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If you think of cows, slums and poverty – you surely have your roots elsewhere on earth. But if the name India reminds you of the super success of Mars Mission or IT corridors, you are truly an Indian. 
 
For those who know India, or are born here, this is a country which lives well within its complexities. Nothing seems like a puzzle. But for someone who is looking at India from outside, especially from western part of the world this nation is filled with mind-numbing complexities. 
 
Whether it is ancient India, or modern,the country has shown some awesome ways of counting, measuring, suturing, and educating. Moreover, India documented sex positions before the world even had the semblance to accept sex and promiscuity as part of human existence! 
 
Now don't ask us why India didn't learn to put math and sex together and control its population. It's just that, we worked on both of them with equal passion, much to create some 1.25 bn awesome people. Bite it now! Check this list below! 
 
Oh, the pride of 'giving'! 
Starting from 1200 BC and till the end of 18th century, India’s contribution to the development of mathematics is unparalleled and unmatched by any other nation. India is where most components of mathematics were born. Whether it is Algebra, trigonometry and calculus, or the Binary system on which computers run today, or even the value of Pi – India was in the forefront of this knowledge realm with names such as Aryabhata, Bhaskara, Mahavira, Brahmagupta and Nilakanta Somayaji. 
 
Zero the hero! 
It’s a popular joke to be shared among mathematics loving Indians that India’s contribution to the world was Zero! This contribution revolutionalised the number value system that the mathematics as a subject was to gain later. Indian mathematician Brahmagupta is said to have used this numeral way back in 650 AD to formalize arithmetic equations. 
 
The heart of Buddhism 
Though Buddha was born in the present day Lumbini Vana in Nepal, Buddhism that some part of the world has embraced today, originated in India and spread its wings along the Ganges Valley. Buddhism is the most peace-loving religion, which has remained unaffected by the modern vagaries. Some of the greatest personalities including Aung San Suu Kyi Richard Gere, Tina Turner and Tiger Woods have turned Buddhists. 
 
Shatranj and Mokshpath 
India was home for some of the finest games that involved usage of logic. Whether it was chess, (known as Shatranj); or Snakes and Ladders – known as Mokshapath, India was where they were born. 
 
Karate aka Kalaripayatt 
The basic tenets of this martial art called Karate, originated in India in the sultry spaces of southern states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu. This martial art, which is to have originated roughly 5000 years ago, is gaining popularity with every passing day across the world as a weaponless method of self-defense. 
 
Well, Surgery! When it comes to this branch of medicine, basic surgery originated in India way back in 600 BC, when Sushruta used it to treat his patients. He is the founding father of Surgery, as recounted by the world! 
 
Yo Yo <keyword id="6355812" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Yoga">YOGA</keyword>! Yoga, the best known way of maintaining health, originated in India in Indus-Saraswati civilization 5000 years ago. It is still practiced in its pure form by many people in India, without altering its soul. 
 
Ahimsa: The inspiring winner <keyword id="3056763" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Non-violence-or-Ahimsa">Non-violence or Ahimsa</keyword> has been India’s most significant contribution to the world at a time when in face of the most challenging times of the country. After being colonized for nearly two centuries by British, an Indian clothed in the most basic attire – a dhoti and shawl – showed the world that India can reap the dreams of a bright independent future, against the mighty forces as well. Ahimsa was later practiced by Africa too, to gain its independence under its first president Nelson Mandela. 
 
For god's sake In the most recent times, <keyword id="612968" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="god-particle">God Particle</keyword> shook the world of science and research with its accuracy and importance of going to the minutest detail of what was that elementary particle that held the world together. While the work won scientist Peter Higgs theNobel Prize, the basic argument for this discovery came from an Indian Satyendra Nath Bose’s work with Einstein way back in 1920s on quantum physics. 
 
India told you 69 is exciting! 
Now, this is last but not the least. World always copulated and reproduced. The first ever text on human sexual behaviour originated in India, between 400 BC and 200 CE. Vatsayana wrote this book in Sanskrit, on philosophy of love, marital life, spirituality of sex and sexual positions.

