In the knicker of time

06 August,2009 08:02 AM IST |   |  Daipayan Halder

Don't look now, but your friendly neighbourhood pracharak is going for a makeover.


Don't look now, but your friendly neighbourhood pracharak is going for a makeover. He is planning to discard his khaki half-pants for a full-length trouser. And, 36,000,0004 Hindu gods and one spinster willing, get married too. Why so? Well, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is trying to change with the times.u00a0u00a0

According to a newspaper report, Mohan Bhagwat, the new RSS chief, has admitted that many Sangh workers are in favour of covering up their legs and getting hitched. But all this may take time.

No short cuts: Sangh workers are all set to cover up, and we hope it's just their legsu00a0file pic

"As a section feels wearing half-pants is a matter of convenience and marriage demands responsibilities to run a family, both the proposals have been kept pending," Mohan Bhagwat has said.


Anyhow, it's a good thing that octogenarians with sinewy legs may get slightly more aesthetically acceptable in the coming days and hot-blooded young men in the Sangh will start families instead of rearing cows.

But one wonders if some good sense will creep in with changes in marital status and dressing styles. Whatever be the length of the official outfit (some orthodox voices within the Sangh are reportedly in favour of half-pants as they are more convenient), it's bad PR for an organization to be dragged into almost every act of communal violence in the country starting from the Mahatma's murder to the recent rape of a nun in Orissa. It doesn't help that thinking heads within the organization make damning statements against those that follow other gods every once in a while.u00a0

Maybe marriage will do them good. Some socialising can also help them let off steam in non-violent ways. The priest of Sakhigopal temple, who planted a kiss on actor Shilpa Shetty while blessing her, should serve as an example.u00a0
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Pracharak uniform knickers makeover Delhi Opinion