SAMVAD

Pausha Shukla 7, Vik. Samvat 2072. Yugabda 5117: 16 January 2016


1. FESTIVALS: Vasant Panchami or Saraswati Puja 2. KSHETRIYA SANGHACHALAK SIDDHI NATH SINGH
3. HINDU DHARMA SEMINAR - HSS DALLAS AND HUA 4. Akhil Bharatiya Shrung Ghosh ShiVir concludes in Bengaluru
5. Rebuilding Ram Mandir can trigger renaissance in our cultural ethos: Swamy 6.  24-year-old quits IAS to turn free e-tutor
7.  BHARAT GAVE SPIRITUALITY TO WORLD 8.  Mumbai-born girl, 11, gets top Mensa score
9.  World Institute for Hinduism Launched 10.  Sagara Theera Yatra
11. Gyalwang stresses on living in harmony with environment 12.   BHARATIYA-origin professor develops new method to hunt dark matter
13. BHARATIYA DIASPORA IS WORLD'S LARGEST AT 16M 14. JOINT CELEBRATION OF 'LOHRI', 'BIHU'
15. NRI students offered internships in 23 BHARATIYA firms 16.  Azim Premji most generous Bharatiya   for 3RD straight year
17. Ram naam draws Muslim followers to Magh Mela 18. Bharat to remain fastest growing eco: World Bank
19.  Overseas ministry merged with MEA  

Articles:

CHENNAI FLOOD: MELODY OF SANGH SEWA

A MISCONCEPTION CALLED THE RSS AND WHY EVERY PSEUDO-SECULAR SCHOLAR IS WRONG ABOUT IT 


1. FESTIVALS: Vasant Panchami or Saraswati Puja falls on fifth day of Magh Shukla paksha, corresponding to February 12 this year. The festival marks the end of the winter and ushers in the spring time. Saraswati, the Goddess of wisdom, is the Goddess of this festival. She embodies the different facets of learning such as the sciences, arts, crafts and skills.  She rides on a white swan. Her white dress is a symbol for purity.

During the Vasant Panchami festival, Bharat's crop fields are filled with the color yellow, as the yellow mustard flowers bloom at this time of the year. People send their toddlers to school first time on this day. Pens, notebooks, and pencils are placed near the goddess Devi's feet to be blessed before they are used by students. People all across Bharat fly colorful kites to raise the zest and zeal of this day.  --goTop

 

2. KSHETRIYA SANGHACHALAK SIDDHI NATH SINGH: Villagers in Jharkhand's Hafua, with a population of approximately 1,000 people, around 70 km north of capital Ranchi, say he is a befitting example to contradict those who equate the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS) with the terror group Islamic State and its leaders with terrorists. Siddhi Nath Singh, RSS Kshetriya Sanghchalak for Bihar and Jharkhand and the chairperson Rashtriya Seva Bharti, is a resident of Jharkhand's electricity hub Patratu in Ramgarh district, imparting free skill training and creating livelihoods for the youth of hundreds of villages across the country at his firm Kalpataru.

Some two decades back, a mere mention of Hafua used to alert the police and intelligence agencies. Majority of those involved in bank robberies and snatching incidents in Ramgarh and Ranchi were traced to this village. Children did not go to school and elders never worked in the fields even though most of them had vast tracts of land in their names.

It was during one of his sojourns to the village, while researching on storage of rain water, that 68-year-old Singh came across a few parents who were worried about the future of their teenage children. "I met the youth and saw the spark in their eyes. They had everything barring education and proper guidance. I invited them to my engineering firm and trained them. Soon they were repairing heavy machines with ease," Singh said while interacting with a fresh batch of boys from the village. Over the last 15 years, Singh has provided skill training to no less than 150 Hafua men, who are now working across Bharat and in the Gulf, earning handsome salaries. Their children now go to schools and the living standard of their families has also improved. Lauding the people of Hafua, Singh said, "Hafua boys are gifted. Give them a problem and they will solve it. I only routed their energy in the right direction."

