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His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama visited Lady Shri Ram College for Women on the 20th of March 2014. Talking about morality, ethics and the idea of a healthy inner-self, he spoke on “Success, Ethics and Happiness”.

Initially scheduled to start at 12: 30, the spiritual leader arrived for the inauguration of the new academic complex at around 2 p.m. With the sound of the gong marking his arrival, he first inaugurated the Aung San Suu Kyi Centre for Peace and then the Dr. Bharat Ram Academic Complex. This was followed by the lecture in the auditorium.

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During his address to the audience at LSR, His Holiness spoke of inner-wealth, stating that inner-happiness was above all material wealth. With the ideals of universal responsibility, compassion and altruism dominating the speech, he also focused on social responsibility. While speaking to the set of young girls, he emphasised the importance of the female community to create a better 21st century. He believes that they should play a more active role to bring compassion and empathy to the world. He also appreciated India’s secular framework, stating that it was the only nation in the world where people of all faiths and religion lived together.

Coming to ethics, he spoke of ethics being a necessity for a peaceful and happier world. He says, “Success requires ethics. Ethical life means honesty. Honesty brings trust. Trust brings friendship. Friendship brings unity. Unity leads to a more peaceful world”.

 

His ideas were followed by a series of questions that members of the audience wanted to bring about in the discussion. Students and faculty raised questions about the definition of success as well as questioned ideas of whether happiness could exist without spiritual belief. The religious leader says that even non-believers can be happy as long as there is awareness. On defining success, he stated that when at the end you are at peace and happy, that is success.

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The event closed with the vote of thanks presented by the Students Union President of the college, Tanvi Bist. This was followed by Yashaswini Basu, the Cultural Secretary of the college presenting his holiness a long life prayer with the signature of students and it’s recital in Tibetan by the college students.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama will also be visiting Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) on the 24th of March on the occasion of the college’s Annual Day.

Image Credit: Mugdha for DU Beat

Lady Shri Ram College for Women organised the first Manohar Shyam Joshi Memorial Lecture in the college Auditorium on the 8th of August 2013. The lecture by Mrinal Pande, Chairperson, Prasar Bharati on the “Art of Story Telling in India” witnessed a packed auditorium and was attended by esteemed academicians along with the family of Late Manohar Shyam Joshi.

For those of you who might be unaware, Manohar Shyam Joshi was the writer who penned down the first Hindi soap opera of Indian Television – “Hum Log” and the popular “Buniyaad”.

Dr. Bhagwati Joshi, wife of Manohar Shyam Joshi formerly worked as a lecturer at LSR. Paying remembrance to his great work, the college organised the lecture.

Preeti Dhawan, Vice Principal, LSR and Meenakshi Gopinath, Principal, LSR with Dr. Bhagwati Joshi

The lecture by Mrinal Pande touched upon the story telling traditions in India stating that stories in India exist as a duality of entertainment and information. She also said that often it is ‘irony’ that creates the magic in stories. Further, the discussion delved into censorship where she stated the existence of state censorship and self-censorship. While the former can be fought against, it is the latter that is more harmful. Taking instances from Premchand’s Godan, Folk lore in Buddhism and Manohar Shyam Joshi’s work, the lecture engaged well with the diverse audience. The lecture was a multi-lingual one with the guest comfortably switching between Hindi and English and quoting Sanskrit shloks.

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Mrinal Pande, Chairperson, Prasar Bharati

LSR’s much loved KK (Kasturi Kanthan ma’am) shared an experience of her interaction with Manohar Shyam Joshi. The event ended with a short movie made by a first year student on Manohar Shyam Joshi and an address by the family of the writer.

Image Credit: Nalini Prasad