I am – and I think almost all of us are – a man of fixed and settled opinions. I have a view of myself and of the world that is clearly defined and which has helped me deal with the world and survive. So if someone tells me something that is opposed to my […]
Author Archives: nikhilmg
On Living with Women
I have six articles already written out and I thought today that I would publish one of them. But in the meantime I read a few pages of Lin Yutang’s classic book – The Importance of Living. And I came across a passage that is so relevant and meaningful that I decided to make that […]
Dealing with Terror Outfits
The best way to deal with drug barons, terror outfits and professional criminals (by that I mean persons who commit crimes for a living) generally speaking is to lock them up. However, if the criminal justice system is unable to do that then the following may be useful. There is a famous sentence in Edward […]
The Debt we owe to the British
It is the common narrative in India to blame the British for much, if not all, of our present ills. I remember going to my bank and striking up a conversation with a lady officer. She said plaintively that the British had exploited us for decades and owe their present wealth to what they had […]
On Nation Building – Some Comments
Here are some remarks related to nation building that may give food for thought: For starters you might wish to go through an earlier blog of mine. Link is below. You can ignore most of the article and only read the last few paragraphs. Confucius’ succinct thoughts were implemented by the Chinese and this created […]
The Advantages Of Being Useless
I have been fascinated by Chinese philosophy ever since I read Lin Yu Tang and Bertrand Russell in my early twenties. The Chinese were isolated from Europe and the rest of the world for many centuries and thus they had to and did come up with independent responses to the challenges of human life. Theirs […]
Advice to all 20 Year Olds
Having survived and reached the age of almost 60 years (more by luck than by judgment and by the unfailing generosity of my family) I am in a good position to know what mistakes I made and what I would tell a 20 year old version of myself. The life lessons (not in any particular […]
I almost got my hand chopped off
In the 1990s, for various reasons, I wanted desperately to go and work in the Gulf countries. My career was not going too well in India and I was not enjoying my work. In addition, I had offended powerful people in Mumbai who wanted me out of the city. I had been diagnosed with a […]
What we can learn from Diogenes
Everybody knows who Diogenes was. There is a famous anecdote regarding him and Alexander the Great that is related in Plutarch’s Lives: … While Alexander stayed here many public ministers and philosophers came from all parts to visit him and congratulated him on his election, but contrary to his expectation, Diogenes of Sinope, who then […]
The Hijab Controversy – Some Comments
There are protests in India and in Iran over the wearing of Hijab. In today’s newspaper it was reported that there have been deaths of two young women in Iran since the protests broke out. Here is my view on this matter: I will start by saying that I have not lived in Iran or […]