In a game of word association, the mention of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, more commonly known as the RSS, is most likely to throw up not one but two words: Hindu hardliners. Or, for the visually inclined, conjure images of men wielding lathis and wearing khaki-coloured half-pants. Is this understanding of the RSS apt or is there more to this 85-year old organisation?