 "Hafua residents do not have any criminal case for the last 10 years. We are now earning with dignity and living with pride," said Zubair Ahmad, who has been working with the RSS leader's firm for the last 12 years. For Janisar Ansari, a class 10 student at Saraswati Vidya Mandir, Singh is like a god. "He is meeting all my expenses. I want to crack IIT and become the first engineer from my village," he said. --goTop

 

3. HINDU DHARMA SEMINAR - HSS DALLAS AND HUA: A Hindu Dharma seminar was offered as part of school teachers' professional development training conducted by Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) and sponsored by Hindu University of America (HUA) in three different public schools - Bridlewood Elementary - Flower Mound, Coyote Ridge Elementary - Carrollton and Wellington Elementary - Flower Mound, Texas on Monday, January 4th, 2016. Altogether 147 teachers attended the seminar. Apart from the presenters, few sevikas, local school parents and PTA members were involved in giving hands on experience to the educators. The two hour program was divided into sections on cultural diversity and basic philosophy of Hindu dharma. There were short sessions on yoga followed by trial of rangoli, henna, rolling of rotis and draping of sarees. Most of the educators had shown openness to learn about cultural diversity. In the question answer session they barraged the speakers with their questions triggered out of their curiosity and ignorance.  --goTop

 

4. Akhil Bharatiya Shrung Ghosh ShiVir concludes in Bengaluru: "Hindu samskriti or Bharatiya Samskriti, We have this as our identity. Bharat is not just a name of some part or piece of land. The nature of the society is the Samskriti. This is the Samskriti which binds us all together, thus is our identity and that is the reason it is known as Hindu Rashtra. Not many know and not many believe but it is universally accepted. We all are Hindus as we have accepted the very nature of the Samskriti" said RSS Sarasanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat, addressing the valedictory ceremony of 4-day Akhil Bharatiya Shrung Ghosh Shivir "SWARANJALI-2016" held at Bengaluru.

Speaking on the occasion, former ISRO Chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan said, "It is well stated that our human capital especially demographic dividend, holds the key to leap forward or even to leap-frog or to make impossible in to possible. Our conviction about our life and its purpose and our value system, would help us to perform our duty to this motherland and the humanity as nishkama karma." --goTop

 

5. Rebuilding Ram Mandir can trigger renaissance in our cultural ethos: Swamy:  'Since it has been established beyond doubt that Babri Masjid was built after destroying Ram Mandir', BJP MP Subramanian Swamy said on January 9 that to not build the Ram Mandir would be 'contempt' of the Supreme Court by the BJP government and would also be going back on its word given by the Babri Masjid Action Committee to the apex court. Setting the agenda for the "Shri Ram Janma Bhoomi Temple: Emerging Scenario" seminar organized by the Arundhati Vashishtha Anusandhan Peeth (AVAP), Swamy said that while there could be a dialogue on the issue, there can be no compromise on rebuilding the Ram Mandir as well as of two other temples - Mathura and Kashi Vishwanath. A confident Swamy said, "We are not going to forcibly construct Ram Mandir, but we will win the legal battle." He also said that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had extended his support for the construction of the temple. --goTop

 

6.  24-year-old quits IAS to turn free e-tutor: Roman Saini has resigned after two years as assistant collector of Jabalpur and ventured into an area where he may neither earn like a doctor nor wield clout like a babu. All he wants to do is to see students get past the various academic hurdles that stand in the way of youthful ambitions. He uploads lectures on his Unacademy platform on YouTube for those aspiring to become doctors, civil servants, computer programmers, even experts in foreign languages. Ten followers have cleared the civil services exams and more than 1.1 crore have viewed the videos, while Unacademy has 20,000 Twitter followers and 64,000 Facebook likes.

