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The South
Asian Life & Times - SALT |
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Cover Story
Tech Stories 2011 Adventure &
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Vishnu - Hinduism's
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The Modern Renaissance
Man
Described by many as the conscience-keeper of the
nation, Dr Karan Singh has inspired generations to a deeper appreciation of
our responsibility to the nation, to society, and to the environment. His
mastery of multiple disciplines – including Literature, Music, and Arts –
together with his curiosity about the world, makes him a unique phenomenon.
A prince-poet-philosopher-politician, he has set the gold standard for all
of us – especially the politicians and those in position of power. Dr Karan Singh was born on March 9, 1931 in Cannes,
France, the only son of the ruling family of the State of Jammu & Kashmir,
one of the largest of the hundreds of Indian States within the British
Empire. His father was Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of Jammu & Kashmir,
and he was hence born a Crown Prince – Yuvraj Karan Singh. He was only
eighteen when he was appointed Sadar-i-Riyasat (Regent) in 1949 and served
the State in that capacity and as Governor for the next eighteen years of
his life. Having joined the Congress party, he was at the age of 36, the
youngest person ever to become a Central Cabinet Minister and headed, at
various times, the ministries of Tourism & Civil Aviation, Health and Family
Planning, and Education and Culture. Currently, he is MP in the Rajya Sabha,
President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), India's
Ambassador to UNESCO, Chairman of the Auroville Foundation and of the Temple
of Understanding, and the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Cell of the
Congress Party. Dr Karan Singh received the Padma Vibhushan in 2005. Educated at Doon School in Dehradun, he earned his
graduate, post-graduate, and doctoral degrees from Delhi University. He is
the only former ruler of a princely state to have voluntarily surrendered
his privy purse. He put the entire sum into the Hari-Tara Charitable Trust,
named after his parents, in 1969 – long before the Privy Purse was
abolished.
A revered
scholar and an educationist, Dr Karan Singh has been the Chancellor of the
Jammu and Kashmir University, the Banaras Hindu University, and Jawaharlal
Nehru University. He heads several interfaith organisations, is an avid
reader, a writer, a vocalist, a composer, and more. He is as much at home
with Dogri folk songs and devotional hymns as he is with Dire Straits, and
Dave Brubeck. Today, at the age of 8o, he is till politically
active and most certainly has the most eclectic, the longest, the most
meaningful, and an absolutely spotless resume in the entire Indian
parliament. Roopa Bakshi talks to the modern renaissance man Dr Karan Singh in a wide-ranging conversation about the state of the nation. A scholar of religion, passionate about interfaith harmony, Dr Karan Singh speaks on contemporary politics, the importance of value-based education, and the need for consensus in our society.
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