Design & People
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Sort By Authors: Ravindra Ranasinha | Sethu Das

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The Land Minds of Sri Lanka
Soon after the killing of Lasantha Wikramatunge, Editor of 'The Sunday Leader', by the Sri Lankan government forces, Design & People Co-Founder Sethu Das travelled to Sri Lanka to meet with Ravindra Ranasinha, one of Lasantha's close associates in journalism and a known Sinhalese theatre activist.
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Hind Swaraj and Common Sense
Even after years, two political pamphlets continue to inspire people all over the world. Sethu Das of Design & People looks at Mahatma Gandhi's 'Hind Swaraj' or 'Indian Home Rule' and Thomas Paine's 'Common Sense' — two historic Pamphlets that changed the fate of two colonies forever.
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When Mont Blanc Ink Runs Through Father Of A Nation
Not many designers understand that meanings and interpretations are meaningless if the sole purpose of design is only to empower the elite and the powerful section of a society, argues Sethu Das of Design & People while presenting the case of Mont Blanc Mahatma Gandhi Limited Edition 241.
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People's Own Fortune Tellers and Story Tellers
Sometimes unpredictable events lead to favorable outcomes. Sethu Das of Design & People tells us how fortunate he was to meet with Anubrotto Kumar Roy, popularly known as Dunu Roy — India's own story teller whose stories are centered around the wisdom of the ordinary people.
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The Plural Society in Modern Sri Lanka
Veteran Sri Lankan theatre activist Ravindra Ranasinha focuses on pluralism that is evident in the Sri Lankan society that proves of an untapped resource with immense potentiality. He feels that if properly understood, this multiculturalism could be made a focal point in bringing peace and harmony to the much damaged country.
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The Politics of Not-So Creative Billboards
From Alaska to Mumbai, concerned individuals and organisations fight not only for clean air and clean water, but also for a clean environment sans billboards. Sethu Das of Design & People looks at the politics of advertisement billboards and their impact on people and society.
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Laurie Baker — Poetry In Mud
With the passing away of Laurie Baker in 2007, Indian architecture has lost its breath of fresh air in a man who single-handedly gave Indian architecture and low-cost construction a new approach, a new meaning, a new dimension. Suku Dass of Design & People caught up with Laurie Baker in June 2006. Excerpts from the interview.
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Genden Choephel — the 'Mad Monk'
Shortly after the military occupation of Tibet, the unorthodox Tibetan monk Gendun Choephel passed away. He supposedly concluded on the political events in Tibet by saying: "Now we are fucked!". Sethu Das of Design & People pays tribute to the controversial but one of the most important Tibetan intellectuals of the 20th century.
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Multi-Culturalism or Mono-Culture: A Quest in Sri Lanka
Ravindra Ranasinha looks at the Sri Lankan society and shares the view that the war in the island would end up with crushing of the LTTE, thus expecting the rise of a dominant mono-culture of the Sinhala community. Soon after, the government declared the end of the civil war with the killing of Velupillai Prabhakaran.
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October 25, 1920: Remembering Terence MacSwiney
During the hunger strike a young MacSwiney said: "I am confident that my death will do more to smash the British Empire than my release." Sethu Das of Design & People remembers Terence MacSwiney (1879-1920), IRA Commanding Officer who died on the 74th day of his hunger strike in London's Brixton Prison — without giving up!
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"Newspapers are unable, seemingly to discriminate between a bicycle accident and the collapse of a civilisation."
George Bernard Shaw

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