Reading Time: 6 minutesIf you live in India & visit a Bengali house, you will find one thing common in every house. A BIG PICTURE OF RABINDRANATH TAGORE. Having been born in a Bengali culture, Gurudev is like a god to us. He is one of our emotions that unites us across the globe. We act like he is the one (the chosen one) who has all the answers & will uplift our community & India as a country altogether. We teach our child his recitation, we celebrate his birthday like he is one of us who live in our home. We refer to his poem, songs, and quotes with…

Reading Time: 6 minutesThis is the 9th part of this series. Cool, isn’t it? When people talk about quality over quantity, I always remember Dostoevsky. He didn’t write many books, but what he did write changed the world. Dostoevsky’s writing delves deep into the human psyche—particularly the inner world of men. However, he somewhat lagged behind in understanding female psychology. Gabriel García Márquez, in my opinion, excelled in that area. Did you know that Dostoevsky had planned to write a second part to The Brothers Karamazov? In the first part, there are three brothers: Ivan, Alyosha, and Dmitri, along with an illegitimate fourth, Smerdyakov (the name may vary depending on…

Reading Time: 8 minutesThis is part 8, guys. Today I wanna share Dostoevsky’s secret love story- In Dostoevsky’s biography: A Writer in His Time by Joseph Frank, we learn that Dostoevsky was married twice—first to Maria and then to Anna. Maria was chronically ill and eventually passed away. Later, when Dostoevsky was in his 40s, a 21-year-old woman named Polina entered his life. She was a short story writer and a women’s rights activist. Polina expected attention and affection from Dostoevsky, but according to her, he didn’t reciprocate as she hoped. At the time, Dostoevsky was already married and burdened with responsibilities. Moreover, he suffered from epilepsy, which affected both…

Reading Time: 6 minutesThis is part 7 of this series. I want to sum up all the points in around 10 parts. I know it can’t be covered, but I will try my best. One disclaimer: this series is nothing compared to someone who has read these books. Even if you read one book, that’s also a huge deal. Even after reading this post, if you become interested in Dovstosky. I would be delighted. Today I will start with one of Dovtovsky’s love stories. So without any further ado, let’s get started – Movies and romantic novels often tell us that love is the most sacred thing in the world…

Reading Time: 7 minutesHey guys, we’re at part 6. Come a long way- Did you know Dostoevsky hated intellectuals? not all, but the detached ones. Now you might ask, “Wait — wasn’t Dostoevsky himself an intellectual?” Yes. And that, my friend, is exactly why. He understood the psyche and suffering of intellectuals so deeply — he ended up despising them. Intellectuals: Merchants of Ideas. In his worldview, intellectuals are merchants of ideas. They sell ideas, often detached from lived experience. In his novels, most protagonists were intellectuals who rationalized horror: Raskolnikov, in Crime and Punishment, commits murder based on a “higher idea.” Verkhovensky, in Demons, leads a revolution with abstract…

Reading Time: 7 minutesHi guys, this is the 5th part in this series. Hope you are enjoying this. It’s often said that writers are products of their time — shaped by their economic conditions, socio-political climate, and their country’s past. Just like psychology teaches us, it’s always nature and nurture. Dostoevsky was no exception. Today, before going to the main part, I would like to talk about the socio-economic situation during dovstosky. In the 1860s, after returning from Siberian prison, Dostoevsky started a magazine called “Time” with his brother. A tireless writer, he often wrote deep into the night — like Gabriel García Márquez, who wrote One Hundred Years of…

Reading Time: 7 minutesHello guys, this is part 4 of this series. How many parts in this series will I do? I have no clue! In the last post, I talked about the brothers Karmasov. If you haven’t checked part 3, go ahead & read it. Before putting this forward, I need to give you some background on Dostoevsky. Without it, you will feel alienated. In Dovstosky’s novel, there’s almost always one character who becomes loud, emotional, or chaotic after drinking, often creating a scene — whether at a dinner table, a tavern, or a family gathering. This isn’t accidental. Dostoevsky uses these drunk characters to reveal deeper psychological truths,…

Reading Time: 7 minutesHi guys, this is part 3 of the 10-part series on human behaviour from Dostoevsky. This one is mainly from my favorite”The Brothers of Karmosov”. These are the insights I got after reading the work of Fodor Dovtyosky about human nature & also these are the things I have observed in my real life too. If you haven’t read my last 2 posts, I highly encourage you to check them out first, even though it’s not a chronological series. Also, guys, here is one request: don’t just read it for the sake of reading. Pause for a moment while you are reading. let it sink in. feel…

Reading Time: 6 minutesIn the last article, I gave you the first part of this post. If you haven’t checked it, please check it out here. This is part 2 of the human behavior lesson from Dostoevsky. Humans are complicated & if you live in this world, no matter what you do, you gotta deal with humans. So I believe knowing them & their motivation helps to reduce chaos in your life, even though you will never be able to predict it totally as Saposky has said in his human behavioural biology class at Stanford. For instance – Raskolnikov kills for an idea, not money — then is torn apart…