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Marx once wrote that “history weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living.” …
Just picked this up from a library (can’t believe I know a place that gives access to such works). I’m looking to learn about communism specifically, the much criticised “Stalinism” from someone within that system of knowledge.
A concise look at Islamic philosophy with every major philosopher covered adequately
The office bearers of the organisations affiliated to the Sangh, who are respected and famous, are all Savarna Hindus while those who die in riots fomented by them are all Dalits and Backward Castes. The Bania seth sits comfortably in his shop, the Brahmin pandit holds forth on spirituality in the temple, while those who are pushed out to die are Dalits and Adivasis and Backward Castes. If they cannot understand this simple fact, how foolish are they?
— I Could Not Be Hindu by Bhanwar Meghwanshi (Page 178)
An inside look at the fascist organisation, the RSS’ insidious agenda and intricate working. The organisation is exposed in this book as one with not only a genocidal, but a casteist working mechanism. To readers of political ideology and political sciences in India, this may not be a new phenomenon. However, the authors narrative style lens credibility to something that has often been repeated in press, and in publication about the RSS.- that it capitalises on the discontent of the dispirited Indian Hindus by brainwashing them with a fascist ideology.
The author lives a life which is diverse in its experience, ranging from working as an RSS member to a social activist with interest in publication against the RSS. However, his caste follows him and it is appalling to see how obstructive it can really be to affecting any real social change as a citizen of India.
I I didn’t …
An inside look at the fascist organisation, the RSS’ insidious agenda and intricate working. The organisation is exposed in this book as one with not only a genocidal, but a casteist working mechanism. To readers of political ideology and political sciences in India, this may not be a new phenomenon. However, the authors narrative style lens credibility to something that has often been repeated in press, and in publication about the RSS.- that it capitalises on the discontent of the dispirited Indian Hindus by brainwashing them with a fascist ideology.
The author lives a life which is diverse in its experience, ranging from working as an RSS member to a social activist with interest in publication against the RSS. However, his caste follows him and it is appalling to see how obstructive it can really be to affecting any real social change as a citizen of India.
I I didn’t know who Bhanwar was before reading this, but upon looking him up, I found a lot of information and as I read the story of his life, my own privilege in not being acquainted with a generous anti-caste, social worker, such as him became apparent. There is indeed something to be said about my own social group’s blissful ignorance of the ground reality of the Hindu caste system due to which books such as this can be seen as serving a noble purpose by making the ground reality of caste known.
Casteism in the RSS - effect on identity and beliefs of members
As the author tells the reader about how he tries to negotiate a better life and a role in the organisation, he recounts many instances where the key people in the organisation display casteist undertones in all their activities. The story of the food being served to them at the author’s home being discarded, is a pivotal moment, but this is an occurrence that is repeated in the author’s diverse experiences across India.
“The office bearers of the organisations affiliated to the Sangh, who are respected and famous, are all Savarna Hindus while those who die in riots fomented by them are all Dalits and Backward Castes. The Bania seth sits comfortably in his shop, the Brahmin pandit holds forth on spirituality in the temple, while those who are pushed out to die are Dalits and Adivasis and Backward Castes. If they cannot understand this simple fact, how foolish are they?”
It is also a reflection of the intrinsic value that RSS membership provides to the discontent cadre , and how the lack of spiritual upbringing proves fertile ground for fascist brainwashing. The interactions of the author with spiritual leaders such as Osho and the Sufi saint bring this factor to light.
Bhanwar also describes how his identity is constructed around the RSS membership and how the discrimination which sought to be questioned is simply unanswerable by the RSS authorities. In many places, it resembles a horror story, but it is a familiar tale which occurs as a consequence of individual beliefs resonating within a superarching identity system such as the membership of the RSS.
Positive outlook of the author
Although the book tells a grim account of the RSS ruled India, one is left with hope through occurrences, such as the story of the good people in the MKSS, the colleagues he published alongside, and other handful good people, who, when introduced to anti-communalism, accepted a it.
One can see how at an individual level, this often occurs with an anti-caste awakening such as during the numerous instances of self assertion.
All in all this book highlights how the Sangh functions as a massive organisational structure, imposing caste hierarchy on the lower castes to survive, in what can only be called a hypocritical ideological superstructure.
On the chapter that seemingly marks the turning point for the author's journey with the RSS. It reads like a horror story in many places, albeit one that people will find familiar if cognisant with the Hindutva ideology's way of roping in discontented men and women from all parts of India. Which is not to say it does not add the necessary detail for an inside look at the RSS.
A relation of cruel optimism exists when something you desire is actually an obstacle to your flourishing. Offering bold new …
This book is a brilliant work of ethnography, based on the author, Radhika Govindrajan's field work in rural Uttarakhand (a state in India). It is very effective in capturing the politics and different perspectives of interspecies relationships which she portrays both with academic rigour and with a narrative style that makes this work truly appeasing to read.
It is grounded in feminist and postcolonial thinking, which captures the history, legality, and various modern cross-sections of the anthropological subject (i.e human beings) with their different animal counterparts in an Indian setting. The author also constructs a very beautiful vocabulary which can be useful for people looking to verbalise their perception of multispecies affection, I certainly did. Here, the author extends the boundaries of man-animal relations beyond the oft-narrated conflict in the anthropomorphic era, by adding radical feminist, anti-caste and political perspectives to a work of anthropology
