The Sufi Storyteller speaks to a wider South Asian moment, where Sufi traditions are increasingly invoked as counterpoints to narrowing religious and cultural orthodoxies. By foregrounding storytelling as both a spiritual and political act, Mansab gestures toward the enduring power of narrative to sustain pluralism, recover marginalized voices, and imagine more expansive forms of belonging.
A young woman reading Draupadi's story today and feeling angry about it is not being irreverent. She is doing exactly what you are supposed to do with a text this old and this serious, which is to feel it in your own body and think hard about what it means for where you actually are. We do not honour the Mahabharata by protecting it from that. We honour it by continuing to argue with it
Recent evidence also suggests that AI chatbots are being used by teens to plan violence and other harmful activities. Like all technologies, AI is a double-edged sword. It can either be used for very creative work or destructive activities. Thus, there is a tremendous responsibility for teachers to teach the children and youngsters about the positive aspects of AI.
If diversity and unity are to guide the future, education must change.Most schools and universities today serve industrial monoculture and economic growth. They train the intellect — the “left brain” — to produce administrators and managers. Rational analysis is important, but it is only half of human potential. We also have a “right brain”: intuitive, holistic, relational. An education that neglects creativity, empathy and ecological awareness produces imbalance. It strengthens uniformity and weakens diversity.
Discussions with various senior Pakistani diplomats in Colombo as well as Sri Lankan diplomats in Pakistan led to my first visit to Pakistan in September 2023 to participate in the people-centered initiative ‘Enduring Friendship’ events in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Sri Lanka-Pakistan diplomatic relations.
Benegal came across as a man of refined sensibilities and great empathy for the human condition, which clearly reflected in his cinema.
Singaporean, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Arabic – in fact all varieties of English are acceptable as part of ‘World Englishes’ as long as they serve the communicative purpose of language.
Fear of death has also been drastically reduced in people who have experienced near death experience (NDE). NDE seems to happen when a person is declared clinically dead but after some time returns to life. Quite a number of people during the NDE episode have also reported that their whole life flashes by and almost all their past actions become visible.
Sufism’s relationship with other religions is characterized by respect and recognition of shared values. Sufi leaders often participate in interfaith initiatives, promoting cooperation and understanding. This engagement not only builds bridges between communities but also fosters a sense of secularism, where religious authority does not dominate public life.
What needs to be understood for prevention is that most of the time these processions, which are well armed, deliberately decide to pass through Muslim majority areas, with loud music and provocative and abusive slogans. It has become a pattern that someone will climb over the mosque and replace the green flag with saffron flag and the crowds down below dance and give a big applause.
"Hindus and Muslims are one Sindhi nation. No extremist can divide us. We Hindus do not show disrespect towards the Kaaba," said Hindu teacher Khushal Premee. “We do not even sleep with our feet pointed in that direction,” he said, listing other ways in which his community shows respect to their Muslim neighbours in Umerkot
Minus any of the JRD charisma, and in fact distinctly uncharismatic as he was, Ratan Tata still stood out as a gentlemanly leader who kept a sense of grace and an understated manner in a business world that has gotten all too loud and flamboyant
To my mind Ratan Tata’s greatest gift to the group was that he consolidated all the Tata companies under one umbrella with tighter control and mandated them to do more social work.
Navika Sagar Parikrama II will cover more than 21,600 nautical miles (approx 40,000 km) in five legs with stop overs at four ports for replenishment and maintenance as required. The broad contour of voyage will be (a) Goa to Fremantle, Australia, (b) Fremantle to Lyttleton, New Zealand, (c) Lyttleton to Port Stanley, Falkland, (d) Port Stanley to Cape Town, S Africa and (e) Cape Town to Goa.
How Bangladesh has used the weakness of Indian Bengalis for the 'Padma ilish' to pursue its hilsa diplomacy with India was seen as far back in September 1996 when I K Gujral, then external affairs minister in the government of Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, visited Dhaka to tie up the loose ends in the Ganga Water Treaty that the two countries were negotiating.
‘DRDO is looking to restructure itself to better leverage this ecosystem for national good. In doing so, DRDO is aiming to be leaner, faster and more impactful’
What is so threatening about letting a few hundred peace activists in a combined population of over a billion meet for a few moments at a heavily guarded border?
With the wisdom gained through spirituality, we will use technology judiciously to use nature’s resources wisely and live sustainably. Living sustainably and in tune with nature will give us peace and happiness. This in a nutshell can be the new paradigm of development for the world.
Sharma joins the ranks of writers like Urvashi Butalia, Aanchal Malhotra, Vazira Zamindar, Anam Zakaria, and Kavita Puri who are contributing to the scant literature around Partition