Easy, queasy, intelligent and sexy! Here are 10 things we gave the world

On October 2, <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword> and the world celebrate the birth anniversary of <keyword id="19956739" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="mahatma-gandhi" source="keywords">Mahatma Gandhi</keyword>, a figure synonymous with peace, non-violence, and moral courage. Gandhi's philosophy of ahimsa (non-violence) and his enduring legacy of peaceful resistance played a crucial role in India's freedom from British colonial rule. His message of compassion, tolerance, and unity remains relevant today as India honours the father of its nation. However, as we commemorate Gandhi’s vision of a just and peaceful world, the global landscape is increasingly defined by division, conflict, and the looming threat of war. Just a day before the birth anniversary of the world's greatest advocate of peace and non-violence, <keyword id="19915592" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="iran" source="keywords">Iran</keyword> reportedly fired nearly 200 missiles at <keyword id="19900599" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="israel" source="keywords">Israel</keyword> in retaliation for the latter’s attack on several leaders from Iran-aligned armed groups. The development threatens a far broader conflict in the <keyword id="19904316" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="middle-east" source="keywords">Middle East</keyword>, even as the world reels under the impacts of a prolonged war between <keyword id="19895159" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="russia" source="keywords">Russia</keyword> and Ukraine. This growing disparity between Gandhi’s ideals and today’s geopolitical reality raises pressing questions. Why is the world, after decades of advocating peace, slipping back into the dangerous arms of war? What lessons can we relearn from Gandhi's non-violent resistance in today's deeply polarized and conflict-driven world? <h2>Gandhi’s vision of non-violence</h2>Mahatma Gandhi’s satyagraha (truth force) and ahimsa were not just strategies for India’s independence but were meant as universal ideals applicable to humanity’s quest for justice. He proved that non-violence could be an effective tool against oppression and aggression, fostering change without bloodshed. Gandhi believed that every individual, regardless of their power or position, could influence the course of history by choosing love and empathy over violence and hate. Gandhi's approach was radical in its simplicity. In a world rife with wars, colonial expansion, and racial discrimination, he stood for a path that rejected the need for armed conflict and encouraged reconciliation through dialogue and understanding. His principles influenced iconic figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and the Dalai Lama, who adapted non-violence to fight racial segregation, apartheid, and political oppression in their own contexts. Yet, as we observe Gandhi's 155th birth anniversary, it is alarming how much the world has moved away from his teachings. <h2>A world divided, the rise of global conflict</h2>In contrast to Gandhi’s peaceful vision, the world today teeters on the edge of geopolitical and social collapse. Major conflicts have either escalated or persisted, leaving millions of lives in jeopardy. In addition to the Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah conflict, the war in Ukraine, the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, Syria's endless civil strife, and rising tensions in the <keyword id="19911056" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="south-china-sea" source="keywords">South China Sea</keyword> (especially between China and Taiwan) signal that the global community is not only failing to achieve peace but may be actively regressing. According to the 2024 Global Peace Index, global peacefulness has declined year-on-year for 12 of the last 16 years. Military expenditure is at an all-time high, and many nations are entangled in complex alliances and hostilities. Nuclear proliferation and the militarisation of space further add to the sense of impending catastrophe. Despite the existence of international bodies like the United Nations, which were established to foster dialogue and peace, their ability to prevent or de-escalate conflicts remains severely limited. <h2>The failure of diplomacy and the rise of conflicts</h2>Experts believe that the resurgence of nationalism and a sense of self-interest among nation-states are often coupled with authoritarianism. Leaders from powerful nations are openly rejecting international cooperation, pushing protectionist policies that isolate their countries while stoking internal divisions. In place of diplomacy, we witness inflammatory rhetoric, threats, and, at times, blatant acts of aggression. These inward-looking policies and the closure of borders (both literally and figuratively) have weakened international alliances and hindered collaborative peace efforts. The breakdown of diplomacy in recent years is perhaps most evident in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, where negotiations for peace have repeatedly failed, escalating into a full-scale war that has drawn in global powers. Similarly, in regions like the Middle East, diplomacy seems like a relic of a bygone era, as deep-rooted enmities fuel a seemingly never-ending warfare. In such an atmosphere, Gandhi’s insistence on dialogue, understanding, and empathy as tools for conflict resolution appears tragically absent. <h2>Lessons from Gandhi: is there a path forward?</h2>As the world commemorates Gandhi’s legacy, it’s essential to reflect on what can be salvaged from his teachings in today’s war-torn world. Gandhi never envisioned peace as a passive state but as an active, ongoing effort that required immense personal and political courage. His belief in sarvodaya—the welfare of all—argued for a world in which power is not derived from weapons or economic dominance but from mutual respect and cooperation. One of the most crucial lessons from Gandhi’s life is that sustainable peace is not possible without justice. Conflict is often rooted in inequality, exploitation, and the failure of political systems to represent all citizens fairly. Today’s global conflicts are no exception; economic inequalities, ethnic discrimination, and the disenfranchisement of vulnerable populations all contribute to instability. Addressing these root causes through non-violent means, as Gandhi did, remains an essential but overlooked strategy. The question that looms large on this day of reflection is whether the world can rediscover Gandhi's spirit of non-violence in time to prevent further descent into chaos. His message is not outdated, as some critics might argue, but perhaps more relevant than ever. The international community must return to principles of diplomacy, collective security, and dialogue rather than resorting to the tools of war. Civil society, too, has a critical role to play in resisting the drift towards conflict. Movements for environmental justice, racial equality, and peace activism, inspired by Gandhi’s methods, can and must push back against the war machines and nationalist fervor gripping many countries today. Gandhi once said, "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." At a time when division seems to be the dominant narrative, Gandhi’s words remind us of the need for unity, compassion, and service to humanity as the only true paths to peace. As India honours Mahatma Gandhi on this anniversary, the world stands at a dangerous crossroads. We are drifting away from the principles that Gandhi lived and died for—peace, non-violence, and justice. Yet, his vision offers a beacon of hope in these dark times. The global community must reflect on his teachings and re-commit to the hard but necessary work of non-violent resistance to hatred, division, and war. In doing so, we can perhaps pull the world back from the brink of collapse and move toward a future that Gandhi would be proud of.

