Travelogue: Reliance Jio BP Petrol Pump at Sakri Saraiya, Near Ram Dayalu Chowk, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Travelogue: Lichi (Fruit)'s Sculpture at Muzaffarpur

 

History: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh During India's Independence Movement

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was founded on September 27, 1925, in Nagpur, Maharashtra on the Hindu festival of Vijayadashami (Dussehra). The organization recently celebrated its centenary (100th anniversary) in late 2025.

Key Facts About Its Founding:

• Founder: It was established by Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, a physician from Nagpur.
• Initial Goal: The primary objective was to organize the Hindu community through character-building and discipline to achieve "cultural regeneration."
• Influence: Hedgewar was significantly influenced by the writings of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, particularly his ideological pamphlet Essentials of Hindutva.
• Naming: While the group began in 1925, the name "Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh" was formally adopted a few months later, in April 1926.

RSS' Work During Initial Years: 

The RSS was not founded to work as a political party. Here is a breakdown of its major activities and focus during the initial period:

1. Establishing the "Shakha" System

• The Shakha (branch) was the cornerstone of the RSS. The daily one-hour meeting was designed to instill discipline and unity.
• Physical Training: Included Suryanamaskar, wrestling, and drills.
• Ideological Education: Sessions included patriotic songs (Bhajans), stories of historical Indian heroes (like Shivaji and Maharana Pratap), and discussions on "Cultural Nationalism."
• Saffron Flag (Bhagwa Dhwaj): Instead of a person, the saffron flag was treated as the "Supreme Guru," symbolizing ancient Indian tradition.

2. Character Building and Social Unity

• A major goal was to bridge the deep caste and class divisions within Hindu society.
• Anti-Caste Initiatives: Dr. Hedgewar insisted that within a Shakha, all volunteers (Swayamsevaks) must be treated equally, regardless of caste.
• Discipline: The focus was on "character-building" to create individuals who were physically strong and mentally dedicated to the nation.

3. Relief Work and Social Service

Early on, the RSS began its tradition of mobilizing for social causes and disaster relief:

• Famine and Flood Relief: Volunteers were often the first to arrive at natural disaster sites to provide food and aid.
• Pilgrimage Management: During large festivals like the Kumbh Mela, RSS volunteers managed crowds and provided sanitation and medical help.
• Communal Harmony: During the frequent communal riots of the 1920s and 30s, the RSS focused on organizing Hindu self-defense and relief for victims.

4. Expansion through "Pracharaks"

• In the 1930s, the RSS began expanding beyond its original base in Nagpur.
• Full-time Volunteers: Dr. Hedgewar introduced the concept of Pracharaks—dedicated, celibate, full-time workers who gave up their professional lives to travel across India and set up new Shakhas.
• National Reach: By 1940, the year Hedgewar passed away, the organization had grown from a handful of boys in Nagpur to a network of roughly 100,000 volunteers across several provinces.

5. Relationship with the Independence Movement

While the RSS as an organization did not officially launch movements against the British (to avoid being banned and to focus on long-term "social capital"), Dr. Hedgewar encouraged members to participate in their individual capacities.

• Satyagraha: Hedgewar himself participated in the Jungle Satyagraha (1930) and was imprisoned.
• Purna Swaraj: When the Congress declared "Purna Swaraj" (Complete Independence) in 1929, Hedgewar ordered all RSS branches to celebrate the occasion.

RSS Founder was jailed by the British for participation in India's Freedom Movement. 

Dr. K.B. Hedgewar was imprisoned by the British Raj on two major occasions. While he founded the RSS as a social and cultural organization, he personally participated in several political agitations led by the Indian National Congress.

1. First Imprisonment: Non-Cooperation Movement (1921)

Before founding the RSS, Hedgewar was a prominent leader in the Provincial Congress.

