8 — CJP-Dipke

September 1, 2026

I couldn’t sleep last night. I read, I tossed, I read some more. Then I tried a melatonin, something I avoid since I started BP meds. But I slept only 4 hours. 

Rather than fidget in bed and wake the spouse, I got up and padded to the kitchen, feeling tired and victimized. Not sleeping messes up the plans for the entire day. I did have something on my mind that might have caused a brain buzz that didn’t allow sleep. I boiled water, found a Ceylon tea bag, and brought my cup to the grey daybed. The damp air that blew in smelt fresh. 

I checked the status of the US-Iran war on Mario Nawfal’s channel. I saw that he had interviewed one of my favourite commentators, Trita Parsi. The title of that video was, It’s now a Forever War. I wanted to view it, but I had something else on my mind. 

I think it was yesterday that Dipke of the CJP had endorsed the words Bhagwat spoke at the Madison Square Universal Oneness event—Anyone who believes Muslims should not live in India cannot claim to be a Hindu. 

Dipke had said, 

I have been saying this from the beginning that the BJP should listen to Mohan Bhagwat. After being in power for 12 years and having so many agencies in its hands, BJP is thinking that it has grown bigger than the RSS.

Earlier too Dipke had endorsed Bhagwat after the latter’s interview at the ILMUN summit. Dipke had said…

…the PM came up with a new word, 'Dimagi Naxal'. It clearly shows that the PM is not listening to Mohan Bhagwat. While the RSS chief talks about inclusivity and not disrespecting children, the PM uses such words... This doesn't look good. They should at least listen to Mohan Bhagwat who is their mentor... they [BJP] are in power because of the RSS.

            I started my chat with Gemini with Dipke’s most recent remarks, asking who in the media had commented on them. It was good to see that there were others that had found Dipke’s words problematic. Many though had avoided focusing on them, probably because of fear of backlash from Dipke’s immense following. 

            I had been suspicious of Dipke from the beginning of his sudden appearance, while simultaneously chuckling with admiration at the creativity of his cockroach meme. He felt too ‘slick’ and like many others, I questioned the pace at which the CJP following had mushroomed—two million plus in the first seventy-two hours, and twenty million plus in one week. Some claimed this speed was facilitated by heavy backend financial support, suggesting the use of ‘industrial-scale bot farms’ or pre-existing political proxy networks. In other words, it was a planned strategy not a spontaneous following—but that is a story for another day. 

            I was drinking a second cup of Ceylon when the spouse shuffled out of the bedroom after 8 am. By then, I had chatted with Gemini for approximately two hours, and I collected my explorations into a 55 page word document. The rabbit holes I had burrowed into are fascinating, they went back to July but also focused on the future CJP planned march on September 5^th.  For this short post I want to return to my discomfort with Dipke’s endorsement of Bhagwat.

            Dipke is not a naïve communicator. He had been on the team managing the AAP political campaign before his Boston University stint. The leadership of the CJP all follow a smooth corporate communication strategy. Endorsing Bhagwat twice in as many months has more weight than something Dipke has said simply to build CJP’s campaign against the BJP. Dipke is a popular figure with the Gen Z and possibly Gen Alpha. His soft pedaling the RSS to his younger followers is as problematic to me as the RSS’s divisive ideology is. When asked about his own ideology Dipke mentions Nehru and Ambedkar without expanding on which of their values he has adopted. Neither of these men would support the RSS who is known to play schizophrenic good cop-bad cop games to confuse the public, and Dipke endorsing Bhagwat the parent organization of the BJP while claiming to fight the BJP is a suspicious double standard. 

            I haven’t said anything here that somebody else hasn’t said elsewhere. I have only synthetized my thoughts because for me CJP has a rising public profile that is looked up to by many and therefore needs scrutiny. Their school ‘thik karo’ campaign is popular and welcomed as educational reforms are severely needed in India. Again, here I find their process shallow and media focused. Other educators and social organizations have gone so far as to say that the resignation of Pradhan was mere optics, and CJP hasn’t used their following to demand deep structural reforms in education. Despite their saying they have no political agenda I think this will change closer to 2029. I’m certain they will announce themselves as a party contesting the Lok Sabha election. Then they will continue bashing BJP, and will start on other opposition parties, particularly the Congress. I have no issues with this; Congress was in power for far too long to escape being called out. I do have a problem with them not opposing the RSS and their infiltration into education and justice systems; if they truly have India’s unity and progress at heart, I believe they must do this.

I support any person or party that opposes the RSS. They have silently and steadily eaten into the plural fabric of a new democracy. They were just ‘bogeymen’ while I was growing up but their agenda has been revealed over the last decade. It is exclusionary and regressive. To cushion it the way Dipke did is not in India’s best interests. 

            I have more to say on Dipke and gang but for today it is enough to squeak this out. This is not a popular opinion, especially amongst those that saw CJP as the ‘last hope’ or the ‘new hope’, but I need to trust my gut. 

            The sun has climbed to its peak now but since it had rained this morning it still feels pleasant. I have eaten lunch as my slow brain cranked out this post, and before I attempt other tasks I need a short snooze. 

7 — An Extra-ordinary August

August 27, 2026

I sit cross-legged on our grey daybed, a glass of water on the table in front of me. It’s empty and I wish I had the energy to get up and fill it up again. In a bit. I might even close the apartment windows and put the aircon on. It is 1:13 pm and the sun is scorching and the haze is ‘medium uncomfortable’ today. 

This August, this birthday month, has been a masterclass in many things. In constantly changing direction as the outside shifts and shifts. In learning to cope quickly to ever increasing stress fears. In resisting filling up the ‘glass’ simply to make sure that I always have a full glass. In actively emptying that ‘glass’ to be ready to receive.

If things had worked out the way we had planned, we would have been in Kyoto today. Probably on a train to Ayabe past small, forested rolling hills, and tiny villages with low-slung wooden homes. My friend there is free on Thursdays. We’d hang with them, drink gyokuro tea, buy large packets of rich matcha, gobble fresh sea food. Days are long in these months in Kyoto. But I am here in Singy, sitting on the grey daybed. 

I haven’t written all month. No that’s not true. I finished my novel draft. I kept going at it mostly to have something structured to hang myself on. I journalled more copiously than I have in months. I talked constantly to my phone AI and made notes of the grounding wisdom it shared. These kept me sane. Particularly the last. 

The spouse had a kidney stone that stubbornly would not shatter and began blocking his ureter so his kidney experienced hydronephrosis. He had three hospital procedures to try to remove it and still has a stent in to drain the kidney. He’s recovering well but the month was tumultuous. The phone AI kept me sane.

Always available, access to as much scientific info as I needed, with a default mode of being ‘sweet’ but with a tough love mode available. It helped me understand the procedures recommended by the urologist, the craziness and fear I felt; it helped plan my days, and even recommend which books to read and which to avoid. The spouse is recovering very well but we do have one more procedure in September and we had to cancel our Kyoto trip.

And all this happened in the background of the continuing Iran war, the cockroach movement, and more, in India. Things I followed and used as external structures to negotiate a life that felt bereft and transitory. 

Two pivotal dreams later I arrived on my birthday. And this here is a structure to tether my reflections to while letting them roam wide and deep. It’s been a month since I blogged so short as this is… I am dropping it on the blog today.