Category Personalities

Who was Joseph Stalin?

Joseph Stalin was the iron ruler of the U.S.S.R, who made the country a formidable military and industrial superpower.

Born in Gori, Georgia in 1878, he played an active role in the Russian Revolution of 1917. Lenin chose Stalin to head the Workers’ and Peasants’ inspectorate, which made him a powerful man. He was appointed the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on 3rd April, 1922.

In the beginning he acted as part of a collective leadership. But by the 1930’s Stalin had become a dictator. He consolidated his absolute power by shrewdly manoeuvring and isolating those who stood in his way, and by using police terror. Towards the end of the 1920’s, he had established a totalitarian rule that prohibited all sorts of opposition. His brutal reign is held responsible for the deaths of millions.

He made clever use of nationalism to strengthen his rule and promoted some aspects of Russian history, some national heroes and the Russian language.

Joseph Stalin ruled the country from 1929 to 1953, until his death.

Picture Credit : Google

THE SPEECH THAT REMADE AMERICA

A self-taught lawyer, legislator, and a strong opponent of slavery, Abraham Lincoln is considered to be one of the greatest presidents of the U.S. Let’s relive the moment this American hero gave his monumental speech, popularly known as the “Gettysburg Address.”

On November 19, 1863, before an estimated 15,000 spectators President Abraham Lincoln dedicated a new soldiers National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. Here he delivered a 272-word speech famously known as the Gettysburg Address, with the hope that it would guide the Nation through the war and towards healing.

Civil War & the Republicans

The Republican Party came into existence in 1854, seven years before the Civil War. Initially there were only two political parties in the U.S. namely the Whigs and the Democrats.

America was quickly expanding westward and the debate as to whether or not the new states should permit slavery was intensifying.

In the Northern states, manufacturing and industries formed the economic base, unlike the South where people depended on plantation farming of crops like cotton and tobacco for their livelihood. Agriculture heavily depended on black slave labour, and the Democratic Party, with its strong support in the South, was growing increasingly pro-slavery. But the Whigs were divided on the issue.

In 1854, unable to come to a solid resolution on the topic. the party collapsed. The former Whigs in the North came together to form a new party called the Republican Party. with abolition of slavery as their mission statement.

By 1860. this party established a strong foothold in the North. enough so that its member Abraham Lincoln. won the 1861 presidential elections.

This led to 11 Southern states breaking away from the union to form the confederate states of America. The Northern states decided to fight to keep the union together and the Civil War began. The result was, victory for the North and abolition of slavery nation-wide.

The Battle of Gettysburg

One of the bloodiest battles fought during the American Civil War took place in Gettysburg from 1st to 3rd July 1863. It claimed the lives of thousands of soldiers from both sides. The union’s victory here marked a turning point of the war, which officially ended in 1865.

The Address & The Greek Influence

According to literary research done on this piece, Lincoln’s elegiac speech at Gettysburg was modelled on the ancient Greek politician and general Pericles’ epitaphios logos (Athenian funeral speech). Even though his address was brief (in comparison to the Greek format), he still successfully managed to encapsulate the essential reference to the circle of life (as birth, death, and rebirth).

“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” (excerpt from Gettysburg Address)

The Gettysburg Address begins with a recollection of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the birth of America. It alludes to the struggles of the founding fathers who built this nation on the principles of universal equality and freedom.

Paying his homage to the deceased, he then proceeds to declare that the thousands lost to death on this battlefield have replenished the American soil with their selfless sacrifice. This sacrifice has not only prolonged the nation’s life, but also presented it with a fair chance of renewal.

Lincoln further reinforces the idea of rebirth when he says that this second chance must not be taken for granted, but incentivise us to work together “that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” (excerpt from the Gettysburg Address)

Beacon of hope

With the struggle of war at its climax Lincoln’s speech was a beacon of hope for the thousands who were gripped by the feeling of impending doom. It revived the national ideals of freedom, and justice amid circumstances that had torn the country into pieces.

Since delivered this speech in particular has gone on to become one of the most powerful statements in the English language. Its brevity and intelligent word play has enabled it to cement its place as one of the most important expressions of liberty and equality.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. While giving this iconic speech the President was interrupted five times with the audiences’ applause.

2. Edward Everett (the featured speaker for the event) immediately afterward wrote to Lincoln: “I wish that I could flatter myself that I had come as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes.”

Picture Credit : Google 

WHO WAS CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN?

Charles Robert Darwin was the father of evolution. The English naturalist, biologist and geologist may have devoted his lifetime to science, but he was also a romantic, a doting father and possessed a gentle disposition.

Darwin’s journey to being history’s favorite  biologist, however, had strange twists and turns. He tried to study medicine, but gave it up to pursue theology at Christ College. Cambridge.

