Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan said that the gradual decline in the habit of reading books in the present era is a matter of concern.
To document the century-long service activities of the RSS organization, its social responsibility, and its contributions to nation-building, former Telangana Governor and former Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan has written the English book “A Century of Service - Hundred Years of the RSS in Hundred Acts of Seva (A Century of Service – 100 Years of the RSS in 100 Service Activities).”
Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan released this book on Tuesday at the Vice President’s House in New Delhi.
Speaking at the event, the Vice President said that releasing this book gave him great personal happiness and pride.
Noting that the habit of reading books is gradually declining in the present era, which is worrying, he praised the book’s publication as being intended to pass on good values to the next generation without any personal profit motive, and to ensure that it is recorded in history.
The Vice President noted that despite challenges, the RSS has stood as an organization that has been serving continuously for a century. He said that the RSS has been serving various sections of society, and that its many service activities have been recorded in this book.
The Vice President recalled that during the coronavirus pandemic, even as people were gripped by fear, RSS volunteers worked across the country to deliver medicines, food, and other essential supplies to the people, and were engaged in building confidence.
He said that the work being carried out by the RSS organization in fostering patriotism, discipline, social responsibility, and national unity is contributing to nation-building. He expressed the wish that many more such books documenting true history should be published.
The author, Tamilisai, said: As for how I came to think that I should write this book, an incident that happened in my life about 35 years ago changed the direction of my life itself. I was working as an intern doctor at Thanjavur Medical College.
Three daughters and his wife brought in a family head who had vomited blood. About 4–5 bottles of blood were needed. At that time, there were no blood banks like there are now. Some said that if RSS volunteers were called, they would donate blood.
We immediately contacted them by phone. Early in the morning, some RSS volunteers came and donated blood. They refused to give their addresses, refused publicity, and left without revealing their identities.
To this day, the fact that that patient is alive is the most important event that has happened in my life. Rather than saying that, as the daughter of a Congress party leader, I did not know much about the RSS, it changed the negative views I had in my mind, and from that day onward I began to get involved in some service activities.
To put it more clearly, the reason I chose the Bharatiya Janata Party, a national movement, was the seed that was planted in my mind that day. This book is an expression of the feeling of whether it is possible to give some symbol to this selfless movement, to explain what RSS means. I dedicate this book to every volunteer of RSS, said Tamilisai.
At the event, Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs Dr. L. Murugan, Puducherry Home Minister A. Namassivayam, Alliance Publishing House owner Srinivasan, and others participated.
