One of my earliest memories when I was young was being taught the virtue of hard work. My family and society emphasized working for the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden. I am thinking in particular of my grandparents who lived through the Indian struggle for independence led by Mahatma Gandhi. My grandparents were very […]
Tag Archives: Bertrand Russell
Why I got robbed and what you can learn from it
What follows below is my personal experience: A person whom I thought was my friend kidnapped me and forced me to sign away a large part of my savings which were held in the form of equity shares traded on the stock exchange. I had made the mistake of boasting about my shareholdings to this […]
How to deal with Self Deception
This article relates to philosophical and spiritual concepts. Be warned. You might find it heavy going. If you have any questions just ask. The first concept relates to what spiritual growth consists of. Spirituality consists of freeing yourself from the ego. It does consist of trying to make the ego perfect. If you read self […]
The Debt I Owe Bertrand Russell
For those of you who haven’t heard of Bertrand Russell the following few sentences will suffice. He was a great mathematician and one of the greatest philosophers of modern times. And what can I say about his family. Will Durant writes in The Story of Philosophy: For he belongs to the Russells, one of the […]
The Appropriate Response to Fanaticism
This is going to be a short article as whatever I have to say has, I think, been said by two of the greatest philosophers of history. The question is – Should fanaticism be opposed with fanaticism or should it be opposed through democratic means? In India, in the decades past, there was a tit […]
On Marriage – Some Comments
I have the reputation of being a controversial and notorious person. Much of it is to do with my open attitude to sex and marriage although I did behave in eccentric ways otherwise when I was young. So you would expect me to write about why I am still single earlier than today. But it […]
The Cause of Religious Persecutions
A cousin of mine and I were discussing religion. I take spirituality seriously and told him that all religious traditions have produced enlightened mystics. “By their fruits shall you know them”, as the Bible says. My cousin countered by pointing out that there have been many wars fought over religion and millions of innocent people […]
Why is Humility Desirable
I would like to give my opinion on the trait of Humility. This quality has been overvalued in India as far as my experience goes. As far as I have been able to make out the reasons why humility is valued here are as under: India is a feudal society and is a land of […]
Another day, Another Article
This is another article that I am writing because I have to update my blog on a weekly basis. I have not thought of anything beforehand that I thought was worthwhile for me to write about. I am just typing out my thoughts as I am thinking them just now. I’ll start with saying that […]
Public Opinion and Career options
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. […]