all, we come with nothing but karma, and it is all we take with us when we die. Over multiple lifetimes, we each accumulate a considerable karmic load, referred to as sanchita karma. After a temporary interval in heaven or hell, when the subtle body, the soul, is forced to reincarnate in a physical form again, specific karmas are chosen to be experienced in the upcoming lifetime. These karmas manifest as unexpected misfortunes or sudden windfalls, known as prarabhda karma, or karma already set in motion like an arrow launched on a fixed trajectory. We are born with prarabhda karma. 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Once you learn the lesson, the karmic debt is absolved. You graduate! Life is essentially a series of diverse experiences. Our perception of circumstances and our response to challenges shape our future karma, as individuals react differently to the same problem based on their level of spiritual advancement. Therefore, recognising that our actions have far-reaching consequences, righteous conduct becomes paramount and must be properly understood (4.16–17). Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. Although an inner voice guides us in discerning right from wrong, we often choose to ignore it. A striking illustration of this shortcoming is found in the Pandava Gita, an anthology of verses attributed to various characters from the Mahabharata. Duryodhana articulates an all-too-common human failing with surprising honesty. 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African architects have cool designs for a warming planet
African architects have cool designs for a warming planet

Mint

time06-08-2025

  • Mint

African architects have cool designs for a warming planet

The first thing you notice, stepping from the scorching Sahelian sun into the laterite-stone dome, is how cold it is. There is no air-conditioning, just shade and natural ventilation; nor is there plaster. Diebedo Francis Kere, the architect behind the new mausoleum in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital, strives to use only what can be sourced nearby. 'I'm a construction-material opportunist," he says. 'I look around at what is most abundant, and how people use it, and try to do something new." The result is a building so austere, low-tech and elegant that it is like entering a temple of the ancient world. In 2022 Mr Kere became the first black architect to win the prestigious Pritzker prize (considered architecture's equivalent of the Nobel). He is the best known of a cohort of African architects whose ideas are at the profession's cutting edge. In particular, they are showing how to build sustainably for a warming, changing planet; what's more, they are doing so on the cheap. At a time when African-made music, art and TV is crossing into the global cultural mainstream, the continent's architecture and design are becoming increasingly influential, too. For a long time, ideas flowed the other way. Since the 1950s, many of the most important public buildings in Africa have been modernist in style and monumental in scale. The 'tropical modernism" of the post-war era—a style inspired by the radical functionality of Le Corbusier, a Swiss-born architect—was a way for newly independent African states to assert themselves on the world stage, says Tosin Oshinowo, a Nigerian architect. But the architects behind these buildings, who mostly did not come from Africa, often used materials unsuited to local climates, such as concrete (which can crack and blister in humidity) and plate-glass (which can make buildings oppressively hot inside). Shiny buildings still have appeal: some African elites 'want something that they've seen in the global north or Dubai", says Kunle Adeyemi, another Nigerian architect. This can lead to staid uniformity at best and cheap mimicry at worst. In Ethiopia, for instance, the historic heart of Addis Ababa, the capital, is currently being demolished to make way for bland, identikit high-rises implanted from the Gulf. Mr Kere and his peers point to another way. They draw inspiration from the immediate and familiar rather than styles and materials imported from elsewhere. The rustic appearance of the John Randle Centre (JRC), a museum which opened in Lagos last year, aims to evoke the mud rendering used for centuries by the Yoruba, one of Nigeria's largest ethnic groups. Seun Oduwole, who designed the JRC, says too many new buildings in Lagos are 'white boxes divorced from their surroundings". He aims to create edifices that are in harmony with 'nature and the physical environment". Down to earth So, too, does Sumayya Vally, a South African architect who has drawn on the cooling systems of termite mounds in her recent designs. And Mariam Issoufou, from Niger, created an angular design for the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Centre in Liberia based on traditional palava huts, whose roofs divert the heavy rains common in the country. She was shortlisted for the prestigious Aga Khan award in 2022. Mr Kere was influenced by Thomas Sankara, Burkina Faso's former president, who preached national self-reliance. (The mausoleum is part of a memorial for Sankara, who was assassinated on the site in 1987.) In design terms, this means making canny choices. Mr Kere uses clay-earth bricks, which can cost between 20% and 70% less than the concrete equivalents. These architects' ideas are finding a wide audience. In 2023, at the previous edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale, perhaps the industry's most important event, more than half the participants were from Africa and the diaspora. Mr Kere has taught at Harvard and Yale. 'This is a unique moment," says Martino Stierli of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. 'We have this incredibly exciting generation of African architects who have built locally, but are having an impact globally." That is evident in the commissions being won by African architects. Mr Kere's first major project in America is the Las Vegas Museum of Art, which is expected to open in 2028; it will take inspiration from the nearby Nevada desert. Ms Vally is designing a bridge in Belgium which will nod to traditional Congolese riverboats. As urban planners contemplate the future as well as construction's present impact on the climate, they are looking to the continent's materials and methods. (Consider that cement manufacturing accounts for around 8% of global CO2 emissions.) Mr Adeyemi has won international recognition for his 'water cities": floating settlements designed in response to land scarcity in fast-growing metropolises such as Lagos as well as rising sea levels. Design innovations pioneered in Africa are catching on elsewhere. The 'passive cooling" techniques of the kind used in the mausoleum are increasingly common in hot countries around the world. Western architects such as David Chipperfield, who won the Pritzker in 2023, are utilising the same sustainable building materials, such as rammed earth and clay. Mr Kere says such approaches were often scorned as 'backwards" when he was growing up in Burkina Faso in the 1970s and 80s. Now, more than ever, they are the future. For more coverage of climate change, sign up for the Climate Issue, our fortnightly subscriber-only newsletter, or visit our climate-change hub.

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