Aakhri Sawal

There was a time when truth was stranger than fiction. Now fiction has become stronger, loud and all pervasive. The absolute truth is averse, dirty and disturbing. So, truth is now reduced to a perspective. You can choose your own version, one that makes you feel good about yourself, your thought process, your ideology. Helps you sleep at night. It’s an apple which is half-rotten but you can enjoy eating the good side. The real truth actually lies in an unsettling feeling in your bones. That something is not right. From the Bollywood propaganda machinery comes another ‘truth-exposer’. The subject of tonight’s debate aka movie is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the RSS, the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Every accusation against the RSS will be answered with table-thumping arguments, cherry-picking, sentimental background music and goalpost shifting. A character will shout, “The truth will and shall prevail!”