He was arrested in May 1921 for "sedition" due to "objectionable" (anti-British) speeches he delivered in Maharashtra. During his trial, he famously defended his actions by arguing that the British had no moral or legal right to rule India. The judge reportedly remarked that his defense statement was "even more seditious than his original speech." He refused to provide a bail bond or an undertaking to stop his speeches and was sentenced to one year of rigorous imprisonment in Ajani Jail. He was released in July 1922.

2. Second Imprisonment: Jungle Satyagraha (1930)

This took place after the formation of the RSS. When Mahatma Gandhi launched the Civil Disobedience Movement (Salt Satyagraha), Hedgewar decided to participate. He officially resigned as the Sarsanghchalak (Chief) and joined the movement in his individual capacity. He led a group of volunteers in the "Jungle Satyagraha" at Pusad (near Yavatmal), where they defied colonial forest laws by cutting grass and wood in reserved areas. He was arrested on July 21, 1930, and sentenced to nine months of rigorous imprisonment. He served this term in Akola Jail and was released in February 1931.

During his second term in Akola Jail, Hedgewar reportedly started an RSS Shakha (assembly) inside the prison premises to interact with other political prisoners.

Upon his releases, he was often greeted by large crowds and prominent leaders. For instance, in 1922, Motilal Nehru and Hakim Ajmal Khan addressed a public reception held in his honor.

RSS Role During Partition Riots 

The RSS was very active during the chaotic period surrounding India's independence/partition. RSS volunteers organized extensive relief camps for Hindu and Sikh refugees fleeing from newly formed Pakistan. RSS played a key role in the protection of people during the 1947 riots.

History: Japan's Attack on Pearl Harbor: the Japanese Perspective

The Western perspective often frames the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour as a mistake which brought USA into World War. But from the Japanese strategic perspectives, it was seen as a rational, defensive necessity. 

By mid-1941, Japan was in a terminal situation. The U.S. oil embargo on Japan had cut off 94% of their supply. Their economy and military were literally on a countdown to collapse. They could either withdraw from China (which the military saw as a total national humiliation/surrender) or seize the oil fields in the Dutch East Indies.

They knew that if they moved on the Dutch East Indies, the U.S. would intervene from the Philippines. Pearl Harbor was a spoiling attack designed to knock out the only fleet that could stop them from securing the resources they needed to survive.

If Japan had simply invaded Southeast Asia without hitting Pearl Harbor, the U.S. likely would have declared war anyway, but with its entire fleet intact and ready to strike from day one. By hitting Pearl Harbor, Japan bought themselves about 6 to 12 months of absolute freedom in the Pacific. In that window, they conquered Malaya, Singapore, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies. 

Without the Pearl Harbour strike, the Japanese Empire might have collapsed in 1943 instead of 1945. In short, Pearl Harbor wasn't a "mistake" by Japan; it was a desperate move by a nation that felt it was already being strangled to death by American diplomacy (oil embargo). 

History: The "Dirty Foreigner" Trope

The "Dirty Foreigner" trope is a recurring narrative device used to depict immigrants or outsiders as physically, morally, or socially "unclean." In cinema and literature, it functions as a shorthand for xenophobia, serving to justify the exclusion of a character from a "civilized" society.

The Core Concept: Dirt as a Social Barrier

In sociology, "dirt" is often defined as "matter out of place." When a group is labeled as "dirty," it isn't necessarily a statement about their actual hygiene; it is a way of saying they do not belong in the "clean" social structure of the host country.

Dehumanization: By associating a group with filth, the host society makes it easier to view them as less than human. This justifies forcing them into substandard housing or dangerous, "dirty" manual labor.

Moral Judgment: Historically, physical cleanliness was often equated with moral purity. Therefore, a "dirty" person was seen as naturally prone to crime, dishonesty, or "low" behaviors.

Historical Context: Immigration and Pathologization

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Western countries used hygiene as a tool of border control.

The "Diseased" Immigrant: Newcomers were often portrayed as carriers of "foreign germs." This was frequently used against Eastern European, Irish, Italian, and Asian immigrants.

