Excerpts from Milind Soman’s newly released memoir titled Made In India were going viral on Twitter on Tuesday. The model and actor has written about his stint with the RSS as a youngster and that’s exactly what made him trend on social media. In the book, Soman reveals that he started swimming after being enrolled with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or the RSS, adding that it was just something many young boys in the Shivaji Park neighbourhood of Mumbai did at the time.
Describing his thoughts about the RSS and his experience while he he a RSS member, Soman writes, “When I read today all the subversive, communal propaganda the media attributes to RSS shakhas, I am frankly baffled. My memories of what happened at our shakha between 6 and 7 p.m. each weekday evening are completely different—we marched about in our khaki shorts, did some yoga, worked out in a traditional outdoor gymnasium with no fancy equipment, sang songs and chanted Sanskrit verses that we did not understand the meanings of, played games and had a bunch of fun with our fellows.”
Soman goes on to call the RSS a “desi Scouts movement” and remembers that he went on treks and overnight camping trips around the outskirts of Mumbai with other kids as part of the organisation. The actor also talks about his father being a part of the RSS. “My dad had been part of the RSS himself and was a proud Hindu. I didn’t see what there was to be proud about, but on the other hand, I didn’t see that there was much to complain about either. It just was. I don’t know what my shakha leaders felt about being Hindu—they didn’t really air their views on it to us, as far as I remember. Even if they had, I would not have paid attention—it would have made them sound too much like my dad,” writes Soman.
Milind Soman himself seemed to be surprised with all the tweets around him and his RSS association making him trend on social media. The actor reacted with this post:
After excerpts talking about Soman’s RSS links as a youngster went viral, Twitterati came out to either “cancel” him or declare him “hotter”. Take a look at some of the tweets made in response to the news of Milind Soman’s RSS association.
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