Milind Soman trends online after revealing he was part of RSS as a young boy

Milind Soman trended furiously on the internet since Tuesday night after an excerpt from his memoir Made In India was made available online. In the particular excerpt from his book, Milind said that he was part of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a young boy.

The 54-year-old actor recalled going to the local ‘shakha’, or training centre, at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park. He wrote that his father “was a great believer in the benefits that would accrue to a young boy, in terms of disciplined living, physical fitness and right thinking, from being part of the junior cadres of the RSS.”

Soon after the revelation, Milind occupied the top spot on the trends list on Twitter and tweeted about it as well.

Meanwhile, in his book, Milind added that being a part of an RSS shakha was “a very Shivaji Park thing” for a young boy to do in those days.

“When I read today all the subversive, communal propaganda the media attributes to RSS shakhas, I am frankly baffled,” Milind said in his book, The Print reports. He added that his “memories of what went on at the shakhas every 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.”

All activities, Milind said, were supervised by a “team of mostly-well-meaning if not always inspirational adults who truly believed they were helping raise good ‘civilian soldiers’.”

According to The Print, Milind also said that his father had been a 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,” he wrote in his memoir.

Milind Soman has appeared in the films Rules: Pyaar Ka Superhit Formula and Bajirao Mastani.

India Today