Quarantine and Scrubbing: Immigrants were often subjected to humiliating medical inspections or forced "disinfecting baths" upon arrival. These acts were as much about establishing dominance and hierarchy as they were about health.

Biological Inferiority: Eugenicists used the "weary" or "unclean" appearance of refugees—often caused by the squalor of their journey or the poverty they were fleeing—as "proof" of their biological inferiority.

Symbolic Functions in Media

In storytelling, the trope serves to create an immediate "us vs. them" dynamic:

The Catalyst for Eviction: An act of "improper" behavior (like poor table manners or a lapse in hygiene) is often used by characters to justify a betrayal or an eviction. It provides a "polite" excuse for deep-seated prejudice.

The "Civilizing" Mission: It frames the host society as "clean" and "orderly," while the outsider is a "chaos" that must either be cleaned (assimilated) or discarded.

Historical Institutionalization: The "Medicalized" Border

Historically, this trope wasn't just a social attitude; it was written into law. Border checkpoints were designed as filters to "scrub" the filth out of the nation.

The "Six-Second Exam": At processing centers like Ellis Island, doctors conducted rapid-fire inspections. Any immigrant who appeared "tired," "lame," or "unclean" was marked with chalk (e.g., an "H" for heart disease or an "X" for mental defect). These marks instantly turned a human being into a "medical problem."

The Bath Riots (1917): At the U.S.-Mexico border, the trope led to extreme measures. Mexican workers were forced to strip naked and be sprayed with toxic chemicals like kerosene, vinegar, and eventually Zyklon B (a pesticide later used in the Holocaust). This was justified by the claim that they brought typhus, even when there were almost no cases found.

The Link Between Hygiene and Moral Worth

The trope relies on the "Halo Effect" in reverse: if someone is physically unkempt, they must be morally bankrupt.

The "Filth Disease" Myth: In early 20th-century tenements, infant deaths were often blamed on "immigrant ignorance" and "lack of hygiene" rather than the actual cause: a lack of running water and proper sewage systems provided by the city.

Dehumanization: By calling an immigrant "vermin" or "pestilence," it becomes socially acceptable to treat them like an animal. You don't "evict" a neighbor; you "exterminate" a nuisance.

The Trope in Modern Media

Today, the trope has evolved from literal "dirt" to "social contamination."

The "Parasite" Narrative: Modern rhetoric often describes immigrants as "drains on resources" or "parasites" on the economy. The language of biology (parasite, infestation, swarm) is still used to trigger a "disgust response" in the audience.

Visual Shorthand: Films often use a lack of hygiene—sweat, grime, or "improper" public behavior—to signal to the audience that a character is "unrefined" or "dangerous" before they even speak.

Note on Legacy: The same chemicals used to "disinfect" immigrants at the El Paso border in the 1920s were explicitly cited and studied by Nazi scientists when designing their own "disinfection" chambers. This shows how a simple "hygiene" trope can escalate into a tool for genocide.

You can still pay using UPI Lite even if your bank server is down

You can still pay using UPI Lite even if your bank server is down. This is actually the primary reason UPI Lite was invented. It is designed to be a "server-less" experience for small-value daily transactions.

UPI Lite is an "on-device wallet." When you "top up" your wallet, the money is moved from your bank to a secure space on your phone. When you make a payment, the app doesn't ask your bank for permission. It simply deducts the amount from the balance stored on your phone. Since the transaction doesn't hit the bank's "Core Banking System" (CBS) in real-time, it doesn't matter if your bank's servers are under maintenance or crashing.

Even if the central NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) system is lagging, UPI Lite remains significantly more reliable because it requires much less communication with the central hub.

As of late 2025/early 2026, UPI Lite and wallet-based transactions typically account for about 0.5% to 1% of the total UPI volume, though this is growing as more people use it for small-value "PIN-less" payments.