Gandhi Jayanti 2024: Mahatma’s legacy of peace in a world teetering on the edge of large-scale wars

<keyword id="6355532" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mahatma-gandhi" source="Orion">Mahatma Gandhi</keyword> is venerated as the Father of Nation in India. In redeeming the country from the clutches of foreign rule and in nation building following that, Mahatma <keyword id="6356181" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gandhi" source="Orion">Gandhi</keyword> had a very significant role. Gandhi was born in Porbandar of Gujarat on October 2 and in his memory, <keyword id="6481694" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gandhi-jayanti" source="Orion">Gandhi Jayanti</keyword> is celebrated in India declaring it as a public holiday in memory of this great personality who inspired this nation with patriotism and non-violence. Gandhi’s unique method of <keyword id="95773" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="satyagraha" source="Orion">Satyagraha</keyword> or peaceful non-cooperation has secured him universal fame. When it comes to peaceful protest, Gandhi’s philosophy and strategies have given a lead to the world. While the country is preparing to celebrate Mahatma’s birthday on 2October 2021, here is a list of famous quotes from Gandhi. Gandhi’s philosophy of Sarvodaya One of Gandhi’s biggest contributions to nation building was Sarvodaya. Once Mr. Polak, Gandhi’s intimate friend introduced Gandhi to Ruskin Bond’s ‘Unto This Last’, which gandhiji read during his train journey from Johannesburg to Durban. The biggest impact left by the book on Gandhi made him paraphrase the concept of this book into the term ‘Sarvodaya’. Gandhi's thoughts on Sarvodaya can be summed up in three of his quotes namely, “The good of the individual is contained in the welfare of all.” “All have the same right of earning their livelihood from their work.” “That life of labour is the life worth living.” Gandhi on self-respect Most of Gandhi’s teachings stemmed from his idea of self-respect. Self-respect according to Gandhi is the product of every man’s feeling of self-dignity and confidence in one’s potentials, abilities and goodness. Gandhi always insisted on being true to one’s own conscience and also the need of man’s thoughts, words and actions to always get aligned with his deepest convictions meaning the unity of thought, word and deed. Gandhi’s quotes on self-respect can inspire anyone with a renewed perception of one’s own self. “I cannot conceive of a greater loss than the loss of one’s self-respect.” “Nobody can hurt me without my permission.” “I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.” Gandhi on non-violence Gandhi strongly recommended a non-violent protest for India’s freedom against foreign rule and oppression. Gandhi’s massive victory in South Africa against the racial injustice had made the Satyagraha or non-violent non-cooperation movement highly popular in India before he arrived on the national scene. Gandhi spoke so much on non-violence and he shaped the freedom struggle closely in alignment with his principles of non-violence or Ahimsa. A few of Gandhi’s thoughts on non-violence are indeed awe-inspiring. “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” “A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave”. “Permanent good can never be the outcome of untruth and violence.” “We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make strong progress towards it.” “When restraint and courtesy are added to strength, the latter becomes irresistible.” “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.” Gandhi on love and service Gandhi believed that individual and social transformation can ensue only from love and selfless service. He advocated that the highest good is to be able to love all unconditionally and be bent on the largest good for the largest number. Gandhi’s quotes on love and service have inspired millions in the path of non-violence and a peaceful protest for achieving greater goals in addition to refining one’s one self. “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” “Whenever you are confronted with an opponent, conquer him with love.” “To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.”