He was inspired in the venture by his school pal Gaurav Munjal, who has stepped down as CEO of his Bengaluru start-up, and put the proceeds from the sale of his company at the disposal of unacademy.in. --goTop

 

7.  BHARAT GAVE SPIRITUALITY TO WORLD: "The world has not been able to understand us the way it should have. Bharat is a country which has never followed sectarian tendencies. Bharat has never given communalism but spirituality to the world. Sometimes, community can be a creator of problems but spirituality provides resolution to problems," said Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi on January 10 unveiling the 300th book penned by prominent Jain monk Acharya Ratnasundersuriji Maharaj in Mumbai through a video conference from Delhi.

Modi described the monk as a "great social reformer and spiritual leader" who has expressed his views on all concepts and objects of the universe through his various books. He said former Rashtrapati APJ Abdul Kalam believed in Bharat's legacy of spirituality and had said it can help mankind deal with the major challenges it is facing today.

The book, 'My India, Nobel India', in four languages - English, Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi - was released at the Somaiya Grounds in Mumbai's  Sion-Chunabhatti area during the 'Sahitya Satkar Samaroh' programme on the concluding day of the 10-day-long religious and spiritual conclave. --goTop

 

8.  Mumbai-born girl, 11, gets top Mensa score: A 11-year-old Bharatiya-origin girl in the UK has achieved the top possible score of 162 on a IQ test of Mensa, becoming one of the youngest brainiest students in the country Mumbai-born Kashmea Wahi achieved 162 out of 162, which put her in the top one per cent of the country's brightest. The score also puts her in the league of scientists Albert Einstein and Steven Hawking as both are thought to have an IQ of 160.

Daughter of IT management consultants Vikas and Pooja Wahi, Kashmea took the test to prove a point to her parents.  --goTop

 

9.  World Institute for Hinduism Launched: The Hindu Hub (Singapore) has launched an academic wing, called the World Institute for Hinduism (WISH) to cater to the growing need for credible and professional learning of Hinduism. WISH has multiple departments covering areas such as Philosophy, Yoga, Hindu Psychology and Counseling, Sanskrit, Vedic Management and Leadership and Vedic Sciences. Most of its courses will be delivered via an online platform as this will enable the students to learn from any location around the globe. There will be courses from certificate levels all the way up to doctorate programs. --goTop

 

10.  Sagara Theera Yatra a cultural pilgrimage along the coastline from the land's end at Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu to Gokarna in Karnataka was flagged off by Pon Radhakrishnan, Union Minister of State for Surface Transport. Music maestro Gangaiamaran, novelist Arvind Neelakantan and a host of eminent personalities were present to greet bon voyage to the travelers, described as a first-of-its-kind pilgrimage in the country by Prof PG Haridas, coordinator of the Yatra. "The theme of the pilgrimage My Land, My Language and My Culture itself is self-explanatory. This pilgrimage which will tour through the places of all cultural and historical importance in the 946 km stretch should be able to revive our culture and traditions which we lost because of external aggression," said the Minister.

The significance of choosing Kanyakumari and Gokarna is due to the belief that this stretch of landscape was reclaimed out of the ocean by Sage Parasurama who threw his machete from Gokarna towards the south. Legend is that the land thus reclaimed by the Sage was distributed to the poor as atonement for his sins  --goTop

 

11. Gyalwang stresses on living in harmony with environment: Ladakh Student Welfare Society Delhi celebrated its Annual Day-cum-New year (Ladakh Losar) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi. His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa was the chief guest. Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister, Mines & Steel was the special guest and Dr. Chandan Mitra, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) was the Guest of Honour. A large number of students and other Ladakhis present in Delhi participated in the function besides representatives from the Bhutanese Embassy and Bhutanese students studying in Delhi.

