A glimpse in the evolution of the man known as Naipaul
This is a good book if you want to see what makes someone who is hell-bent to become a good writer, to actually succeed and achieve his dream. I think Naipaul's father was a brilliant man, who nurtured, supported and provided much needed confidence to a man who would eventually become a nobel prize winning author.
The time span of the book covers early young life of Naipaul, in the early 20s and you see many immature statements made in the book. The problem with Naipaul is that he was produced in a society where bars were set by the white men. You see in the book how Naipaul is always trying to do things in a way that will help him compete in the world he inherited. I do not blame him for that.
For example when Naipaul quotes and agrees with Huxley - "He said that it was half-diets that produced ascetics and people who spend all their time in meditation". That is such a simplistic materialistic western view point and completely invalidated by such a obvious example as Gautham Buddha, who quit his kingdom to explore the nature of human existence.
The genius of Naipaul is in his ability to come out of his cultural conditioning and try to see the world as objectively as possible. His observations on the British people are very interesting. This book gives you a glimpse on how a father, son duo overcame the insurmountable barriers to success to achieve their dreams.
On the other hand the weakness of Naipaul is in his inability to come out of what I would call for a lack of better words - white ass kissing attitude. All that glitters is not gold may be a cliche, but it is an apt commentary on the western world. You will not get such insights from Naipaul.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Monday, September 05, 2011
Why India will never be a major power in the world ?
Many people hype the notion of the BRIC economies and surmise that India will be a superpower in the next 50 years. Here I will state some of the reasons, which in my view, hinder India's dominance in the world stage.
In order to become a major world power, a country should be able to set an agenda at the world stage. Since 1000 AD, Indians have always fell prey to the foreign powers, be it the intruders from the middle east or the white powers from the seas. Indians have not set any agenda at the world stage in the last 1000 years. They have always followed the agendas set by other people.
Besides, there are structural and institutional problems in Indian society that will impede its ability to become a major world power. First, Indians lack structured thinking. This comes from the beliefs people have about the world in which they live. When you believe in multitude of gods, it makes nice stories for young kids, but it hampers your ability to group the society together on the basis of common belief and attack the enemy, rather than be attacked as has always happened with India.
The above does not mean that individual Indians will not shine in the world. In fact individually Indians will do very well, as they have all the abilities that others in the world have once they realize their potential. It is just that in order to become a major world power, a society needs to have a cohesive outlook about itself. This is sadly lacking in the Indian society. In India people see themselves as members of a group, clan or caste. This division in the society is not conducive to putting an organized complete interface for the rest of the world. Indians are too divided as a race and people to be a threat to the rest of the world.
Because historically, India has always suffered defeat in the war with foreign powers, the Indians lack confidence that is needed to be a nation that is a superpower in the world. The upper classes in India created a society based on varna which in the long run turned out be their greatest undoing. As foreigners with ever fairer skin appeared the Indians looked up to them, rather than looking down on them. These are not the characteristics that one hopes to see in the citizens of a country wanting to be a superpower.
In order to become a major world power, a country should be able to set an agenda at the world stage. Since 1000 AD, Indians have always fell prey to the foreign powers, be it the intruders from the middle east or the white powers from the seas. Indians have not set any agenda at the world stage in the last 1000 years. They have always followed the agendas set by other people.
Besides, there are structural and institutional problems in Indian society that will impede its ability to become a major world power. First, Indians lack structured thinking. This comes from the beliefs people have about the world in which they live. When you believe in multitude of gods, it makes nice stories for young kids, but it hampers your ability to group the society together on the basis of common belief and attack the enemy, rather than be attacked as has always happened with India.
The above does not mean that individual Indians will not shine in the world. In fact individually Indians will do very well, as they have all the abilities that others in the world have once they realize their potential. It is just that in order to become a major world power, a society needs to have a cohesive outlook about itself. This is sadly lacking in the Indian society. In India people see themselves as members of a group, clan or caste. This division in the society is not conducive to putting an organized complete interface for the rest of the world. Indians are too divided as a race and people to be a threat to the rest of the world.
