09-30-2010, 10:10 AM
Abhas Chatterji - Look at the shakhas of which RSS brags as running 40,000 across the country. The unpleasant truth is that, thanks to their unimaginative functioning, they now evoke little response in the minds of Hindu youth and not even 4 or 5 swayamsevaks attend an average shakha. Even the largest shakha in Bihar draws no more than a dozen. But the show goes on.
In December 1993, my son (18) used to go past an RSS shakha every morning. He always saw the poor pracharak performing all by himself in front of his saffron flag. For a few days, an obese Sikh boy was seen working out with the pracharak obviously because the formerââ¬â¢s father thought the boy should lose some weight. Soon the boy was not to be seen again. Then came the climax. It was a bitterly cold, foggy morning. The grass was wet with dew and the sun was not yet up when my son passed by. He told me sadly what he had seen at the shakha. The saffron flag was up on the pole. The poor pracharak was again busy doing his usual drill by himself, while a shaggy street puppy stood there looking up at the pracharakââ¬â¢s face and vigorously wagging its skimpy tail!
In another local shakha, the prachrak himself told me, some Mohammedan youths would defecate at night at the point where the saffron flag was to be erected. The pracharak would just clean the mess in the morning with a shovel, put up the flag again and start doing his acrobatics!
Organisations generally reach a stage when the organisation itself becomes more important than the idea it was supposed to promote. The vehicle becomes more important than the goal. The RSS too has reached that stage. Serving the interests of the Sangh Parivar now surely ranks higher than serving the Hindu nation. A tendency to weave a cocoon around itself is on the increase.
In December 1993, my son (18) used to go past an RSS shakha every morning. He always saw the poor pracharak performing all by himself in front of his saffron flag. For a few days, an obese Sikh boy was seen working out with the pracharak obviously because the formerââ¬â¢s father thought the boy should lose some weight. Soon the boy was not to be seen again. Then came the climax. It was a bitterly cold, foggy morning. The grass was wet with dew and the sun was not yet up when my son passed by. He told me sadly what he had seen at the shakha. The saffron flag was up on the pole. The poor pracharak was again busy doing his usual drill by himself, while a shaggy street puppy stood there looking up at the pracharakââ¬â¢s face and vigorously wagging its skimpy tail!
In another local shakha, the prachrak himself told me, some Mohammedan youths would defecate at night at the point where the saffron flag was to be erected. The pracharak would just clean the mess in the morning with a shovel, put up the flag again and start doing his acrobatics!
Organisations generally reach a stage when the organisation itself becomes more important than the idea it was supposed to promote. The vehicle becomes more important than the goal. The RSS too has reached that stage. Serving the interests of the Sangh Parivar now surely ranks higher than serving the Hindu nation. A tendency to weave a cocoon around itself is on the increase.