Addressing the gathering, Gyalwang Drukpa stressed on the importance of living in harmony with the environment and cultivating compassionate towards all irrespective of one’s religion and faith. He also stressed upon the students who are the future citizen of the world to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of Ladakh while receiving modern education in various disciplines. --goTop

 

12.   BHARATIYA-origin professor develops new method to hunt dark matter: A Bharatiya-American professor has devised a new method to characterize dark matter that can help hunt for the mysterious space phenomenon. Sukanya Chakrabarti, assistant professor at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, uses waves in the galactic disk to map the interior structure and mass of galaxies - like seismologists analyze waves to infer properties about the Earth's interior.

Her team used spectroscopic observations to calculate the speed of the three Cepheid variables - stars used as yardsticks to measure distance in galaxies - in the Norma constellation.  --goTop

 

13. BHARATIYA DIASPORA IS WORLD’S LARGEST AT 16M: According to the latest United Nations estimates, 244 million people, or 3.3% of the world's population, live in a country other than the one where they were born. Their ranks are growing at a faster pace than the world population as a whole, with enormous economic, social and demographic repercussions for their native and adopted countries. However, they are concentrated in just 20 countries.

By far, the most popular destination in 2015 was the United States, followed by Germany, Russia and Saudi Arabia. Among the migrants worldwide are 20 million refugees - those who have fled war or persecution in their home countries. Bharatiyas make up the largest diaspora: 16 million Bharatiyas are scattered across the world, which partly reflects the country's demographic size (1.2 billion) and youth (median age is around 26). After Bharat, Mexico has the second largest diaspora, with 12 million living abroad, the majority of them in the US. --goTop

 

14. JOINT CELEBRATION OF 'LOHRI', 'BIHU':  Reinforcing Bharat's unity in diversity, Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh on January 13 participated in the joint celebration of twin festivals of "Lohri" and "Bihu". The event was attended by young students from Jammu & Kashmir and Northeast. The function was organized by the Union Ministry of DoNER in collaboration with Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and a social organization.

Speaking on the occasion, Singh said that Jammu & Kashmir and Northeast have much in common and it is a providential coexistence that they also celebrate a common festival at the advent of New Year, with the only difference being in the terms of nomenclature. --goTop

 

15. NRI students offered internships in 23 BHARATIYA firms: Bharatiya-origin students from top international universities will be offered over 60 summer internship positions this year in nearly two dozen top corporates from Bharat under an initiative to connect with their roots. Twenty-three top Bharatiya corporates like Apollo Hospitals, Blue Star, Flipkart, Godrej, Infosys, Kirlosker Brothers, TATA Chemicals, TATA Consultancy Services, TATA International, TATA Trust, Trent, Wipro will offer the short-term paid internships to the students. The internships, made possible under the 'India Corporate Internship' initiative aimed at students of Bharatiya-origin pursuing postgraduate programmes in management, engineering and science & technology, will be for 2-6 months and begin in summer of 2016. --goTop

 

16.  Azim Premji most generous Bharatiya   for 3RD straight year: Wipro Chairman Azim Premji, who donated Rs. 27,514 crore for education, has emerged as the most generous Bharatiya for the third straight year, as per the Hurun India Philanthropy List 2015. Premji is followed by Infosys co-founders Nandan Nilekani and Narayana Murthy, who donated Rs. 2,404 crore and Rs. 1,322 crore respectively for the common goal of better education besides several other causes.  --goTop

 

17. Ram naam draws Muslim followers to Magh Mela: A group of Allahabad-based Muslims have been following the ritual of writing the name of Lord Ram to deposit during the Magh Mela. As per the ritual, devotees write Ram's name several times and deposit it in the Ram Naam Bank.

"About 10 years ago, I read an article saying that writing Ram naam gives immense satisfaction and so I have been writing it for the past several years and receiving inner strength, energy, concentration and devotion" said Faisal Khan, who has also resolved to observe month-long Kalpwas (seclusion) on the banks of Ganga from Pauash Poornima on January 24 to Maghi Purnima on February 22. It gives him energy for the entire year, he said.