Because historically, India has always suffered defeat in the war with foreign powers, the Indians lack confidence that is needed to be a nation that is a superpower in the world. The upper classes in India created a society based on varna which in the long run turned out be their greatest undoing. As foreigners with ever fairer skin appeared the Indians looked up to them, rather than looking down on them. These are not the characteristics that one hopes to see in the citizens of a country wanting to be a superpower.
Religion
The first principle of any religion is - "No improvisation". If one looks at any other area of human endeavor, one finds a constant aspiration to do things better. It could be the technology that we use in our every day lives or even the way we manage relationships around ourselves. The goal is always to improve things.
On the other hand most religions of the world are static fixed systems. If you try to go from your religion today to your religion 2.0, you will face very stiff resistance. In some religions you may even risk your life.
Why do then religions find such a large following. In my view people who are easiest prey to a religious order are those that are emotionally lonely and without love from family and their immediate surroundings. Such people try to find love of a god that is unseen and that is just an abstract idea for the most human beings. There is a line from a popular Hindi film song that echoes this very well - one who has nobody is looked after by God. The devotional worship and unthinking belief in old scriptures written in a different era fill the void in such people's lives.
Even when there have been some religions that were essentially version 2.0 of what was being practiced in their societies before, these became static and fixed once they became popular. I will not name anything here. You should be able to find out yourself.
On the other hand most religions of the world are static fixed systems. If you try to go from your religion today to your religion 2.0, you will face very stiff resistance. In some religions you may even risk your life.
Why do then religions find such a large following. In my view people who are easiest prey to a religious order are those that are emotionally lonely and without love from family and their immediate surroundings. Such people try to find love of a god that is unseen and that is just an abstract idea for the most human beings. There is a line from a popular Hindi film song that echoes this very well - one who has nobody is looked after by God. The devotional worship and unthinking belief in old scriptures written in a different era fill the void in such people's lives.
Even when there have been some religions that were essentially version 2.0 of what was being practiced in their societies before, these became static and fixed once they became popular. I will not name anything here. You should be able to find out yourself.
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
The need for a new Religion
It has been a long time since a new religion was founded. I think the modern times demand a modern religion. It is pathetic that the modern man is so spiritually primitive that while flying planes and using Internet he or she continues to believe in ancient religions that were founded in the middle ages and that used fear to subjugate men
Friday, January 28, 2011
America's "you too" culture
Most Americans are happy not to take the conversation beyond "you too". Everybody is busy in their work and trying to make money. Everybody seems to be super driven to succeed materialistically. Do they really find peace and happiness in all this can be questionable. But at least the system has united people in the pursuit of money. And this keeps the tensions among people to a minimum. Whereas in other societies of the world, there are primitive people still fighting over which god is the true god. In America, we can do away with that fight, which still seems evolutionary to me.
The problem - if one may think of that as a problem - is that in America people have compartmentalized their lives too much. A typical thinking of a typical American is like this -"This is work, and I should not mix with people here." These are my co-workers first and human beings later, attitude. This has made the quality of day to day living so poor. That you wonder what the ultimate goal of life is for these people.
Everybody in America have their little plans to make a lot of money. That is the holy grail of American way of life. That gives you access to women, wealth and big and or fast things - Big house, Big cars etc etc. The bigger the better. This phenomenon of bigness is not confined to the desire to want to own big things. Everything in America is big. If you go the superstore you get surprised by the bigness of the produce, though the food does not taste as good as it does in the old world countries that still use old methods. The size has replaced the soul of everything in the U.S. if I may be allowed to put it this way.
The problem - if one may think of that as a problem - is that in America people have compartmentalized their lives too much. A typical thinking of a typical American is like this -"This is work, and I should not mix with people here." These are my co-workers first and human beings later, attitude. This has made the quality of day to day living so poor. That you wonder what the ultimate goal of life is for these people.
Everybody in America have their little plans to make a lot of money. That is the holy grail of American way of life. That gives you access to women, wealth and big and or fast things - Big house, Big cars etc etc. The bigger the better. This phenomenon of bigness is not confined to the desire to want to own big things. Everything in America is big. If you go the superstore you get surprised by the bigness of the produce, though the food does not taste as good as it does in the old world countries that still use old methods. The size has replaced the soul of everything in the U.S. if I may be allowed to put it this way.
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