Gollum Posted March 10, 2020 Posted March 10, 2020 (edited) In his memoir, Made in India, Milind Soman writes about how being part of the RSS shakha at young age was like being in a ‘desi Scouts’ movement. Quote The other thing that happened around the time I started swimming was my enrolment with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or the RSS. Once again, it was all about location, location, location. The local shakha, or training centre, was at Shivaji Park itself, and Baba was a great believer in the benefits that would accrue to a young boy, in terms of disciplined living, physical fitness and right thinking, from being part of the junior cadres of the RSS. Also, it was just something many young boys in the neighbourhood did—a very Shivaji Park thing. For a long time after I’d been enrolled, I hid out on the sidelines, concealed by a convenient hedge. I was annoyed that my parents had pushed a happy loner like me into forced activities with other children, without so much as a by-your-leave, and I wanted no part of it. My usual companions on the bench were an elderly Anglo-Indian couple and their boxer, Jeeves. One day, Aunty Prudence got so concerned about me hanging around by myself that she insisted on accompanying me home. When Aai came to the door (I think Aunty Prudence was most relieved to find that I hadn’t been lying, that I really did have a home and a mother who cared about me), she told her what I had really been doing each evening. Of course, after that, there was no escape from the shakha. The nice outcome—there’s always one, if you only care to look—of this whole episode was that I made two—rather, three—wonderful friends. It became my job to walk Jeeves every evening, and so I did, very happily, for the rest of his life. When I read today all the subversive, communal propaganda the media attributes to RSS shakhas, I am frankly baffled. My memories of what happened at our shakha between 6 and 7 p.m. each weekday evening are completely different—we marched about in our khaki shorts, did some yoga, worked out in a traditional outdoor gymnasium with no fancy equipment, sang songs and chanted Sanskrit verses that we did not understand the meanings of, played games and had a bunch of fun with our fellows. Occasionally, we’d be taken on treks or overnight camping trips in the hills around Bombay, which we eagerly looked forward to and enjoyed very much. The whole thing was overseen by a team of mostly-well-meaning—if not always inspirational—adults, who truly believed they were helping raise good ‘civilian soldiers’— boys respectful of authority, well-behaved in the presence of adults and well-aware of the importance of physical fitness— who would put their efforts into nation-building when they grew up. A desi Scouts movement, if you will. As for the parents who registered their kids, most saw the shakha as just another way to keep their offspring in good shape and out of trouble. My dad had been part of the RSS himself and was a proud Hindu. I didn’t see what there was to be proud about, but on the other hand, I didn’t see that there was much to complain about either. It just was. I don’t know what my shakha leaders felt about being Hindu—they didn’t really air their views on it to us, as far as I remember. Even if they had, I would not have paid attention—it would have made them sound too much like my dad. This excerpt from Made in India: A Memoir by Milind Soman with Roopa Rai has been published with permission from Penguin Random House India. Interesting, 1st time a celeb has openly come out and said these kind of things. 10 years back who would have thought this was possible? Any ICFer who went to RSS shakha? I think @maniac attended one, correct me if I am wrong....and you @Stradlater bhai? I guess 7 decades of Congressi propaganda has pushed many RWers to look at RSS with suspicion (including yours truly). More of these kind of stories are coming out. Always believed RSS was a necessary organization, if only the people in charge can clip wings of some extremist loudmouths, improve PR game and stop being so retarded the Sangh can go a long way towards nation building. Now NDTV will stop inviting the chaddi/sanghi/bigot to raise money I guess.... Already their crying has begun Edited March 10, 2020 by Gollum Laaloo, Stradlater and diga 1 2
maniac Posted March 10, 2020 Posted March 10, 2020 There you go, this is straight from a guy who actually attended RSS camps. As I have said before, RSS has nothing to do with preaching religion or any so called pseudo-history. It is about nationalism and self-discipline. Hope I applied the physical discipline like Milind Soman though Still remember how to fight with a stick :) Gollum and Austin 3:!6 2
coffee_rules Posted March 10, 2020 Posted March 10, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Gollum said: Any ICFer who went to RSS shakha? I think @maniac attended one, correct me if I am wrong....and you @Stradlater bhai? I guess 7 decades of Congressi propaganda has pushed many RWers to look at RSS with suspicion (including yours truly). More of these kind of stories are coming out. Always believed RSS was a necessary organization, if only the people in charge can clip wings of some extremist loudmouths, improve PR game and stop being so retarded the Sangh can go a long way towards nation building. I have attended for about 2 years from 7th-grade to 9th grade. I have done pathsanchalan with 20k people, Most of the memories are reading anout freedon fighters, Savarkar, Golwalker, Vivekanand and a lot of Nationalism. Yoga, danda exercises were done daily, A week long camp in a temple was the most memorable where it was the first time I was out of the house and stayed in a camp. It was exercises in the AM, Lunch and then stories for rest of the day with games like Kabaddi and Kho-kho. . Only once there was a communal riot in the small town I grew up in, where I heard how some of the VHP guys went and looted Muslim household in reciprocation/retaliation. I grew out of RSS after that. I remember going to a Muslim locality and playing kabaddi with the kids there, with adults suspecting us. It ended peacefully, it was a reaching out program. Edited March 10, 2020 by coffee_rules Gollum 1
Jimmy Cliff Posted March 10, 2020 Posted March 10, 2020 That CJ Vermin is a stain on the underwear of life. Muloghonto, Laaloo and Gollum 3
Manny_Pacquiao Posted March 10, 2020 Posted March 10, 2020 I have never been, but i have known many that have. Thank god for the RSS. RSS is not a religious organization, nor do they 'preach'. They're all about social service and community building. They do it very well. Completely harmless, but their 'idea' of india is directly in opposition to the muslim-oriented 'secularism' of the congress, so the congress works hard to defame them. Like any competition, as you'd expect. The religious organization advocating on behalf of 'hindu' interests is the vishwa hindu parishad (VHP) and those guys are now part of the mainstream, and the leading authority on dharmic faith. RSS exists independent of the BJP, they act as counsel and can make-or-break a BJP government. It's nice to have a volunteer based organization at the top 'watching over things', because we know politicians are corrupted very easily. RSS never seeks publicity, they don't do 'public relations', nor do they care about their 'image', they are purely about service. You hardly ever hear about them in the media, and that makes them an easy target. Just now, Jimmy Cliff said: That CJ Vermin is a stain on the underwear of life. Nah. He's just a mercenary. He worked for the Saudi government's media, and has a predominantly muslim fanbase that likes hearing about muslim victimhood. Subcontinent politics is all about muslim vs non-muslim, so he picks a side and plays the game like anyone else. Laaloo, diga and Gollum 1 2
Laaloo Posted March 10, 2020 Posted March 10, 2020 22 minutes ago, Jimmy Cliff said: That CJ Vermin is a stain on the underwear of life. Where is he based out of?