Gandhi Jayanti 2023 — Remembering his finest words

MK Gandhi expanded as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, is reverentially described as the father of India. With a fitting leadership to the freedom struggle in India, Gandhi played a pivotal role in securing freedom for India from the oppressive British rule. A strong advocate of Satya (Truth) and Ahimsa (non-violence), Gandhi showed the power of love and non-violence in combating injustice and oppression. Mahatma is the title given to this inspiring personality who led the masses with his optimism, courage, his principles, and practice. <keyword id="6355532" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="mahatma-gandhi" source="Orion">Mahatma Gandhi</keyword> was born in Porbandar, also known as Sudamapuri in Gujarat on October 2, 1869. His birthday is celebrated as Gandhi Jayanti every year on 2nd October. While we celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday this year, here are a few inspiring quotes from the leader who is revered, not only by Indians but by the world at large. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Mahatma Gandhi’s famous quotes" comment="subhead" text="Mahatma Gandhi’s famous quotes">Mahatma Gandhi’s famous quotes</cmsannotation> <ul><li>“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. We need not wait to see what others do.”</li></ul><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes on humankind" comment="subhead" text="Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes on humankind">Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes on humankind</cmsannotation> <ul><li>“A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.”</li><li> “The greatness of humanity is not in being human, but in being humane.”</li><li>“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.”</li><li>“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”</li></ul><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes on truth" comment="subhead" text="Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes on truth">Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes on truth</cmsannotation> <ul><li>“An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self sustained.”</li></ul><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes on self-respect" comment="subhead" text="Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes on self-respect">Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes on self-respect</cmsannotation> <ul><li>“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.”</li><li>“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”</li><li>“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”</li></ul><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes on human mind and positive thinking" comment="subhead" text="Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes on human mind and positive thinking">Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes on human mind and positive thinking</cmsannotation> <ul><li>“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”</li><li>“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”</li><li>“We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make strong progress towards it.”</li><li>“Change yourself – you are in control.”</li><li>“When restraint and courtesy are added to strength, the latter becomes irresistible.”</li><li>“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”</li><li>“If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide.”</li><li>“It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.”</li><li>“Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny.”</li></ul><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Mahatma Gandhi on the importance of hard work" comment="subhead" text="Mahatma Gandhi on the importance of hard work">Mahatma Gandhi on the importance of hard work</cmsannotation> <ul><li>“Nearly everything you do is of no importance, but it is important that you do it.”</li></ul><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes on freedom, religion and service" comment="subhead" text="Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes on freedom, religion and service">Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes on freedom, religion and service</cmsannotation> <ul><li>“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.”</li><li> “My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God. Non-violence is the means of realising Him.”</li><li>“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”</li></ul><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Mahatma Gandhi on women empowerment" comment="subhead" text="Mahatma Gandhi on women empowerment">Mahatma Gandhi on women empowerment</cmsannotation> <ul><li>“To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior”</li></ul><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Mahatma Gandhi on the power of truth, love and non-violence" comment="subhead" text="Mahatma Gandhi on the power of truth, love and non-violence">Mahatma Gandhi on the power of truth, love and non-violence</cmsannotation> <ul><li>“It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.”</li><li>"Love is the strongest force the world possesses.”</li><li>“All the religions of the world, while they may differ in other respects, unitedly proclaim that nothing lives in this world but Truth.”</li><li> “Nonviolence is a weapon of the strong.”</li><li>“Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.”</li><li>“A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.”</li><li>“Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment.”</li><li> “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.”</li><li>“An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.”</li><li>“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.”</li></ul>

Mahatma Gandhi famous Quotes and Slogans

The <keyword id="6356037" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="white-house">White House</keyword> has chosen an Indian-American woman to be honoured as "Champions of Change" for her efforts to protect environment and communities from the effects of climate change. 

