Thursday, September 6, 2007

Bon Appétit

I have opted to sit through the sessions of 'Philosophical Foundations of Management' (PFM), taken by Prof. Sebastian Morris (the God) and Prof. Ajay Pandey (another God). Yesterday evening, sitting in the library, I started reading the case mat of PFM and my appetite for philosophy is on new heights. It's really amazing stuff - the style of argument, the troika of grammar, rhetoric, and logic, the questions they explore, the questions about questions, and most interestingly, the paradoxes embedded. I think I should always have studied philosophy - as my main subject for masters and for thesis also.

But that happens with me all the time - when I study Economics, I am more than fascinated with the objectives, arguments, methodologies, and conclusions. It was the same when I was deeply into history - I wanted to read and interpret ancient Hindu scriptures and explore Indian history, European history, Maya, Inca, Greek, Roman, and Sumerian civilizations. Then, after reading a lot of it, I grew interested in religion and in a fit of reading more and more about religion, I read a lot about Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Judaism. I even read Quran at that time.
From there, I moved to geopolitics of religion. I studied about crusades, Constantinople, expansion of Islam, the Islamic rule in India, and also about Israel. Then, I wanted to visit Israel and want to make that nation the main topic of my future studies. Everything about Israel - from their history to their present, from their agriculture to their valor, and from their religion to their rituals.
But as I went back n forth in time with Israel, I started reading about World Wars, especially WW II, Nazi Germany, cold war, communism and capitalism, dictators, and world politics. The despair of those times, the fatigue of a war-torn world, the social and cultural revival and retaliation against constant wars, and finally the hippie - movement, Beatles, Marijuana, oil crisis, and times of peace.
Around the same time, I also read a lot about pre and post independence India, the politics of Indian independence, the politics of India, leaders of India, and the wars of India. That is the time when I decided to go in politics. Somehow, like all my ambitious and foolproof plans, this one also fell to the ultimate fool of 'em all.
In the meanwhile, I kept reading a lot of classical and contemporary literature - of Hindi, English, and also translations of Urdu, Punjabi, and Bengali literature. I wanted to understand better the human nature and behavior, so I tried face reading, voice reading, body language, neuro-linguistic programming, psychology, and even palmistry, numerology, and a bit of horoscope reading also. Now, I want to learn at least two more languages and German and Bengali are on top of my priority list.
But after reading this much and this diverse range of things, I feel, my appetite for reading and understanding has only increased. So I wish myself years of untiring reading, knowing, and exploring - Bon Appétit to my only friend and to my only foe.

2 comments:

Patrali said...

your blogs are absolutely fascinating.....esp. the later ones :)
gr8!

the do- dreamer said...

well said.....ther's an ocean of knowledge to be explored....we're are still enjoyin the beach!!!

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