His group, Abdul Rab, Mohammad Amin Khan and Mukhtar, all observe every roza during Ramzan and offer namaz five times a day all year. They also know shlokas and mantras of the Bhagvad Gita by heart. Faisal has been writing the name of Lord Ram in Hindi, English and Urdu, even in short-hand for the last eight years.  --goTop

 

18. Bharat to remain fastest growing eco: World Bank: The World Bank on January 6 projected that Bharat would comfortably remain the fastest growing large economy in 2016; at a rate more than a percentage point higher than China’s. In its report Global Economic Prospects, the bank projected the economy to grow at 7.8% this year. --goTop

 

19.  Overseas ministry merged with MEA: The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) has been merged with the Ministry of External Affairs. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted this and said she had proposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the two ministries be merged and that he had accepted her proposal. Established in May 2004 as the Ministry of Non-Resident Indians' Affairs, it was renamed as the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in September 2004.  --goTop

 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: When in 2008, Rediff.com requested former Rashtrapati A P J Abdul Kalam to compose a Republic Day message for its readers, he promptly sent it this piece:

Dear friends, let me share with you a seven-point resolve on the occasion of ensuing Republic Day:

1. Wherever I am, a thought will always come to my mind -- *What can I give?*

2. Whatever the mission I will do, my motto will be to work with integrity and succeed with integrity.*

3. I will always remember that *my winged days, be not spent in vain*.

4. I realise I have to set a great goal that will *lead me to think high*, work and realise the goal.

5. My greatest friends will be *great human beings, great teachers and great books*.

6. I will firmly believe that no problem can defeat me; *I will become the captain of the problem, defeat the problem and succeed.*

7. My National Flag flies in my heart and I will bring glory to my nation. --goTop

JAI SHREE RAM

 --

CHENNAI FLOOD: MELODY OF SANGH SEWA

Chennaites witnessed the service activities rendered by swayamsevaks and their associated organisations  during the flood which engulfed the whole of Chennai while the Government machinery was a total failure.

The Chennai tragedy provides many lessons for both the Government and the society. During the tsunami of 2004, the coastal areas of Chennai almost collapsed, but the State Government formulated no plan disaster management. Another reason for the State's failure to conduct relief activities fast was that it ignored the Central Government's direction regarding disaster management measures. It was also a result of not providing proper waste management measures at par with rapid development of the city.

When plastic waste and such non-degradable substances are not processed properly the water do not seep into the interior of earth even after a small rainfall. This is what happened in Chennai. Construction works in wetlands and mangrove forest areas also led to extensive flood. It was very well seen in the area where Chennai Airport is situated. That is why the whole area was submerged in water. The flood in Chennai airport was also due to ruthless growth of marshy areas. Here even the airplanes drifted away in flood.

The states including Kerala should also learn a lesson from Chennai disaster. In Kerala, flats and huge malls are being constructed by filling vast paddy fields. State government of Kerala should take precaution so that Kerala do not become another Chennai soon.

In Chennai area there were about 800 ponds and 100 lakes. Most of them have now been filled and permission was granted to construct huge buildings over them. Thus, there was no channel for water to flow away.

'We would have died if swayamsevaks hadn't come'

A Muslim family consisting of a mother and her only son were stranded in the first floor of a house. The 20 year old son had high fever. The swayamsevaks reached there on time and rescued them. The mother said with tears in her eyes that they would have died there if swayamsevaks had not reached on time and rescued them.

The swayamsevaks shifted children and elderly people to safe places on the handcarts from flood affected houses. An old Muslim man who handed over his grand child to swayamsevaks, vehemently told that their only hope was in RSS.