	She is among 12 faith leaders selected for the honour, reported PTI. 
 

	Viswanath is the only Indian-American in the list and has been selected for her work to encourage Hindus to take care of the environment.
 

	She worked with women's and human rights organisations for almost three decades. Viswanath is co-founder and active board member of the 14-year-old front-line women's human rights organisation, Women for Afghan Women.
 The White House said: "Viswanath is also co-founder and board member of <keyword id="19402" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sadhana">Sadhana</keyword>: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, living and building a Hinduism that prioritises social justice, and upholding the Hindu principles of ekatva (oneness), ahimsa (non-violence) and sadhana (faith in action)." 

	It added that she is being honoured for her work with Sadhana. 
 

	Born in Chennai, Viswanath says her childhood was steeped in ritualistic practice of Hinduism.
 

	She added: "I have always been secure in my identity as a Hindu. Growing up, I thought a lot about faith and religion, but I also had a very strong sense of social justice-what was fair." 
 

	"I imbibed profound lessons of love and justice from my religious upbringing, from the stories we were told, the prayers we learned, the texts we read. I went on as an adult to devote my life to advancing social justice causes, particularly women's human rights," she said.
 

	"If Hinduism cares deeply about all people and all living beings, then there must be an active, vocal Hindu movement for social justice and human rights today," she said, adding that a small group of like-minded individuals got together to explore this question and Sadhana was born.
 

	One of the project of Sadhana is Project Prithvi - a grassroots green project, which mobilise Hindus, especially the youth, to live out the principle of ahimsa by taking care of the environment.
 The organization is presently working on a project to clean up specific beaches in <keyword id="627536" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Jamaica-Bay">Jamaica Bay</keyword> where Hindus worship and litter the place. 
	(Image: YouTube)

