galt Posted June 11, 2004 Report Share Posted June 11, 2004 hi....rana here, i am abhishek singh rana .....among our peers to be on last name basis is considered as a hint of closeness. the story of my introduction to objectivism is an ironically unusual one. the guy who suggested A.S. to me is a kabadiwala.......a kabadiwala is a guy who purchases old newspapers and sells these to paper mills for recycling, he keeps the chance books and sells these at low prices. this kabadiwala freind of mine also keeps the pirated versions of certain popular novels. so it was reading from a pirated A.S. that i learned the basics of objectivism. i should mention here that i have already made amends for this 'theft' of mine. the other day someone was asking Omkar Ghate on whether objectivism is getting popular in india (or something to that effect) ......the fact that they have started pirating A.S. at least means that a lot are bring introduced to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AwakeAndFree Posted June 11, 2004 Report Share Posted June 11, 2004 Hi Rana! Welcome to this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prometheus Posted June 11, 2004 Report Share Posted June 11, 2004 Good to see a fellow Indian out here!! Welcome to the forums! Dinesh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGBANGSingh Posted June 11, 2004 Report Share Posted June 11, 2004 Hey Rana. Are you Sikh (at least culturally) by any chance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galt Posted June 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2004 thanks everyone. ... ... satsriakal bigbangsingh......i am not a sikh.......i am a rajput Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGBANGSingh Posted June 12, 2004 Report Share Posted June 12, 2004 thanks   everyone. ... ... satsriakal bigbangsingh......i am not a sikh.......i am a rajput No Sat Sri Akal for me anymore as I'm now atheist At least we both have warrior blood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AwakeAndFree Posted June 12, 2004 Report Share Posted June 12, 2004 Hey guys, Can you explain these concepts for me? Sat Sri Akal warrior blood rajput Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGBANGSingh Posted June 13, 2004 Report Share Posted June 13, 2004 Hey guys, Can you explain these concepts for me? Sat Sri Akal warrior blood rajput Thanks! "Sat Sri Akal" means "God Exists." Sikhs and Rajputs traditionally belong to the warrior class, hence us sharing the name "Singh" (means "lion"). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oaktree Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Pirated versions of AS and most other Rand fiction has been sold in India as early as the 1980's. Small-town railway stations (e.g. Muzzafarnagar) will usually have a "Wheelers" book stall. It is not surprizing to see "Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology" being sold (legitimate, not pirated versions). India has a large English-literate population. Rand's books are not the only ones to benefit from this. Lots of Indians can talk fluiently about Sartre, Kant, Marx, Kafka... you name it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galt Posted June 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 eran,satsriakal is a salutation. i had an inkling that 'satsriakal' has got something to do with god,though wasnt sure of it........ i dont have many sikh freinds btw none of my ancestors was a warrior(to my knowledge) hey oaktree your knowledge of india is impressive .........but my conclusions were based on my experience with the kabadiwala freind of mine........because he doesnt keep many pirated books(only the more popular ones)...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AwakeAndFree Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Well, I just added India to the list of countries I want to visit one day. Many Israelis are obssesive about India. Some live there for years. But now that I know they sell copies of ITOE on wheel carts I simply have to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldsalt Posted June 16, 2004 Report Share Posted June 16, 2004 Welcome to the forum, Rana. I enjoyed the story of how you came to Objectivism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galt Posted June 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2004 so when are coming eran.......btw how did fair on the little game of yours in my case? i have suspiscion oaktree, that you are an indian .......is that so?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oaktree Posted June 16, 2004 Report Share Posted June 16, 2004 i have suspiscion oaktree, that you are an indian .......is that so?? Yes, indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oaktree Posted June 16, 2004 Report Share Posted June 16, 2004 Warning, this is off-topic. Once or twice when I have told someone I am Indian, they thought I meant "American Indian". I don't like the terms "American Indian" and "Red Indian" because they institutionalize a historic error (though that does make them cute). I find "Native American" to be far, far worse because I think it is used by some(incorrectly and politcally) to imply "True American". This usurps the term "American". After thinking about it, I decided that whenever I think about it to