Dr K B Hedgewar- the founder of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)

New Delhi: The world can be divided into two sets of people- leaders and followers. Those who are leaders don't mind treading their own path even if the march ahead looks uncertain and unpromising. The sheer belief in the ideals and principles keeps the flame ignited in the minds of the leaders.Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar , the founder of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), was one such leader whose patriotic ideals and beliefs and his dogged determination to spread the message of “cultural nationalism” introduced a paradigm shift in the socio-political discourse of modern India. Although Hedgewar founded RSS as a socio-cultural organization, its nationalistic and patriotic world view deeply affected Indian politics as well and the ascendancy of BJP, to which RSS sends its full timers on deputation, has made RSS the focal point of political discussions in India.So, the question is who was Dr Hedgewar and what prompted him to lay the foundation of RSS that has emerged as one of the significant poles in the history of India's socio-cultural and political discourse?Dr Hedgewar was born on April 1, 1889 in Nagpur to Baliram Pant Hedgewar and Revati. He was born on the auspicious day of Gudi Padwa, the Hindu New Year's Day. It was a family of Deshastha Brahmins.Dr Hedgewar's father was a priest and therefore the financial condition of his family was not very good. Hedgewar faced tough times in his early life as both his parents succumbed to plague when he was just thirteen years of age. Despite the tragedy, Hedgewar's brothers ensured that his education does not suffer for lack of money.Keshav had the fire of ‘patriotism' in his belly since his childhood. He was rusticated from his school ‘Neel City High School' in Nagpur for singing "Vande Mataram" in violation of the circular issued by the then British government.Child Keshav was forced to shift to Rashtriya Vidyalaya in Yavatmal and later in Pune for high school studies. After his matriculation, he went to Kolkata in 1910 to pursue his medical studies. He completed his medical education from National Medical College, Kolkata, in June 1914 and returned to Nagpur in 1915 as a doctor. But destiny had something else in store for him. Hedgewar who felt very strongly for the nation since his childhood decided not to enter the medical profession. Instead, he vowed to work for the Hindu society and country at large. During his stay in Kolkata, he was deeply associated with revolutionaries who were engaged in their fight against British imperialism. Once in Nagpur, Dr Hedgewar started organizing the revolutionaries of the adjoining areas.But Dr Hedgewar very soon realized that the war of independence could not be won through sporadic attacks on British institutions that had the resources to overcome all such attacks.Hedgewar started analyzing the root cause of enslavement of India. What was it that led to the slavery of a great country like India? Hedgewar concluded that the root cause of slavery was the deep cracks that existed within the Hindu society on the basis of caste,creed and language.Therefore, he decided to unite the Hindu society through daily morning gatherings that later came to be known as ‘shakhas'. Hedgewar firmly believed that slavery of centuries has made Hindu community forget its glorious and valorous past and that it was necessary for the youths of the community to keep themselves physically fit so that, if need be, they can take up the challenge of saving the honour of the mother land. ‘Unification of Hindu society' became the motive of his life.With his determination to spread his message of unification of Hindu society, Dr Hedgewar founded Rashtriya swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1925 on the auspicious day of “Vijayadashami”.What Dr Hedgewar preached and propagated was later broadly defined as “cultural nationalism”.Dr Hedgewar was deeply influenced by Hindu philosophers like Swami Vivekananda, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Sri Aurobindo.He was also an ardent supporter of Bal Gangadhar Tilak. In fact, he joined Congress party under the leadership of Tilak and came in close contact with Dr B S Moonje, National President of Hindu Mahasabha, who later became his mentor.Working as a Congress activist, Dr Hedgewar was imprisoned in 1921 for a year and again in 1930 for 9 months when he actively participated in ‘ Jungle satyagraha' after Mahatma Gandhi gave the call for ‘Satyagraha' against the British government.Dr Hedgewar was a very good organizer and an orator par excellence. He insisted on the principles of ‘Nation First' that became the guiding philosophy for RSS later on.While RSS was growing by leaps and bounds, the health of Dr Hedgewar deteriorated by January 1940 owing to his extremely busy schedule and his zeal to utilize each and every moment of his life for the unification of Hindu society.In 1940, Dr Hedgewar went to Bihar for the hot-spring treatment. He breathed his last on the morning of June 21, 1940 in Nagpur.Dr Hedgewar died in 1940 but the flame of patriotism that he ignited among millions of Indians continues to burn despite all odds.It's not that Dr Hedgewar's life was without any controversies. In fact, his very concept of ‘cultural nationalism' has been interpreted as against the minorities especially Muslims but that's a different debate which is going on for years with strong arguments both in favour and against Dr Hedgewar's philosophy.