Why UPI is a Threat or Risk

1. Cyber-Fraud "Pandemic": As UPI transaction volumes grow, so does the target for scammers. Phishing, "collect request" scams, and social engineering are rampant. In India, a significant percentage of cybercrime is now UPI-related because the system is too easy to use.

2. Systemic Fragility: We are putting all our eggs in one basket. If the NPCI servers or a major bank’s core system goes down for even a few hours, it can paralyze the daily life of millions who no longer carry cash.

3. The "Digital Divide": While UPI helps many, those who aren't tech-literate (like the elderly or those in remote areas with poor data) risk being left behind in a society that is becoming "anti-cash."

4. Data Privacy: With billions of payment data points on where you eat, what you buy, and where you travel, the potential for mass surveillance or data breaches is a genuine concern for civil liberties.

Travelogue: Around Pune

 

Travelogue: Ramakrishna Math, Pune

 

A Salesman Problem

 

I faced a peculiar “salesman problem” recently, which was difficult to believe first.

If you are getting a carpentry work done, and select a sun-mica, the carpenter would criticize your selection and would force you to pick another design. If you are getting walls painted and pick a colour, the painted would say that your choice is not good and would ask you to pick another colour, mostly a copy of some other house he had painted. If you are buying a vehicle, again, the salesman would mandatorily criticize your choice of colour and would force you to buy one of the popular colours, e.g. white or black. And then come the curtains.

While buying curtains at a local shop recently, I came across an interesting salesman. After entering the shop, I told the shopkeeper that I did not want the kind of curtain where a plastic ring is used on top to hang the curtain from the rod, and I need the type where the curtain is hung by stripes made of cloth. This way, I would avoid plastic in the curtain and would feel safe washing the curtains in the washing machine. The shopkeeper sent me with a salesman to make my choice from the available options on the first floor.

There was no one else on the first floor where curtains were kept. The salesman first started saying that “no one buys the type of curtain you are buying, and these have gone outdated now. Everyone buys curtains with plastic rings only these days and very soon, production of such clothes-only curtains would be stopped totally by companies”. I said, “Okay. But I like only these curtains.” Then, he stopped for a while and started his tirade again, in totally unsolicited manner.

He said, “the curtain you are buying will run for several years and decades to come”. I thought he was giving a compliment for selecting “clothes only” (no plastic) curtain. So, I said, “Yes”. Then he said, “The problem with middle people (he omitted the word “class” so as not to offend me) is that they do not have money to buy new curtains every year. So, what option they have other than keeping the same curtain for many years to come?”. I was busy selecting a curtain for purchase. But since I heard him, I replied, “The question is, why would one change curtains every year? Curtains do not get old in just one or two years. If curtains start looking old, or if there is a function or a marriage in family, on such occasions one would change all curtains of one’s house. Otherwise, it makes sense to keep the same curtains which are in good condition.” He still repeated his stand that “if one had enough money, one should change curtains every year”. I said, “Okay”. I selected two sets of curtains I liked, took their pictures, and came down to give my order.

Later that day, I happened to recall this incident and then I noticed how the salesman had argued unnecessarily and how any customer could have taken offense with his statements. I did not mind because I did not notice any wrong intention in what he had said. But, his statements could be taken as if he was “harassing” me.

I am not sure about the reason for the “salesmen’s” pattern mentioned above, but most likely it is due to lack of training and professionalism with the particular folks involved. I don’t understand what their problem was if they allowed a customer to buy what he wanted to buy, instead of criticizing their choices and giving unsolicited advices on what to buy and what not. Most likely it seemed they were trying to force their own choices over the customers, due to some kind of “self-validation” psychology. I have read that excessive watching short videos on YouTube changes people’s brain activity and impacts their psychology, is this weird behaviour by salesmen related to that?

Whatever be the reason, I hope the salesmen stop this pattern and they need to get trained better in valuing their customers.

- Rahul

Travelogue: Some Pictures from Pune

 

Travelogue: Zila School, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Manua (Baby Cows) in Winter Wearing Sweater, Motihari, Bihar