Key Points
Bakhles book is unique in that she spent years immersing herself in the ideologues writing in Marathi..
In todays India, there are few historical figures whose writing and thinking help explain the current ideological zeitgeist more than Vinayak Damodar Savarkar..
Despite this newfound attention, Savarkar is often viewed in black and whiteas a staunch Hindu nationalist who devoted his life to expounding the virtues of conservative, Hindu majority rule.T)..
While Bakhle delves into the roots of Savarkars views on Hindutva, she also dedicates substantial space to his views on caste..
On the question of whether Savarkars push for anti-caste reforms was principled or simply an expedient way of building Hindu unity, Bakhle acknowledged that while it might have been instrumental, I would not go so far as to say: therefore, it was not principled..
