Summary of this article

The RSS Shakha used physical activities and Baudhik (intellectual) sessions to instill a narrative of Hindu unity, glorifying Hindu history while ignoring caste oppression and marginalizing anti-Brahminical thinkers.

Figures like Savarkar, Golwalkar, Shivaji, and Rani of Jhansi were celebrated, while reformers, the Indian Constitution, and leaders like Ambedkar and Nehru were minimized or vilified. Myth and history were blended to create a strong ideological identity.

By adolescence, the author embraced radical Hindutva, but a warning from local authorities initiated a decade-long process of unlearning and critically reflecting on how OBC youth are drawn into Hindutva networks.

My Pune of the 1990s was not the “Oxford of the East”. It was across the Mula-Mutha R

See Full Page