Meet 'Champions of Change' Indian-American Sunita Viswanath

In 1906, in a lodging house for Indian students in Highgate, a pleasant area of north London, a young lawyer called Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi dropped in on a law student called Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who happened to be frying prawns at the time. Savarkar offered Gandhi some of his meal; Gandhi, a vegetarian, refused. Savarkar allegedly retorted that only a fool would attempt to resist the British without being fortified by animal protein.
The meeting is said to have begun hostilities between the two young Indian nationalists; whether or not the story is apocryphal, there were real reasons for antipathy.
The two men had very different approaches to the struggle against Britain. Gandhi, who became leader of the Indian National Congress (INC), was a pacifist with an inclusive attitude towards Muslims and Christians. Savarkar, who would lead the Hindu Mahasabha, was a right-wing majoritarian who spawned the idea of hindutva, or Hindu-ness--the belief that the Hindu identity is inseparable from the Indian identity. Congress eclipsed the Mahasabha and, since history belongs to the victors, the story of India's independence movement became one of non-violence. But the strand of thought that Savarkar represented was more important than is generally recognised, and is enjoying a revival.
A member of the Mahasabha broke away to form the paramilitary Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), or national volunteer organisation, in 1925, modelled, some say, on the British army. A social rather than explicitly political organisation, it presented itself as the world's largest non-governmental group, in which like-minded, khaki-uniformed men could gather for dawn calisthenics. It recruited boys at an impressionable age, as the Jesuits did, the better to inculcate them with discipline and with passion for the cause. One such was the eight-year-old Narendra Modi. The future prime minister attended training sessions with the RSS, was subsequently inducted as a cadet, and in 1985 was assigned by the RSS to its political wing, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which he rose to lead.
Mr Modi is India's strongest leader since Indira Gandhi, and its most controversial. The source of controversy is his failure in 2002, when chief minister of Gujarat, to avert a massacre of Muslims, which opponents attribute to a hostility to Muslims born of the ideology that Savarkar spawned. Mr Modi has never apologised for the massacre, though he said last year that he felt regret over them, as he would at seeing a puppy run over in the street. Nor has he made any attempt to distance himself from the RSS.
The RSS, meanwhile, is becoming more overtly political. Mohan Bhagwat, its current leader, is somewhat in the mould of Savarkar, paraphrasing his beliefs and promoting Hindutva. In August this year Mr Bhagwat directly echoed Savarkar by saying all who live in "Hindustan" are in fact Hindus, whatever Muslims, Christians or secular Hindus might say. More striking, the RSS leader has switched the organisation's methods. Now, far from eschewing party politics, the group has become an enthusiastic and effective actor within it. The RSS's millions of members and volunteers (no one knows just how many active ones there really are) played a big role in electing the BJP by a landslide in 2014. At least 19 ministers in government, including Mr Modi, have a background in the RSS. Its leaders are seconded to senior posts in the party too. So the ideas of the man who inspired the RSS matter more than ever before.
<h3>The naked jumper</h3>
The lawyer described by a British official in 1906 as "a small man with an intelligent face and a nervous manner" does not sound like the muscular hero that Indian nationalists crave, but Savarkar clearly had a certain dash. In 1910, while he was in London, he was charged with conspiring to wage war against the king and with providing weapons used to assassinate a Briton in the Indian civil service, sentenced to two life terms--50 years--in jail and sent back to India. While the steamship "Morea" was berthed in Marseille harbour, he slipped away from his guards, leapt, almost naked, into the sea and swam ashore. Unfortunately for the eulogists, he was promptly caught by French police and bundled back to the ship.
His daring did, however, win him fame, and also created legal history. France's government, annoyed that Britain had overseen an arrest on its territory, wanted Savarkar returned. Britain refused so the matter went to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. It ruled his arrest was indeed "irregular", but decided Savarkar might as well stay in India. The case was one of the earliest heard by the tribunal.
Savarkar's next stop was the Andaman Islands--a group of islands in the Bay of Bengal. This palm-fringed tropical paradise served as a penal colony for the British. Cellular Jail in the capital, Port Blair, is now a memorial for freedom campaigners. In a park opposite stands a row of statues of independence heroes. One is of a slender man with a pinched face behind round spectacles. A pen protrudes from his jacket pocket, one hand rests on a part-furled umbrella and the other wags a finger at the sky. You might mistake him for a prissy bank manager, but a plaque identifies him as Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. The park is named after him.
Ranjit Savarkar, his great-nephew, who runs the Savarkar trust, says that he showed great fortitude in jail. A trained yogi, he overcame thoughts of suicide. Other inmates nicknamed him "Barrister Babu", for his London legal training. Already a published historian and poet, he used Cellular Jail to work on his writing--literally: he wrote on its walls. He spent a decade there before being moved to the mainland in 1921. He was subsequently freed, after pledging to keep out of politics--a promise which the ideology he was developing in jail suggests he did not intend to keep.
A fierce nationalist, he adored Guiseppe Mazzini, who fought for the unification of Italy, writing about him in the hope of inspiring resistance to the British in India. Savarkar believed that India is really composed of, and must only be run by, Hindus. In his 1924 book, "Hindutva", he drew on cultural, philosophical and religious practices of ancient Hinduism, a rich faith that allows immense variety in how it is followed. But he also distinguished the ideology of hindutva--an attempt to unite disparate Hindus in a political project--from the religion. He himself was an atheist, and disapproved of aspects of traditional Hindu belief, dismissing cow worship as superstitious--a stance that would upset many today. He was an early outspoken opponent of caste discrimination. In the 1920s and 1930s others among the emerging Indian political elite opposed "untouchability", the rejection as sub-human of those considered "below caste". But Savarkar went further, saying modern India should drop altogether the idea of dividing people by caste.
His attitude towards Muslims, who made up a quarter of the population before partition, and other non-Hindus was less liberal. He regarded them as alien and separate, in effect not as real Indians. He was fiercely opposed to the formation of Pakistan and what his great-nephew calls the "appeasement" of Muslims. He believed that they, along with the Europeans, had crushed Hindus for a millennium--a sentiment echoed by Mr Modi in an address to parliament after his election this year, when he spoke of ending "1,200 years of slave mentality" in India.
Aside from his view of Muslims, the big difference between Savarkar and the nationalists in the INC lay in their contrasting attitudes to violence. He also wrote one of the first Indian accounts of the uprising in 1857, centred in Delhi. Known as the "Mutiny" to the British, it is referred to by many Indians as the "first war of independence"--echoing the title of Savarkar's book, "The Indian War of Independence". It was a gruesome episode, in which hundreds of thousands were killed, but Savarkar was untroubled by the violence, and seemed to justify the murders of British women and children. His works are steeped in a desire for revenge against those who have humiliated Hindus, and his frustration with the passivity of his co-religionists: "I want all Hindus to get themselves re-animated and re-born into a martial race." In his early years, he circulated manuals on bomb making. He approved of--and probably assisted in--the assassination of colonial administrators. He was suspected, for example, of encouraging a student radical who shot dead Sir Curzon Wyllie, a government official, one summer night on a Kensington street in 1909.
<h3>Rewriting history</h3>

