Sanghi Who Never Went To A Shakha

Sanghi Who Never Went To A Shakha

  • Downloads：4365
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-03-23 16:10:28
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Rahul Roushan
  • ISBN：9390547660
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Summary

This is the journey of a person who hated the word ‘Sanghi’ but ended up happily adopting it as a label。

Rahul Roushan shot to fame around 2009–10 as the ‘Pagal Patrakar’， the pseudonym he used while writing for Faking News。 Back then he was seen just as a founder-editor of the news satire website with no special interest in politics or ideology。

The first time Rahul Roushan was called a Sanghi， he felt deeply offended。 After all， he held a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Patna University， a post-graduate diploma in journalism from IIMC in New Delhi， an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and was a self-made media entrepreneur。

Sanghi literally means someone who is a member of the right-wing RSS （Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh） or its affiliates， but the ‘liberals’ use the term liberally to deride those who differ with their political and ideological stand， or those who wear Hinduism on their sleeves。 This book analyses why Hindutva as an ideology is no longer anathema and what brought about this change。 Why did a country that was ruled for decades by people espousing Nehruvian secularism suddenly began to align with the ‘communal politics’ of the Bharatiya Janata Party （BJP）？

The book is the story of this transformation。 This is not an autobiography， though it could read like one in parts。 It is not even a collection of intellectual essays， though it could read like one in parts。 It is the retelling of some historical events and how those events impacted the journey of Rahul Roushan and countless people like him。 The book looks at factors like education， media， technology and obviously， electoral politics， which played a key role in this transformation。 The book also touches upon some of the personal experiences of the author， both as a media entrepreneur and a journalist。

In author's words， ‘This book will be of special interest to readers who just want to badmouth me and the book， but I really hope the same people make an earnest effort to also understand what changed India and all those Sanghis who never went to any shakha。’

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Reviews

Kumar Bhaskar ，

This book is very well narrated with inclusion and illustration of all the events that led to unify all the RWs in India during and after authors adolescence。 Every story and line has been well versed。 It also talks about superiority complex mentality of liberals。 How and how much they dislike others。 It's like they own the world。 It is altogether a journey of all Indians which has resulted in ascension of Hindutva ideology。Every bit of this book is well documented。 This book is very well narrated with inclusion and illustration of all the events that led to unify all the RWs in India during and after authors adolescence。 Every story and line has been well versed。 It also talks about superiority complex mentality of liberals。 How and how much they dislike others。 It's like they own the world。 It is altogether a journey of all Indians which has resulted in ascension of Hindutva ideology。Every bit of this book is well documented。 。。。more

Rahul Sharma ，

I have been following my namesake Rahul from a decade now on Twitter and I was quite excited when he had announced his book because whatever little he used to write on his blog or for OpIndia， I felt had a lot of ideological clarity。 While'Sanghi who never went to a Shakha' is supposed to be autobiographical but it is also a story of many of us。 Rahul explains how and why there has been an ideological shift in the country。 He beautifully explains how the 'liberal ecosystem' works in India and ho I have been following my namesake Rahul from a decade now on Twitter and I was quite excited when he had announced his book because whatever little he used to write on his blog or for OpIndia， I felt had a lot of ideological clarity。 While'Sanghi who never went to a Shakha' is supposed to be autobiographical but it is also a story of many of us。 Rahul explains how and why there has been an ideological shift in the country。 He beautifully explains how the 'liberal ecosystem' works in India and how it traces its origins back to the British days。 He makes people like me ponder that is it worth being a 'neutral' in India when we are continuously shamed for holding a particular political belief or for practicing our customs and rituals？ Barring a few things （like his paranoia for Hindus or how RSS got positive publicity from Anna movement）， I agree with pretty much everything that he talked about in the book。 I hope 'liberals' read this too not because they will change （they cannot because they are the most intolerant） but just for the burn！ 🔥 。。。more

