Of course, the RSS makes no bones about the fact that it has more than 35 frontal organisations which are registered and have their own bank accounts; but it still does not explain how it got away for so long by not adhering with the laws of the land, including flying a flag other than the Indian tiranga from its headquarters until as late as 2002.

It has inveigled its way into every section of urban and rural life in India over the past half-century, though it is also true that until almost a decade or two ago it was struggling to convert the disbelievers to its way of thinking. The first BJP-led government at the Centre between 1998-2004 turned a blind eye to RSS volunteers invading homes of Muslims and other non-RSS members of the Hindu community, preaching Hindutva to them, sticking garish pictures of Arjun and Krishna on chariots and that of other gods and goddesses on doors, bullying them to send their young children to their early morning shakhas.

But there were also people who did not appreciate the invasion of their privacy. One recalls an upper caste Maharashtrian home they barged into believing these would be friends. The man of the house was at work and the lady was polite in welcoming them to her drawing room.

The husband arrived just as they were pasting a garish sticker on his door. Red-faced, he barged straight into his bathroom, came out with a bucket of soapy water and a dishcloth and proceeded to scrub the sticker off.

“Call the painter tomorrow and have this door painted again!” he told his wife loudly in front of the now embarrassed pracharaks, “I do not want my door sporting any nonsense. And I want to see my kids in the school playground not any vyayaam at any early morning shaakhas!”

There was another instance of the well-educated daughter-in-law of the sister of a pracharak who had donated his home to the RSS, who sent them packing with fleas in their ears. “You dare to ask us to use your carbolic soap that takes the skin off our faces when you yourselves don’t practise what you preach!” she said pointing to the man’s high-end watch.

“You want us to send our children to your ashram schools, where you do nothing but indoctrinate them in some backward notions of past glory and render all the children from your schools unemployable in India or elsewhere. You pick up adivasi children from backward areas and turn them communal when they have no concept of religion except as animists. And what’s more, you are still wearing those ugly shorts so many years after India earned its spurs in the modern world!”

They were speechless.

There are still people in much greater numbers, in a majority if votes polled by the BJP is any indication, who do not believe in the RSS. It is a battle for their minds and souls and Janardan Moon expects them to join him in redirecting the agenda towards a constitutional democracy and restore the nation to its original liberal, secular moorings.