Gollum Posted March 10, 2020 Author Posted March 10, 2020 23 minutes ago, Laaloo said: Where is he based out of? Aussie based out of US. Works for some Gulf org, Qatari I think.
Jimmy Cliff Posted March 10, 2020 Posted March 10, 2020 27 minutes ago, Gollum said: Aussie based out of US. Works for some Gulf org, Qatari I think. Another Aussie? What's up with these guys becoming Jihadi kirai ka tattoos these days. There's DennislovesPakis and a couple of desi turds like Nikhil Tatte and Brumbyoz. All singing from the same hymn sheet. Laaloo and Gollum 2
Gollum Posted March 10, 2020 Author Posted March 10, 2020 Stradlater, Muloghonto, Jimmy Cliff and 5 others 8
Manny_Pacquiao Posted March 10, 2020 Posted March 10, 2020 29 minutes ago, Jimmy Cliff said: Another Aussie? What's up with these guys becoming Jihadi kirai ka tattoos these days. There's DennislovesPakis and a couple of desi turds like Nikhil Tatte and Brumbyoz. All singing from the same hymn sheet. Money. the cricket guys couldnt get a job in indian media. Aussies are also a lot cheaper than the americans or british. easy hires for any government looking to build a PR campaign in the english language media space. sergio04, Jimmy Cliff and Turning_track 3
maniac Posted March 10, 2020 Posted March 10, 2020 17 minutes ago, Manny_Pacquiao said: Money. the cricket guys couldnt get a job in indian media. Aussies are also a lot cheaper than the americans or british. easy hires for any government looking to build a PR campaign in the english language media space. Welcome back buddy. Also why does this guy CJ have a blue tick and following, is he a journalist or something?
Stradlater Posted March 10, 2020 Posted March 10, 2020 I mean people don't normally realize it but most of the regional heads of the RSS who run camps and stuff are just your regular , uncle-types folks with normal families and stuff. It's mostly mild physical training with sleep-inducing desh bhakti lectures sprinkled in. Similar story in their Adarsh Vidya Mandir schools. But going by the libbu descriptions one would think that they were like some crazy propaganda training academies with the kids being brainwashed into believing in the superiority of the Hindus. Most of it is innocuous, useless stuff really. coffee_rules, Gollum and adi B 1 1 1
coffee_rules Posted March 10, 2020 Posted March 10, 2020 (edited) Edited March 10, 2020 by coffee_rules raki05 and Laaloo 2
rkt.india Posted March 11, 2020 Posted March 11, 2020 11 hours ago, Gollum said: In his memoir, Made in India, Milind Soman writes about how being part of the RSS shakha at young age was like being in a ‘desi Scouts’ movement. Interesting, 1st time a celeb has openly come out and said these kind of things. 10 years back who would have thought this was possible? Any ICFer who went to RSS shakha? I think @maniac attended one, correct me if I am wrong....and you @Stradlater bhai? I guess 7 decades of Congressi propaganda has pushed many RWers to look at RSS with suspicion (including yours truly). More of these kind of stories are coming out. Always believed RSS was a necessary organization, if only the people in charge can clip wings of some extremist loudmouths, improve PR game and stop being so retarded the Sangh can go a long way towards nation building. Now NDTV will stop inviting the chaddi/sanghi/bigot to raise money I guess.... Already their crying has begun I have done shakhas too. There were no religious preachings in shakhas when I attended them. Neither there was any hatred spread for any religion. It had the same routine as Milind Soman described. Prayers, March, yogas etc. maniac, coffee_rules, raki05 and 2 others 1 4
Yoda-esque Posted March 11, 2020 Posted March 11, 2020 Most maharashtrians have been associated with RSS at some point..no biggie..thank God for thatSent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk Gollum 1
diga Posted March 11, 2020 Posted March 11, 2020 49 minutes ago, rkt.india said: I have done shakhas too. There were no religious preachings in shakhas when I attended them. Neither there was any hatred spread for any religion. It had the same routine as Milind Soman described. Prayers, March, yogas etc. Same here...in fact we have cleaned some slums of garbage and used to teach a few kids as part of the shaka,in early 2000s Turning_track, maniac and Gollum 2 1
veer Posted March 11, 2020 Posted March 11, 2020 There is a video of PM Vajpayee talking in Lok Sabha floor defending RSS... AND the uproar it caused, mainly by congressi, during those minutes was unbelievable.. It felt like he was literally defending a terrorist organization.. I felt congress was really worried back then in 90s that Nationalists coming out of RSS will turn the table on them .. Also, If people like Vajpayee and Sushma Swaraj are coming out of RSS then please have RSS at every corner of the country..
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