Nithesh Satish ，

I can't recall the last time I read 260 pages of a book in a single day。 This was a riveting read。 It is an autobiographical story about the author's ideological journey， which is apparently similar to that of many BJP voters。 Rahul Roushan explains how his identity changed from a 'Congressi Hindu' to a 'Sanghi'， a process that accelerated after 2014。 In the first two chapters， he recounts his childhood and explains how his family brought him up as a Congressi Hindu， i。e。 Congress supporters who I can't recall the last time I read 260 pages of a book in a single day。 This was a riveting read。 It is an autobiographical story about the author's ideological journey， which is apparently similar to that of many BJP voters。 Rahul Roushan explains how his identity changed from a 'Congressi Hindu' to a 'Sanghi'， a process that accelerated after 2014。 In the first two chapters， he recounts his childhood and explains how his family brought him up as a Congressi Hindu， i。e。 Congress supporters who were not very assertive about their identity as Hindus。 He explains why such a phenomenon was possible in the first place。 The Congress party was able to send different messages to different communities without sounding incoherent。 However， such a strategy included encouragement of anti-Hindu leftist intelligentsia in academic circles and media。 Thus， Rahul says that Congressi Hindus lived a blissful life while their cultural heritage was being silently destroyed in important spaces like media and academia。 Later on， in the third and fourth chapters， the author explains his life in IIMC （Indian Institute of Mass Communication）， where he hoped to build the foundation of his career in media。 He tells us the fascinating story where he came face to face with a terrorist-batchmate ， Shahbaz， but could not identify Shahbaz's true nature inspite of obvious clues in the worldview he espoused。 Later on， Rahul explains his experience while working in the media。 At this juncture， the author admits that he didn't even understand the term 'vicharadhaara' or ideology。 He learns that 'responsible journalism' in India was hell bent on protecting reputation of Muslims even if they were perpetrators of a crime。 Rahul figures out that something is wrong， but he doesn't turn into a 'Sanghi' yet。 The author focuses on getting into a B-school and further his career。 After getting into IIM-Ahmedabad， Rahul learns about the other side of the 2002-Gujarat riots from people in the city。 He cites some of the factors that ensured successive victories of Narendra Modi。 Till the fifth chapter， the book documents Rahul's journey as a 'Congressi Hindu' who is not ideologically committed。 But things change after the Anna movement and corruption within the media establishment comes to his attention。 He documents the popular narrative in the run-up to 2014 Lok Sabha elections。 A major churn happens in the mind of the author。 He questions the narrative of the leftist establishment and feels that Modi deserves a chance。 However， he says that he didn't even have a voter ID when the elections happened。 And he was not a 'Sanghi' even after the BJP swept 2014 elections。 Subsequent behaviour of the media and the partisan campaign that was launched by the Congress-Left establishment converts him into a 'Sanghi who never went to a Shakha'。 Rahul realises that much of the narrative that goes in the name of secularism， human rights and equality in India is actually inspired by an anti-Hindu ideology。 The double standards adopted when analysing events related to Hinduism and minorities disturbs the author。 He says : " The need was not to be neutral and balanced， but to balance this lopsided narrative by bringing in counter-arguments。 The need was not to respect the boundaries of political correctness but to push the boundaries to show why political correctness was hiding the truth。 [。。] The need was to stand up for my identity， by not surrendering and seeking liberal validation。"In the last few chapters， Roushan tries to deconstruct the 'ecosystem' and the manner in which it has been functioning over the decades。 The author explains how exclusivist terms like 'Bhakt'， 'Sanghi' and other pejorative terms are invented and stuck on people by the leftist-establishment。 He admits that similar pejoratives like 'anti-national' and 'urban naxal' have emerged in response。 Rahul expresses fears about a second partition and draws parallels between events that occurred during anti-CAA protests and events that happened in the run-up to partition。 However， he asks 'Sanghis' not to turn into a replica of 'secular-liberal' gang and remain open to conversation with reasonable people。 This is a fascinating read for anyone who wants to understand the nature of political changes happening in the country since 2014。 It demonstrates how a tolerant majority （which is still tolerant） which earlier voted Congress has made a decisive shift， possibly a permanent shift， towards BJP。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Sanghi Who Never Went To A Shakha

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Sanghi Who Never Went To A Shakha&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Sanghi Who Never Went To A Shakha&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0