Thursday, October 28, 2021

BookMarks #90: Bhagat Singh Jail Diary

Title: Bhagat Singh Jail Diary 
Compiled By: Yadavinder Singh Sandhu 
Genre: Diary 
Published: 2021 

BookMarks 
The book is a collection of notes from Bhagat Singh’s jail term from September, 1929 to just the day before his martyrdom in March, 1931. The jail diaries are a series of notes kept by Bhagat Singh from his readings. In modern times it would have been a blog or a podcast. The notes cover a variety of subjects including history, civic society, the many hypocrisies of the British rule, economics, law etc. There are quotes from various authors and extracts from poems kept for his records. The notes also present Bhagat Singh’s views on a variety of subjects like marriage, charity, slavery, inequality in distribution of wealth, conducting a revolution etc. 

We have been reading about Bhagat Singh since childhood. His image has been of an action figure, but he certainly was much more than that. Just look at the variety of subjects he covers in his notes and the clarity of the thoughts. Also, he was just 23. Certainly someone much more mature beyond their age. The biggest tragedy is that such a life got cut short so early. 

And inspired by his writings, here is me taking notes from his notes. These are the lines which stood out to me. 
  • The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. 
  • Their’s not to make reply, Their’s not to reason why; Their’s but to do and die 
  • Don’t ask for rights. Take them. And don’t let anyone give them to you. 
  • Great are great because we are on knees. 
  • So long as the laws are made by the ruling class and the courts are presided over by members of the class; so long as lawyers are private practitioners who sell their skill to the highest bidder, and litigation is technical and costly, so long will the nominal equality before the law be a hollow mockery. 
  • For reform, a threat of revolution is necessary 
  • Neither the machine nor the machine owner may rule the human race. 
  • In politics as in war, tactics means the art of conducting isolated operations; strategy means the art of victory, that is the actual seizure of power. 
  • Teach him to live rather than to avoid death! Life is not breath, but action! Life consists less in length of days than in keen sense of living. 
  • The end of Law is not to abolish or restrain but to preserve or enlarge freedom. 
  • A revolution is justifiable when the government ceases to fulfil its part of contract — the protection of personal rights. 
  • No one should be rich enough to buy another nor poor enough to be forced to sell himself. Great inequalities pave the way for tyranny. 
  • The first man who, having enclosed a piece of land, thought of saying ‘that is mine’, and found people simple enough to believe him, was the true founder of Civil Society. 
  • An insurrection is an equation with very indefinite magnitudes, the value of which may change every day. 
  • Remember that plague and cholera may attack you tomorrow, and is it not better for you to die as heroes? - Can't beat this logic for motivating more people to join the revolution
What remarkable thoughts! 

Previously on BookMarks: Siddhartha  
Previously on Bhagat Singh on the blog: Learn N Blog #11 

Sunday, October 17, 2021

BookMarks #89: Siddhartha

Title: Siddhartha
Author: Hermann Hesse
Genre: Historical Fiction, Self-discovery
Published: 1922 (German)

BookMarks
Siddhartha is the story of the journey of self-discovery of a man who is a contemporary of the Buddha. Siddhartha seeks knowledge and his search leads him to renouncing his home, meditating, then coming back to the world, and stepping away again. He also meets the Buddha but doesn't become a follower. In this journey his paths with those he left behind crosses again completing the circle of life. 

My favorite line from the book - "Knowledge can be conveyed but not wisdom". This line is the essence of the tale. Siddhartha finds his own way and learns through his own experiences and not just by becoming a follower. 

I had been under the impression that the book is the story of Gautam Buddha. Turns out its a parallel to the Buddha.

Previously on BookMarks: The Picture of Dorian Gray


Monday, October 04, 2021

BookMarks #88: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray 
Author: Oscar Wilde 
Genre: Fiction 
Published: 1891 

BookMarks 
Going back to the Classics era – The Picture of Dorian Gray is a comment on the debauched lifestyle of the elite classes. A man commits all possible sins and nothing leaves a mark on him, while a portrait of his bears all the signs, getting progressively older and uglier with each sin. The central characters all live, not so ideal lifestyles and finally do end up paying for it, but not till quite some time has passed. Overall, quite a lesson in morals, although must not have been taken in good humor by the “classes” of the time. 

There are a few lines which stood out. 
  • "All art is quite useless" – Yet look at the monetary value which people are willing to pay for “art” 
  • "Experience is the name men have to their mistakes" – A nice euphemism 
  • "To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable" – Also true for everyone who wishes to start going to the gym from tomorrow. 
Previously on BookMarks: A Bear, A Dog and A Kangaroo