Tenzin Seldon, a senior and a comparative-studies major from India, was one of five Rhodes Scholars chosen from Stanford this year.

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Then, at a friend's house in the South of France, Tenzin popped into his life again, this time in the form of one of his maze-patterned rugs.

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He got in touch with Tenzin and spent the next six months looking for design inspiration in everything from flea-market cast-offs to old brickwork and Raoul Dufy paintings.

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Tenzin Atisha, an official in the exiled government, who has sat opposite Mr Zhu in occasional fruitless talks (the most recent of them two years ago), remains optimistic.

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