Mary Todd Lincoln was no stranger to tragedy, even before her husband’s assassination. The Lincolns lost one son, Eddie, at age three. Then, in their White House years, they lost eleven-year-old Willie…
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Lying takes more brain energy
A study has found that lying takes more brain energy than telling the truth. The study, reported in 2004, was conducted by the Temple University School of Medicine, USA, using functional magnetic…
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The helpful Moon
The book Our Created Moon: Earth’s Fascinating Neighbor reveals some ways the Moon benefits mankind. One obvious way is the light it reflects at night, which has guided travellers on land and sea for…
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Tagore sings
There was once a talented little boy, Rabindranath Tagore, who was very beautiful to look at and also very smart. His father was rich and well respected; he owned vast plots of land…
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Beggar by choice
In the history of begging for a public cause, Gandhiji created a world record. He discovered this capacity in himself in South Africa when he was in charge of collection of subscriptions…
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When India’s Prime Minister took a bank loan to buy a car
India’s former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri had many feats to his credit, but he will always be remembered as the PM who resurrected a nation’s broken self-confidence after the defeat against…
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‘Uncle Gandhi’
The title is certainly likely to surprise readers. Well, it was the children living in Bow in the ‘East-End’ of London who chose to address Gandhiji as ‘Uncle’. When in September 1931,…
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Gandhiji’s spiritual heir
On 7 June 1916, a young man of twenty waited at the gates of Gandhi’s ashram at Kochrab in Ahmedabad for an interview with him. He had been drawn to the Mahatma on…
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Basic pen
Most people have lost a pen at some time or the other. So did Gandhi. He had a costly fountain pen which was pilfered. The pen was immediately replaced but the theft…
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Dignity of labour
Once upon a time, Lalaji (Lala Lajpat Rai) and Mahatma Gandhi were staying at the house of an ardent nationalist, Shiv Prasad Gupta. On their first day at the house of their host, Lalaji…