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 Bhishma way or the Jatayu way?
No two people react to the same situation in a similar way. Here are examples of two legendary personalities who were faced with very similar situations, but their responses were diagonally apart. It…
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Lithium-ion battery inventor introduces new glass electrolyte technology for fast-charging, noncombustible batteries
2017: At the age of 57, John B. Goodenough invented the lithium battery which powers all our smart phones, tablets and laptops – as well as electric cars. 37 years later at…
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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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Harakchand Sawla: Charity begins on the footpath
A young man in his twenties used to stand on the footpath opposite the famous Tata Cancer Hospital (Tata Memorial Centre) at Mumbai and stare at the crowd in front of him…
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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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Erik Weihenmayer: Blind to failure
Scaling Mount Everest requires the enthusiasm and boosterism of a physical-education teacher combined with the survival instinct of a Green Beret. You have to want that summit. Erik Weihenmayer, 33, wasn’t just…
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Night and day
Rabbi Isadore was a wise teacher. A student asked, “How is one to know the precise time when night ends and day begins?” One student volunteered, “It is when one can distinguish…
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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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Five monkeys and a ladder
A group of scientists placed five monkeys in a cage, and in the middle, a ladder with bananas on top. Every time a monkey went up the ladder, the scientists soaked the…
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Shine in your own way
A samurai who was known for his nobility and honesty, went to visit a monk to ask him for his advice. When the monk had finished his prayers, the Samurai asked, “Why…
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The falcon and the branch
Once, a king received two magnificent peregrine falcons as a gift from one of his vassal states. They were the most beautiful birds he had ever seen. Though the falcons were still…