I reread before writing this article, the chapter on Public Opinion, in Bertrand Russell’s classic book – The Conquest of Happiness. If I were to do you the most amount of good, I would say, “read the book” and end this article here. There is nothing I can add to what has been said there. […]
Category Archives: Self Help
Are we too sensitive to what people say?
I have had the reputation of a controversial person, maybe even a scoundrel, for a major part of my life. I might have changed but the reputation about me didn’t. Only now, perhaps, are people beginning to treat me with respect (at least in Khar, Mumbai where I live). Believe me it is not too […]
What to do when you are Depressed
The whole day today – Sunday, 7 March 2021 – I was feeling a little depressed and low. I had a list of things to do even on Sunday and I could not bring myself to do them. In the ordinary course I would beat up on myself for feeling depressed. And feel even more […]
My Reading Habits
I am 56 years old as of Sunday and have only the fact that I like reading books to point to as being an achievement of mine. So I thought that I should write about why and how I read. Perhaps it will be of use to some youngster who is making his (or her) […]
The Arabian Nights and Romantic Movies
I am reading The Arabian Nights after having bought the book more than 10 years ago. And it is a completely different point of view to the modern view of equality of the sexes and in particular, the stories that we see in romantic movies – both Bollywood and Hollywood. I will not address the […]
India’s Test Series win in Australia
This has nothing to do with the main topics I write about in this blog but I can’t resist writing about our test series victory in Australia. The reasons why this victory is special are threefold: firstly, it was an overseas win; next it was against a full-strength Australian team which is one of the […]
The Self Immolation of Thich Quang Duc
I had written an article last in April last year on why there is suffering in this world. Here is a link to that article Responding to that my niece sent me a WA message. Here is the message and my response to it My Niece: I would argue that suffering is a human construct. […]
Another Hodgepodge of Thoughts
I am sitting in front of the computer screen not knowing what I should write. Normally I have a good idea about what I want to say but today being a bit busy I have not been able to organise my thoughts to write a coherent blog post. But I need to maintain my goal […]
More on Envy
Why is there so much envy in India? According to Gurcharan Das, the well known author, the cause of envy in India is socialism. According to him in his book, The Difficulty of Being Good, If greed is the sin of capitalism then envy is the vice of socialism. When I was young Indira Gandhi […]
Guarding against Envy
I want in this article to summarize a few points that Francis Bacon makes in his essay on Envy. There is a link to the full essay at the end of this article. Please read the original essay. It is heavy going but it is less than 5 pages and Francis Bacon understood human nature. […]