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Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu’s journey from an Olympic failure to becoming a three-time Commonwealth Games champion has inspired Ankur Warikoo. At 21, she failed all three attempts at the 2016 Olympics and considered quitting. She later won World Championship gold, Olympic silver at Tokyo 2020 and Commonwealth golds in 2018, 2022 and 2026. Warikoo’s key lesson: a setback becomes an ending only when you accept it as one.

A Chennai couple was laid off after building a Rs 1.7 crore financial corpus and paying off their home. According to Gurgaon-based financial content creator Amit Arora, they spend around Rs 9 lakh annually and are considering living partly on investment income. Their plan is to use 35-40% of interest income and reinvest the rest. However, inflation remains a major concern as they assess whether their corpus can support them for 30-40 years.

Anand Mahindra recently praised Udaipur’s Old City, highlighting its narrow lanes, cleanliness and old-world charm. Founded in 1553 by Maharana Udai Singh II, Udaipur is known as the ‘Venice of the East’ and is surrounded by the Aravallis. Rajasthan Tourism highlights attractions including Lake Pichola, City Palace, Monsoon Palace and Jaisamand Lake. Mahindra believes the historic city deserves attention comparable to Europe’s medieval towns.

In a 2011 interview with Parade, Brad Pitt said he valued satisfaction over happiness and described family as a risky venture because deeper love also means greater potential loss. He praised Angelina Jolie as a devoted mother and spoke warmly about their children. Years later, their relationship ended in divorce, while their daughter Vivienne has sought to legally remove Pitt from her surname, adding new context to Pitt's reflections on love and family.

Married at 15 and widowed at 18 with a young daughter, A Lalitha refused to let social expectations decide her future. With her father’s support, she resumed her education and chose engineering so she could become financially independent while raising her daughter. In 1940, she entered the all-male College of Engineering, Guindy, after authorities approved women’s admission. She later became India’s first female engineer, breaking barriers in education and engineering.

The 1968 soulful version of California Dreamin' by José Feliciano found new life thanks to Quentin Tarantino's use of the track in his 2019 film set in the heart of 1969's Los Angeles. By intertwining the song with his cinematic vision, Tarantino introduced Feliciano's artistry to a diverse global audience. Read on!

Scarlett Johansson’s quote about looking good highlights that fitness does not come from quick fixes or miracle solutions. Speaking while preparing to play Black Widow in Iron Man 2, Johansson stressed the importance of commitment, consistency, healthy eating and regular exercise. The remark also came as she pushed back against tabloid claims about extreme weight loss and crash dieting.

Listening to music while working may seem like an easy way to stay focused, but songs with lyrics can give the brain another stream of information to process. Research has found that lyrical music can interfere with tasks involving memory and language, while instrumental music appears to have a smaller effect. The impact still depends on the type of work and the person, but demanding tasks may be better suited to instrumental music or silence.

In 1892, Laura J. Eisenhuth, a schoolteacher and educator from North Dakota, became the first woman in the United States elected to a statewide office. At a time when women across most of the country had limited voting rights, North Dakota allowed women to vote on school matters, making the state superintendent's election one of the few statewide contests in which they could participate.

In 1950, a US Air Force Douglas C-54 Skymaster disappeared over Canada’s Yukon with 44 people aboard, including a pregnant military wife, her toddler son and her husband’s close friend. The aircraft was never found despite a huge search operation, and investigators still do not know whether it crashed in the mountains, was buried under snow or ice, or suffered another fate.

A former futon salesman from Tacoma had little interest in mathematics before a violent attack outside a bar in 2002. After suffering a brain injury, he began seeing everyday objects as geometric patterns and became deeply drawn to mathematics. Researchers later linked his unusual abilities to acquired savant syndrome and synesthesia.

Robin Williams quote of the day: Robin Williams once spoke about the powerful role love can play in giving life a fresh direction, reflecting on lessons from his own marriages. He believed that finding love later in life can hold a deeper meaning, especially after experiencing heartbreak and loss. His words serve as a reminder that difficult endings do not have to mark the end of one’s journey, and that new beginnings in love can bring renewed hope and purpose.