Worldly people who would blush at voicing such ignorance and prejudice about other countries seem blithely content to make an exception of France.

ECONOMIST: If in doubt, bash the French

Many are worldly people turned ascetics eking out spartan lives as kalpavasis (those who spend their days in silent prayer) at the ongoing Kumbh Mela, the biggest religious gathering in the world.

BBC: Kumbh Mela festival

Still, anyone who thinks that Muslims will be discouraged from making the haj is underestimating the appeal of a spiritual journey in which people forget their worldly concerns and share the hazards and joys of voyaging and praying with their co-religionists.

ECONOMIST: Health and the haj

As formal education took hold, Latin language and literature studies introduced young people to a second, more worldly experience of reading one that, offered in the name of the time-honored tradition of the classical education, did not seem incompatible with their Bible studies.

NPR: Excerpt: 'Minders of Make-Believe'

Mr Izetbegovic's career showed that his aspirations for his people were not always benign and other-worldly.

ECONOMIST: Alija Izetbegovic

Reports that these people knew nothing of the pay deal made them look at best other-worldly, at worst negligent.

ECONOMIST: The New York Stock Exchange

People from rural areas tend to be the most fluent in Kazakh, but they are the least worldly of the population and lack the cultural awareness that the intelligentsia values.

ECONOMIST: Kazakhstan