PM Modi to Lex Fridman: "Understanding RSS Is Not That Easy"

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Famous American podcaster Lex Fridman asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi several questions in his three-hour long podcast. He also asked about the impact of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on his life, on which PM Modi told the whole story in detail.

The Prime Minister said that since childhood he had the habit of being engaged in some work or the other. He said, “I remember we had a person named Soni ji. I don't remember his full name properly. I think he was part of the Seva Dal. He used to carry a drum-like instrument called tambourine with him and sing patriotic songs. He also had a very good voice. Whenever he came to our village, there were programs at different places. I used to follow him like a madman to listen to his songs. I used to listen to his patriotic songs all night. I used to enjoy it a lot. Why did I enjoy it, I don't know.”

PM told that there was a branch of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in his village, there were sports, patriotic songs, listening to which made the mind feel very good and touched the heart. He said, “This is how I joined the Sangh. I got the values of the Sangh – 'Think and do anything, if you study so much then think that I should be useful for the country, do such exercise that it is useful for the country'.”

The Prime Minister said that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Sangh. There is no bigger 'Swayamsevak Sangh' in the world than the RSS. Crores of people are associated with it. He said, "It is not so easy to understand the Sangh, efforts should be made to understand its work."

He said that the Sangh gives a purpose and a direction to life. The country is everything and public service is service to God – whatever is said in the scriptures, whatever Swami Vivekananda said, the same is what the Sangh says. Some volunteers formed an organisation called Seva Bharti. This Seva Bharti provides service in slums and settlements where the poorest people live. They give time, teach children, take care of their health and do cleanliness work with the help of the society, without any government help.

In the podcast, PM Modi said that the Sangh runs Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram. They live in the forests and serve the tribals. They run more than 70 thousand Ekal schools. There are some people in America who donate $ 10 to $ 15 for this work. Don't drink a Coca-Cola and give that money to Ekal Vidyalaya. And they say, "Give up Coca-Cola this month." Don't drink Coca-Cola and give that money to Ekal Vidyalaya. Now, imagine that 70,000 single-teacher schools are educating tribal children. Some volunteers have founded Vidya Bharati to bring a revolution in education. Today they run about 25,000 schools in which about 30 lakh students get education, and I believe that crores of students have benefited from this initiative, they are getting education at extremely low cost.

PM Modi said that RSS is connected to women, youth, labourers, everyone. Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh is a big organisation. There are 55 thousand unions. There are crores of members. The labour movement promoted by the leftists raises the slogan 'Laborers of the world, unite!', while the Sangh's labour organisation raises the slogan 'Laborers, unite the world!' He said that in 100 years RSS has been working dedicatedly like a sadhak, away from glitz. He got values and purpose of life from such a sacred organisation.