TIME FOR A SAMVAD ON THE SANGH

Several facts and facets of the RSS’s extraordinary history remain not properly explained or understood. No wonder it has remained somewhat of an enigma for many

- - MAKARANDR PARANJAPE

VIJAYADASHAMI, the tenth day of the waxing moon in India's national calendar, also known as the Saka Samvat coincided with the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2 this year. This auspicious day marks the triumph of good over evil, the slaying of the demonic Mahishasura by Goddess Durga, and the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after killing Ravana.

This day was observed nationwide as the 100th anniversary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's foundation. The release of a commemorative postage stamp crowned celebrations. The achievements of the Sangh, despite decades of negative propaganda and misinformation, are too numerous and incontrovertible to deny.

However, like all great things, the precise beginnings of the RSS are also difficult to pin down. In fact, not just its exact, determinate commencement, but several other facts and facets of its extraordinary history right up to the present times remain not properly explained, let alone fully understood. No wonder, for many outside the fold, the RSS has remained somewhat of an enigma.

Few, for instance, know that what actually transpired on Vijayadashami 1925 in Nagpur was only an informal gathering of a small band of young patriots and nationalists, at the behest of Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar. Doctorji, as he was popularly known, was then thirty-six years of age. Trained and qualified in the famous Calcutta Medical College as a physician, Hedgewar, on his return to Nagpur, devoted himself to national service rather than his medical practice.

Even the name of the organisation was then undecided and took close to seven months to finalise on April 17, 1926.