Chennaites witnessed the service activities rendered by swayamsevaks and their associated organisations during the flood which engulfed the whole of Chennai while the Government machinery was a total failure. About 6,000 swayamsevaks actively participated in the relief measures when 75 lakh population was badly affected by flood in Chennai alone. Many sub groups were formed to take care of relief management, drinking water, medical facilities, office, meetings of workers, collection of funds.  Largest amount of material for relief measures was collected from Tirupur District.

Doctors from Kerala and Karnataka also reached Chennai for service. On December 6, RSS workers in Kerala collected relief fund for Chennai. In the first phase itself, two lakh bedmats, bedsheets, one lakh buckets, mugs and food materials were distributed via Sewa Bharati. Former Akhil Bharatiya Sewa Pramukh of RSS, Shri Suryanarayana Rao, addressed a press meet at the relief management centre.

Hundreds of women also participated in the sewa activities. While distributing materials and food items to the public, a Sewa worker told them that "you are all our brothers and sisters. We have not assembled to give or collect alms. Providing food and other facilities to our brothers and sisters is our duty." The services of other religious organisations were confined to propaganda. The unique union of Hindu organisations like RSS, Sewa Bharati and others like Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mata Amritanandamayi Math, Jain organisations, Business magnets, was a great experience. The services rendered by the Centre, armed forces, Union Ministers, officials were also appreciated. (The writer, K Padmakumar is RSS Dakshin Kshetra Sewa Pramukh, Weekly Organizer 10th January 2015)

 ---

A MISCONCEPTION CALLED THE RSS AND WHY EVERY PSEUDO-SECULAR SCHOLAR IS WRONG ABOUT IT 

Rugved

It's dusty, sweaty and toasting hot out here at 230pm. Temperature must easily be 45 degree celsius. A guffaw of wind blows in every corner of the field. But there is a calm in the air. A sea of swayamsevaks wearing black caps, white shirt and khaki shorts are sitting in crossed legged position, on the now totally roasted mother earth.

Imagine with no end at sight, just black caps moving like the waves of the great oceans. I am one of them. The venue is a 450 acre land owned by Kolte-Patil on the tri-border of three villages of Marunji, Nere and Hinjewadi.

The occasion #ShivShaktiSangam organized by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha fondly called as the RSS. Aim was to bring all the swayamsevaks (self-servants or volunteers) under one roof from the Western Maharashtra zone of Maharashtra alone.

Before you think I am going to start heaping praises, I have a confession to make. I am an RSS swayamsevak in hibernation. Always went to a shakha as a kid in my home town of Lonavla. But not a regular by any means. So I am well-versed with the system of operation. What was more fascinating this time, was the scale at which it was executed.

Starting out 400 of us were escorted in around 10 buses. Our names were noted down, so as to have a count on our way back. For swayamsevaks from Kolhapur, there were trains organized. All this free of cost, no charge. If you felt like paying, the collected amount was going to be donated to drought affected farmers in Maharashtra. Check mark one.

Reaching the venue, we walked around a mile to our maval taluka tent. Again, clear cut directions, well lit sign boards and color coding for every tent assigned by its region or taluka, making it super easy for us to find ours. A 3 pronged security check followed, consisting of entry pass, bar code scan and wrist band, with no exceptions. Our shakha pramukh had given his bag that had his pass to someone, who came before him for the event. No exceptions. Shakha pramukh was kept waiting outside and not allowed to enter, unless he produced his badge and pass.

Food awaited us all on entering. Rotis, Achar, Sabji, Khicadi and Buttermilk. A complete meal. The fascinating part of the entire setup being, no where could I see big vessels, nor was there smell or hustle bustle of swayamsevaks bringing in food. As if food was magically appearing from nowhere and being served.

