Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, 1st Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh / Wikipedia

Isaac Asimov once observed, “Any fool can tell a crisis when it arrives. The real service to the state is to detect it in embryo.” This powerful insight forms the philosophical backbone of Asimov’s Foundation series—an iconic work of speculative fiction that explores the fate of civilizations through the lens of foresight, planning, and cultural endurance.

In Foundation, Asimov introduces “psychohistory,” a fictional science blending mathematics, sociology, and probability to predict the fall of the Galactic Empire and the onset of a 30,000-year dark age. To counter this, Hari Seldon, the science’s inventor, establishes the Foundation—a repository of knowledge and a plan to guide humanity through chaos toward a harmonious future. Asimov’s narrative ends with Gaia, a vision of collective consciousness where individuals act for the greater good—a striking allegory for unity and resilience.

Long before Asimov penned this science-fictional roadmap for saving a civilization, a real-world visionary in India was applying similar principles—grounded not in imagined algorithms, but in cultural wisdom and lived experience. In the early 20th century, Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, physician, freedom fighter, and founder of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), demonstrated remarkable foresight and an unshakable commitment to national regeneration.

Active in India’s independence movement, Hedgewar worked closely with stalwarts such as Lokmanya Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi. Yet, he saw beyond the immediate goal of political freedom. He perceived a subtler, more enduring threat: the erosion of India’s cultural and civilizational identity in the face of colonial domination and imported ideologies. Even as India marched toward independence, Hedgewar feared that a culturally disconnected society would remain vulnerable to internal divisions and external pressures.

His response was proactive and generational. In 1925, on Vijayadashami, Hedgewar founded the RSS—not as a political party, but as a socio-cultural organization aimed at rekindling India’s civilizational spirit. He emphasized Vyakti-Nirman, or individual development, through daily shakhas that fostered physical fitness, intellectual engagement, and moral integrity. These grassroots gatherings nurtured discipline, unity, and service-mindedness—traits essential for nation-building.

For Hedgewar, strength was not about domination but about dignity and peace. As he put it, “Peace and love are possible only between equals. The real enemies of peace are those weak people, who, because of their weakness, incite the strong.” This philosophy—building inner strength to ensure social harmony—was deeply rooted in India’s ancient traditions and spiritual outlook.

The RSS’s emphasis on Hindu cultural identity was often misunderstood during the fervor of the freedom movement. Some viewed it as a diversion from political activism. Yet Hedgewar's commitment to India’s liberation was unambiguous. In the 1910s, he joined the revolutionary Anusheelan Samiti in Bengal, and later became an active member of the Indian National Congress. Arrested in 1921 for participating in Gandhi’s Civil Disobedience Movement, his courtroom defense was so passionate that the presiding judge remarked it was “more seditious than the original speech.”

Throughout the 1930s, Hedgewar urged RSS volunteers to participate in national movements. He himself took part in the Jungle Satyagraha, resulting in a second imprisonment. Even in its early years, the RSS faced resistance—not only from colonial authorities, who saw its growing influence as a threat, but also from those aligned with ideologies foreign to India’s ethos. The British administration attempted to label and ban the organization, yet it persisted, driven by its commitment to service and cultural revival.

Hedgewar’s insistence on the term “Rashtriya” (National) in the organization's name—rather than limiting it to any particular religious identity—reflected his inclusive vision. He envisioned a Bharat where all those who regard India as their motherland could unite in its progress.

In essence, where Asimov imagined a futuristic solution for civilizational collapse, Hedgewar offered a real-world model grounded in civilizational memory. The generational wisdom of Hindu culture—transmitted not through centralized power, but through communities, rituals, and values—became the bedrock for social resilience. Ancient China once referred to India as Tianzhu—“Center of Heaven”—a testament to this enduring appeal of Indian civilization.

Today, Hedgewar’s legacy continues to shape India’s cultural and societal landscape. His life and work exemplify the principle that true transformation does not arise from fleeting events but from sustained, grassroots development. Like Hari Seldon, he detected the crisis in embryo—and, more importantly, acted on it.

In doing so, he did not merely fight for independence—he laid the groundwork for a confident, cohesive, and civilizationally rooted nation.