Today, some Indians adulate him. On the day your correspondent called in at Cellular Jail, a party of jovial men in their 80s and 90s, an official "Eminent Committee of Freedom Fighters", was also visiting. Among the last surviving veterans who battled the British in the Quit India movement in the 1940s, they raised gnarled fists to chant "Jai Hind", posed for pictures and praised Savarkar as strong. The local MP called veer (brave) Savarkar a "ferocious, dangerous man who frightened off the British". Rashida Iqbal, the jail's curator, assessed him as "one of the most important freedom fighters". Port Blair's airport, like the park, bears his name. Some 2,000km away, in his native Maharashtra, a street and a park in Mumbai also each carry his name. (In London a blue plaque identifies his former home in Highgate.)
Savarkar's enthusiasm for violence sits uncomfortably with conventional ideas of how India got its independence. India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and then the Congress party (successor to the INC) promoted a pacifist narrative of history, the idea that Gandhi and the likes of B.R. Ambedkar, a social reformer who inspired the Modern Buddhist Movement, triumphed through non-violent resistance. That meant downplaying the bloodshed of 1857, in which atrocities were perpetrated by both sides, and also the roles of Savarkar, Subhas Chandra Bose and Vallabhbhai Patel.
Bose, the Bengali leader of an Indian National Army against the British in the second world war and an ally of Hitler and imperial Japan, led some 40,000 soldiers against the British. (He didn't get far, though the Japanese briefly handed him control of the Andamans.) Patel, the "Iron Man of India", had the Bismarckian task of uniting the country. He oversaw the integration of 562 princely states into India, threatening and using military force. Operation Polo in 1948, a five-day conquest of Hyderabad, a wealthy and Muslim-run state in the south, was bloody indeed. Official estimates, only made public in 2013, suggest the fighting and subsequent Hindu-Muslim clashes there killed between 27,000 and 40,000 people. Some historians claim the real toll might have been five times higher.
The way the story of Indian independence is told is beginning to change. Mr Modi and the BJP are keen to celebrate muscular, nationalist figures. Patel is likely to have a much higher profile in future: in the national budget, in July 2014, the government set aside $32m to erect a statue of him in Gujarat, twice the size of the Statue of Liberty, by 2018. And while Mr Modi frequently invokes Gandhi's name and beliefs, he refers almost as often to Swami Vivekananda, a 19th-century nationalist who revived Hinduism and promoted it abroad. Mr Modi is said to be named after him (the swami was originally called Narendra Nath Datta) and frequently poses before his photograph. Vivekananda's ideas on invigorating Hinduism foreshadowed Savarkar's hindutva project.
Savarkar's profile is lower, but is also rising. Educational comics, hagiographies and patriotic films retell parts of his life story. In 2008 Mr Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat, inaugurated a website (savarkar.org) that promotes a man "largely unknown to the masses because of the vicious propaganda against him and misunderstanding around him that has been created over several decades", and in 2012 he launched a Gujarati-language biopic. A previous BJP-led government put Savarkar's portrait in parliament. On his birthday this year, May 28th, the prime minister paid homage to him there. Mr Modi tweeted about Savarkar's "tireless efforts towards the regeneration of our motherland". Ranjit Savarkar's group plans various events to mark the 50th anniversary of Savarkar's death in 1966. (Aged 83, he submitted to what he called atmaarpan--refusing food, water or medicine in order to die. It took 20 days.)
Yet Savarkar remains immensely divisive. He was a fiercely outspoken critic of Gandhi, still India's top national hero: he called Gandhi weak, a "sissy" and far too willing to collaborate with Britain. Gandhian talk of man's common humanity he regarded as utopian to the point of naivety. In articles from the 1920s to the 1940s Savarkar lambasted Gandhi as a "crazy lunatic" who "happens to babble...[about] compassion, forgiveness", yet "notwithstanding his sublime and broad heart, the Mahatma has a very narrow and immature head." Gandhi promoted ahimsa, a Buddhist rejection of violence which Savarkar called "mealy-mouthed". He said Gandhi was a hypocrite for supporting violence by the British against Germany in the first world war. Nor did he cheer Gandhi's prominent backing for the Ottoman Caliphate Movement, designed to win Indian Muslims to oppose British colonial rule.