Time to head out by getting dressed for the big occasion. Our very own Ganvesh that consisted of white full shirt folded to the elbow, khakhi shorts, black cap, brown belt, khakhi socks and black laced shoes. The trip to India definitely added on my holiday weight and so was finding it hard to button my shorts. Had to upgrade my waist to 34. No judging please. :)

"No problem", said a shakha vyawasthapak ( shakha organizer). 2 tents down the block, there is a bhaandar. Replace yours there. On walking 2 blocks, found thousands of ganvesh's neatly organized. The swayamsevak behind the counter asked my size, pulled out a short from the stack and handed it over. No questions asked. Besides the bhaandar, was a doctor's clinic, a book shop and changing stations. All being headed by swayamsevaks. Arrangements done not for hundreds but thousands of us. And mind you, there was no soul on this ground a few days back.

Selfies clicked, profile pictures changed and everyone looking sharp and bright. Time to head out. The sight of thousands of people walking towards the arena, gave me a feeling of what Gandhi might have felt during the Dandi march. Walking shoulder to shoulder with thousands, one realizes, why one doesn’t need any motivation when fighting a war.

As the stage closed on us, we saw 13 massive gates designed for entering the arena. Color marking for each taluka zone. Each of us were seated on markings -1 for every person throughout the field. That's 2 lakh markings with limestone, marked for every single individual. Gives me goose bumps even writing the pattern chosen for the seating arrangement. It was supposed to depict and resemble the arrangement from one of the battles from Mahabharata.

Jithe Shakti tithech Shiv.

Listening to the reverend SirSanghachalak Shri Mohanji Bhagwat, one could just realize why the man was really on the podium. Every word mattered. On one hand, I felt super jealous of him. Coz, he must have had the best view. Seeing 2 lakh black caps in pin drop silence, I wonder what we must have felt speaking to them ?

And aptly he spoke. He spoke about RSS's role for building the future of India, all together. If there is one single thing ingrained in every swayamsevaks head from the first day in a shakha - Its never about a vyakti (individual), its always about the Sanghatan.

For all pseudo-secular scholars watching the telecast, I wonder why not a single article was written the other day about the event? Coz clearly, they did no get what they wanted. If at all they want to find out about the workings of RSS. Talk to one of the swayamsevaks working ground up.

Its these men in khakhi shorts, that run to help in a natural calamity or a famine. 94 year old Choudhary kaka who I talked to, told me a fascinating account of Indira Gandhi's account with RSS in 1983.

The Nellie massacre that happened in Assam during her regime as PM of India, had casualties in thousands. When visiting the site with her ministers a day later, she saw a few men carrying charred bodies out. On asking the driver, who were these men, he said "Madam these are from RSS they are here since yesterday to help". That's a day before the government, could even act. I don't know if the story is true or not. It was one moving pieces of account by a 94-year-old man wearing his black cap, white shirt and khakhi shorts, on what every swayamsevak is trained to do starting out. Coz, its part of the RSS identity to work without making noise. In fact, it's an unheard code to work for the cause and then leave, once the job is done. No banners, no posters, no ruckus.

Going to the #ShivShaktiSangam, has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life. I connected back to where I came from. Met up with old pals, made some new ones on the way and of all, got back to where I belong. This is no makeover transformation, but definitely a wake up call. I have been out of the shakha for almost 15 years. But what reinvigorated the importance of shakha once again to me, was the 3 heads heading our Lonavla unit, were still at the helm commanding the same respect they did 15 years back. None of them are filthy rich businessman, but hard working individuals who have given their everything for the sanghatan. When I asked one them, what gives you the motivation to keep this alive for the last 15 years, the response was quick "Rugved, Sangha has just given me way too much; I don't think I would have been the person I am, if not for the shakha. My job is to only continue what I learnt and pass it on to generations ahead". To which, I can only bow my head in reverence to the sanghatan that makes these moulds of men.

Dhwaja pranam ek Dwi tri!

(https://medium.com/@roogved/a-misconception-called-the-rss-and-why-every-pseudo-secular-scholar-is-wrong-about-it-c02efffe682a#.h688kaqlv) --goTop


@Shri Vishwa Niketan vishwav@bol.net.in www.shrivishwaniketan.blogspot.com