myself, and whenever I can get away with it in public, I will use the term "aboriginee". In some ways, it means "native", but I think there are some connotations of tribalism and backwardness that it evoke that really annoy the aboriginees of the western hemisphere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldsalt Posted June 17, 2004 Report Share Posted June 17, 2004 (edited) I agree with your assessment of "native American". I am a native American, born and bred in this country. I think aborigine is the correct term, but the term "Indian" is the common one used. The Indians never called themselves that, of course. It was the term coined by the Europeans because they originally thought they were in Asia. It's how all those islands became the West Indies. Most American Indians are still very tribal. The policies the government instituted after the Indian Wars has kept them tribal and backwards. Not all of them, of course. There are several tribes which assimilated. I am part Cherokee, as are many Americans, because a large number of Cherokees assimilated rather quickly into American life. I may be wrong, but I think the Cherokees were the only tribe to have an alphabet and a written history. They were a settled, agrarian people, for the most part, unlike other hunter-gatherer tribes. Edited June 17, 2004 by oldsalt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manavmehta Posted June 25, 2004 Report Share Posted June 25, 2004 Rana - Just out of curiosity, how did you make amends for your "theft"? And, on another note, I was surprised to discover that Ayn Rand indeed has a following in India. When I was back in India, one of my friends told me about some kind of local Objectivist Club which he once contacted for a clarification about objectivism. Apparently, he asked them what would stop a criminal from thinking that murdering others was in his self-interest and that he was therefore morally justified in committing murder. The club came back to him with this concise response which said everything - "Where force begins, morality ends!". I intend to contact the club and maybe join it when I go back to India. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galt Posted June 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2004 Rana - Just out of curiosity, how did you make amends for your "theft"?i dumped that book and bought a legitimate A.S. ........ I intend to contact the club and maybe join it when I go back to India. i too would like to be a part of such a club Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manavmehta Posted June 26, 2004 Report Share Posted June 26, 2004 If you are in the US right now, there are Objectivist Campus Clubs promoted by the ARI present in many universities around the country. You could try joining the one closest to you. I personally am trying to get into the objectivist club of the University of Minnesota which is a 10 minute bus from my workplace, but haven't been able to contact them - I think it's summer vacation time for them. If you are in India, I don't really know of any way of locating Objectivist Clubs close to where you live. The reason I don't care to know right now is because I am not yet in India, but I do intend to find out if my return seems imminent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oaktree Posted June 27, 2004 Report Share Posted June 27, 2004 i too would like to be a part of such a club Which Indian city? I know objectivists in some cities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manavmehta Posted June 27, 2004 Report Share Posted June 27, 2004 Do you mean objectivist clubs, or individuals who are objectivists? Do you know of any online or offline source to objectivist clubs in India? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oaktree Posted June 27, 2004 Report Share Posted June 27, 2004 Re: Indian objectivists: individuals and clubs. While Tara malkani was alive, she was like a clearing house for information on Indian Objectivists. I do not think anyone has replaced her role. There are individual objectivists in most of the bigger cities. As for clubs, I cannot say for certain, since it has been many years since I left. We used to have quite a few clubs about 10 years ago. While many of the members are now in the US, it would be reasonable to assume that many of the newer Indian objectivists have formed clubs. If you are interested in a particular city, I'll make inquiries. (Infosys...would that be Bangalore?) Meanwhile, two good places to start your search: 1) ARI: They used to send Tara lists of people from India writing in for info. They may likely still have the best info on coordinated efforts. [i know that a Fountainhead essay contest was held in Bombay a few years ago, and one was held in Delhi the last couple of years. If Bombay or Delhi interest you, I can find out more details.] 2) The "Celebrate Capitalism March (Prodos et al) had a couple of Indian contingents (Delhi and Bombay). Check http://www.celebratecapitalism.org/cities/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manavmehta Posted June 28, 2004 Report Share Posted June 28, 2004 Thanks for the tips. I'm from the city of Hyderabad in India. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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