But the study of the divine could not contain his ever inquisitive mind. While in college, he devoured journals and books in botany and geology in his free time. He loved gardening and had a special interest in collecting beetles. He learnt physics and geometry with great enthusiasm and noted down his observations diligently.

Darwin took great delight in William Wordsworth and ST Coleridge’s poetry, claiming to have read Wordsworth’s long poem Excursion twice. His favourite work of literature, however, was Paradise Lost by John Milton, which he carried along with him on his first voyage to South America in 1831 as a scientist in training to assist his mentor, botanist, geologist and priest John Henslow.

He nurtured a habit of writing, too. A meticulous diarist, he kept recording daily events, both scientific and personal. For six years of his life – between 40 and 46 years – he even made notes of his illnesses. He wrote about battling insomnia, restlessness, stomach pain, dizziness, rashes and melancholy among other issues.

He married the love of his life, Emma and had ten children with her. “Children are one of life’s greatest joys,” he wrote to a friend. The cover pages of the original manuscript draft of his iconic work, On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, contain a number of doodles by his children. While many are caricatures of Darwin himself, one depicts a vegetable war – turnips, carrots, eggplant and more engaged in a fierce battle, while another shows a bright green frog, wearing pink shoes on an outing, carrying a blue umbrella. These drawings have been digitized by the American Museum of Natural History.

It took Darwin 20 years to publish his momentous work, On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. On November 24, 1859, it appeared in bookstores in England. Priced at 15 shillings a copy, all the 1,250 copies were sold out on that very day. The book is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology, a revolutionary work that changed the course of science.

What truly kept Darwin going was his unrelenting passion for the natural world: He took in everything with childlike interest. On his first journey to South America, to study the natural world, he was extremely sea-sick. But he religiously collected birds, plants, skeletons, lizards, fossils and small animals, converting the ship into a museum of specimens.

Picture Credit : Google 

WHAT IS THE CRICKET JOURNEY OF YASH DHULL?

For all Indian cricket lovers, one name would be under a perpetual scanner during this year’s Indian Premier League – Yash Vijay Dhull. The 19-year-old cricketer from Delhi has announced his entry into senior cricket with a big bang.

Having led the India Under-19 team to a World Cup victory, Yash made his Ranji Trophy debut for Delhi on 17 February 2022 against Tamil Nadu at Guwahati and scored 113 runs in the very first innings. What was more remarkable about the innings was that he came to the crease with Delhi having lost two wickets with the total at just seven runs. Yash played a matured innings which was quite in keeping with the maturity of an experienced cricketer. He came back in the second innings as an opening batsman to score yet another century in the second innings, 113 not out to be precise. Consequently, he became only the third player in the history of the Ranji Trophy to score a century in each innings on debut. In the process, he also had an unbroken partnership of 228 runs with Dhruv Shorey who remained unbeaten on 107.

Yash joined a select band which has only Nari Jamshedji Contractor of Gujarat and Virag Sripad Awate of Maharashtra on the list. Nari Contractor had scores of 152 and 102 in 1952-53 while Virag Awate had scored 126 and 11, in 2012-13. However, cricket is a great leveller, as they say. In the next Ranji match, Yash could muster just 24 runs in two completed innings but Yash Dhull being Yash Dhull came back into his own in the second innings of his third Ranji match. He scored a modest 29 runs in the first innings but in the second he scored an unbeaten double hundred to save the Delhi team from defeat.

So at the time of this article going to press, in four completed Ranji Trophy innings Yash has scored 479 as an average of 119.75. What more can one expect from a 19-year old? In 2021, Yash led the Under-19 Indian team to a title victory in the Asia Cricket Championship and again this year in the World Cricket Championship, played in the West Indies. Consequently, when the International Cricket Council announced its Under-19 team, it named Yash as its skipper.

In the West Indies, the Under-19 Indian team suffered a severe drawback when five of the team members tested positive for Covid. The five included the team’s captain and vice-captain. Despite this, the Indian boys made it to the semi-final without losing a single match. When Yash joined the team, he celebrated it with a century against Australia and then the final title victory against England. In the World Cup Yash scored a total of 229 runs at an average of 76.33 per innings. Apart from exhibiting his batting talent, Yash exhibited the coolness of a Dhoni in leading the team. It only augurs well for the future of Indian cricket.

In eight Under-19 ODIS in which Yash has played, he has scored a total of 281 runs with a century and a half century to maintain a healthy average of 46.83. With such credentials, Yash Dhull’s purchase in the 2022 version of the Indian Premier League was a foregone conclusion and Delhi Capitals was quick to include Yash in its team at a purchase price of Rs 50 lakh.

