Noted Dutch post-impressionist painter, Vincent Van Gogh, was not always an artist. In fact, he wanted to be a church pastor and was even sent to the Belgian mining community of Borinage in 1879.…
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The man with big ears, and big dreams that took India to the moon
Aug 11, 2019: On August 12, 1919, a baby boy was born in the home of Ahmedabad’s leading textile mill-owner; his siblings looked at him and declared he had big ears, “just…
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The good doctor of Malkangiri
When Kumulu Kirsani, a tribal teenager, fell seriously ill on a dull grey morning on September 17, 2019, all the ills that keep Odisha’s Malkangiri district backward seemed to conspire against him.…
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Charity begins on the footpath
A young man in his twenties used to stand on the footpath opposite the famous Tata Cancer Hospital at Mumbai and stare at the crowd in front of him – fear plainly…
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Life is baeutiful
Do you remember the name of your kindergarten teacher? I do, mine. Her name was Mrs. White. And I remember thinking she must be some older relation of Walt Disney’s Snow White,…
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‘Dear teenage boy at the skate park’
A visit to the local skate park took an unexpected turn for a mother and her little girl. The mother of a little girl aspiring to be a skateboarder has posted a…
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Don’t be afraid to make mistakes
This story is about a famous research scientist who had made several very important medical breakthroughs. He was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter who asked him why he thought he was…
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World’s ‘poorest’ ex-president Mujica turns down pension
Former Uruguayan leader José Mujica, who was dubbed “the world’s poorest president” for his modest lifestyle, says he does not want any pension from his time as a senator. Mr Mujica resigned…
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India plants 66 million trees in 12 hours as part of record-breaking environmental campaign
Volunteers in India planted more than 66 million trees in just 12 hours in a record-breaking environmental drive. About 1.5 million people were involved in the huge plantation campaign, in which saplings…
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World is getting greener, India and China leading efforts: NASA study
India and China are leading the global greening effort, which is quite contrary to the general perception worldwide, a latest NASA study said, observing that the world is a greener place than…