Over the years, Savarkar was eclipsed by his rival. During the 1920s and 1930s, the INC benefited from its ability to claim plausibly that it spoke for Muslims as well as Hindus, which made it a more credible interlocutor with the colonial authorities. Perhaps more important, it had an impressive organisation and, in Gandhi and later in Nehru, accomplished political leaders.
By the mid 1940s Savarkar and his supporters in the Mahasabha (which he led until his death) had a new gripe against Gandhi. They were enraged at the prospect of Pakistan seceding from India. Gandhi, in their eyes, did nothing to stop that "vivisection". Worse, he seemed to favour Pakistan when it sent forces to violently seize Kashmir, evidence to Savarkar that warlike Muslims were again crushing passive Hindus. When Nehru applied economic sanctions on Pakistan (refusing to pass on its share of central-bank funds from before independence), Gandhi launched a fast in protest and forced him to back down. To Savarkar's followers in the Mahasabha, that constituted national betrayal.
On January 30th 1948 Gandhi was assassinated in Delhi. The killer, Nathuram Godse, was a member of the Mahasabha, edited its newspaper and was an associate of Savarkar's. Godse's explanation of his actions echoed Savarkar: he said he murdered Gandhi for his "false notions of Hindu-Muslim unity" and in fury over the secession of Pakistan. Savarkar was arrested and tried as a plotter in the murder. He denied all and was acquitted. That did not convince everybody. As the leader of the Mahasabha, who had praised the efficacy of violence and railed against Muslims, it was reasonable to suspect he had at least inspired Gandhi's killer. A.G. Noorani, author of a book on Savarkar and Godse, goes further. He draws a parallel to the Kensington murder of Wylie in 1909, saying the elder man had twice pressed others to pull the trigger. "I would definitely call him complicit in the assassination of Gandhi," he concludes. He points, too, to an official commission of inquiry into Gandhi's death, in the late 1960s, which drew on testimony unavailable at the original trial. It found the evidence was "destructive of any theory other than the conspiracy to murder by Savarkar and his group". Following Gandhi's murder the RSS was also banned, for a year. Yet the final reason why Savarkar should remain unacceptable in modern India goes beyond suspicion over Gandhi's murder. It lies in his attitude to his fellow, non-Hindu, Indians. In his own writing he relates joyfully how as a 12-year-old boy he led a gang of schoolmates to stone his village mosque and smash its windows and tiles, in the aftermath of Hindu-Muslim riots. Relating how "we vandalised the mosque to our heart's content", he adds that when confronted by Muslim boys, he and his pals wielded knives and sticks and chased them away.
Throughout his writing he sets out Muslims as savage, immoral, sensual and eager to destroy the Hindu way of life. In 1937 he wrote of there being "two antagonistic nations living side by side in India", an idea that relies on using religion as the defining characteristic of any Indian, one utterly against the secular constitution of India. And while he occasionally wrote admiringly of the political and religious fervour of Islam, or rather of Muslim political leaders, he did so to encourage his fellow Hindus to match or exceed it.
In India today the fear of communal clashes--between Hindus and Muslims--should not be overblown. But it is never far away. Especially before elections, parties exploit religious tensions. Those who promote hindutva and echo Savarkar whip up stories of "love jihad", alleging that Muslim men convert large numbers of Hindu women by seducing them. Earlier this month a BJP parliamentarian praised Godse as a "patriot" equal to Gandhi. Members of the increasingly influential RSS feel emboldened. Such majoritarian politics, when a larger religious group sets out to absorb or flatten a minority, is utterly destructive. One need only look at the failure of Pakistan as a reminder of that. Sarvarkar could be a brilliant, eloquent and progressive leader. He could also be extremist, violent and divisive. If his influence grows, India's tolerance and moderation will be at risk.
"Notwithstanding his...broad heart, the Mahatma has a very narrow and immature head," wrote Savarkar
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Savarkar (back row, second left) was arrested and tried as a plotter in Gandhi's murder. He was acquitted
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