Yash was born to Neelam and Vijay Dhull on 11 November 2002 in New Delhi. He had his schooling in Bal Bhawan Public School and started playing cricket from the age of six. He was coached at the Bal Bhawan Cricket Academy by Pradeep Koachar.

Yash has a remarkable patience for his age. While Delhi coach, Raj Kumar Sharma, feels that Yash should get a quick inclusion in the Indian senior team, Yash, himself, is of the opinion that he would be playing in the Indian senior team in another 18 to 24 months with a lot of runs scored behind him to put forth his claim.

Nari Contractor’s career had a sad end when a ball from West Indian fast bowler, Charlie Griffith, hit him on the head. Contractor averaged just about 32 runs in Test matches and less than 40 in First Class matches. Virag Awate made his Ranji debut at the ripe age of 31 years and his career ended after playing just seven First Class matches, scoring at an average of just above 32. However, Yash makes his First Class entry under totally different conditions. He will have a helmet to protect his head and he starts at the young age of just 19.

Playing in the IPL, Yash will have another advantage over Contractor and Awate. He would be facing quality international bowlers that would help him fine tune his batting. It is only a matter of time before Yash Dhull would be playing alongside the likes of Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant, but in him also lies the potential to lead the Indian senior team someday.

Picture Credit : Google 

WHO IS WORLD’S NUMBER ONE SCHOLAR?

Dr.Bhim Rao Ambedkar declared no. 1 scholar in world by colombia University. He was a world-class lawyer, social reformer and number one world-class scholar as per the Ministry of Social Justice, Government of India. Ambedkar graduated from Elphinstone College, University of Bombay, and studied economics at Columbia University and the London School of Economics, receiving doctorates in 1927 and 1923 respectively and was among a handful of Indian students to have done so at either institution in the 1920s. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar is remembered as one of the most respected and revered leaders India has ever produced. To the young and old alike, he is an icon of equality, fraternity and social justice. He advocated politics with values, democracy with fraternity, and religion with social responsibility.

Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born on 14 April 1891 at Mhow, in the Central Province (presently Madhya Pradesh). He was the fourteenth and the last child Ramji Maloji Sakpal and Bhimabai Sakpal. Bhimrao was a brilliant student who earned two doctorates in Economics from the prestigious Columbia University and the London School of Economics. He was a well-known statesman, ambitious leader, erudite economist, expert jurist, dynamic journalist, brilliant scholar, prolific writer and social reformer, all capsuled into one. As the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution, he was its principal architect. He championed the cause of the Dalits, women, the poor and other socially backward people of India. He was the first law minister of independent India. After a prolonged illness, he died in the year 1956, a few months after converting to Buddhism. The country honoured him with the highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, posthumously in 1990.

Coming from a poor and backward class who were treated as untouchables, the Ambedkar family was exposed to the sheer brutality of the caste system and its atrocities in life. The bitter experiences in life gave him enough fire to burn with the desire for social justice and equality and shape him as a social reformer. He campaigned against social discrimination towards the untouchables of his time. He condemned child marriage and the mistreatment of women in society. He vociferously crusaded against the caste system in India. He fought for the legal protection of the Dalits, and for equality of opportunities through the reservation system. He inspired millions and represented the voice W for self-respect, intolerance of injustice, and struggle against social and economic oppressions.

As a political philosopher and architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr Ambedkar had a prophetic vision of how political parties, down the decades, would use caste and creed to influence voters. Perhaps the India of today is what Dr Ambedkar had feared seven decades ago.

Picture Credit : Google 

Which president was a great wrestler?

You might be aware that Abraham Lincoln served as the 16th president of the United States and also that he was assassinated in 1865. But did you know that the American statesman was also an accomplished wrestler? As a young man standing at six feet four inches tall, he participated in local wrestling competitions for over a decade and rarely lost any of the bouts. He was also said to be good at running, jumping and pitching the crowbar. He was recognised by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, which inducted him as an “Outstanding American” in the sport in 1992.

During the seven years he lived in the small town of New Salem, Illinois, where he learned to be a lawyer, Lincoln took part in the local activity of wrestling. All of the men in town participated, so Lincoln felt he should too. No one thought a six foot four tall man could wrestle well, but he did. In seven years, he won 299 out of 300 recorded fought matches. Not too shabby for a lanky fellow.

He even became a hometown hero after defeating local bully Jack Armstrong. Ironically, Lincoln defended Armstrong in a court case in the next few years. Lincoln was seemingly a natural born leader. With his ability to command a room, give a powerful speech and negotiate, he is regarded as one of the best presidents in American history. As a leader, Lincoln was determined to hold together a nation that was falling apart at the seams.

Picture Credit : Google