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sashank_1509Sep 2024

Have you read any books at all by Indians who lived through the British empire. Maybe start with “My Experiments with Truth” by Gandhi. The caricature that some modern Indians have made of the British empire would make even Gandhi turn in his grave.

But if you want to read something really heretic, maybe try reading An autobiography of an unknown Indian by Niraj Choudhary. Choudhary was a British raj supporter, as in an Indian who opposed Indian independence. Does that shock you? There were actually quite a lot of them, more than you’d expect.

Then if you want to get really metal, read in his own words, by Subedar Sitaram Pande. Sitaram Pande, was a soldier for the bengal army, for the British empire from 1812 to 1860, it’s one of the rare first author accounts we get of an Indian in that era. It will give you a glimpse of how an Indian at that time thought generally (hint: it was far more dominated by caste than you’d expect), how he viewed the empire and his relation to it. At that point I would say you are ready to try to understand Indian history that is not an avengers movie plot.

I would follow it with CK Majumdars history of modern India, one of the best historians so committed to the truth that Nehru had to throw him out of the government and try to prevent him from writing his book. Don’t worry, he’s not an heretic, he was an Indian freedom fighter, but you will find that he was far more honest about his life under Britain, under Indian national Congress and the state of the country in different periods of time (he also has a 12 volume set covering India for over 2000 years that I never had a chance to complete).

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suchoudhMay 2019

My Experiments with Truth - Mahatma Ghandhi Autobiography of a Yogi - Beyond the last blue mountain - RM Lala (on JRD Tata) The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin O Manas ke Hans (Hindi biography of Ramkrishna Paramhans who was the guru of Shri Vivekanand) Narendra Modi - nilanjan mukhopadhyay Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel - kaushal goyal Steve Jobs - Issacson

(While writing i realized that since last one year my outlook towards reading has shifted to politics like anything)

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mwattsunJan 2022

This is great and also what I practice. I've tried to explain it to people with limited success, but I think you do a good job here. This type of awareness has a long tradition. Ancient Sanskrit scholars and Buddha discuss this, as well as Western philosophers.

“An unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates

https://www.civilsdaily.com/mains/an-unexamined-life-is-not-...

Mahatma Gandhi’s examination of self through his autobiography ‘My experiments with truth’ highlights the significance of reflection on life. Mahatma Gandhi was not only able to map his weaknesses and vulnerabilities through the examination but was also able to question his prejudices and understand his strength as a human being.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Finding_Fran/8CZr_HxkKs...

To both calm and stimulate the self, Gurdjieff devised two main practices: a series of movements and an exercise called "self-observation." Some of the movements draw from yoga and ancient Sufi dances and are strenuous, while others, more controlled, resemble tai chi. "Self-observation" involves focusing all one's awareness throughout the day on one's thoughts, emotions, facial expressions, and body movements. The goal is to figure out the drives, as well as the contradictions, between the mental centers, in order to pull them together into some sort of harmony. Then one is on the way to finding the elusive spiritual center in the self that remains uninfluenced by social conditioning.

Osho

Man lives like a robot: mechanically efficient, but with no awareness. Hence the whole problem! There are so many problems man has to face, but they are all by-products of his sleep. So the first thing to be understood is what this sleep consists in — because Zen is an effort to become alert and awake.

Steve Jobs

Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they've had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.

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shawndumasJul 2012

Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest.

~ Mahatma Gandhi, My Experiments with Truth (1927) [1]

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[1]: http://notableandquotable.blogspot.com/2008/02/gandhi-on-gun...

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jaspalsawhneyNov 2010

Finishing My Experiments with Truth - Mahatma Gandhi

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