Every person has a philosophy for life. I have one too!
How does a person form his opinions, his attitudes, his morals, his values....in short "his philosophy"? Well, I think mostly through whatever influencers he encounters through his life, i.e. his parents, teachers, through books he reads etc.

As for me, books would definitely be the biggest influencers. Once in a while, over the next few weeks, I will just give my views on some of my favorite books!
The book which wins hands down, when I think about all the books I have read, is "Atlas Shrugged". Here is what I think about this masterpiece.


"Atlas Shrugged"

“I swear—by my life and my love of it—that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.”
This is the essential oath taken by the people who decide to follow the protagonist John Galt in his strike of the “men of brains”.
The premise of this novel is something that evoked a response of horror from me when I first heard about it. It seemed to go against everything that I had been taught so far in my life! It was upholding selfishness, the eternal crime. Well, it was out of a need to read the justification offered that I went ahead to read it. Exactly 4 days afterwards I realized that what was in the book, was everything that I had ever held sacred. Since then the book has almost become a bible for me! I have gone back to the book many times to find answers to many a life’s problems.

It is basically the story of a person who vows that he will stop the motor of the world. And he does! He believes that the world moves ahead primarily because of the people who produce, who invent, who think! What happens when the world condemns and enslaves these very creators of value? Well, like everyone else, they withdraw their services! They go on a strike.
Though the book is a work of fiction, but it is essentially an exhaustive coverage of Ayn Rand’s philosophy of objectivism. It encompasses its principles, its explanations and even its applications in real situations in a modern day business world.

I admire the book not only because of the fact that I identify with the underlying philosophy, but also because of the authors ability to articulate perfectly the most abstract of ideas.
My favorite parts in the novel are the numerous dialogues between the important protagonists of the novel, for e.g. the dialogues between Francisco and Rearden. The protagonists use the Socratic style of asking rhetoric questions, to lead the other person to the solution of the dilemma facing them.
It is a common practice to denounce money as the root of all evil. The definition of money by Francisco in a party is also one of the highlights of the novel. He describes money as the highest virtue in the world. He says that it is the symbol of the fact that people should deal with each other "through trade, for mutual benefit, and with mutual consent". He explains the virtues of money, the reasons for its existence, what would happen if the root cause of money, i.e. the productive efforts of people, was replaced by mere need for it. The mindless brute who snatches money, or the parasite who claims it as his own, are not the people who give value to money. A person who possesses money but who does not honor it or who has not worked for it, will be destroyed by the money.

I find this book particularly relevant to the Indian context. Having been in the grips of a socialistic mindset for so many years, the philosophy of objectivism does not find many supporters. Every time I talk to people about this philosophy, it evokes extreme reactions. People feel that it is against the Indian ethos, which measures virtue by the amount of sacrifices that a person has made, not by his achievements. Well I feel that this mindset has to change if India has to progress.