4.1 The Revisionist Urge: Why Facts are Secondary to Feelings

The Sanghi’s relationship with the past is not a pursuit of truth; it is a project of Identity Repair. For the man who feels diminished in his own life—tethered to his parents, professionally mediocre, and lacking in personal agency—the historical past must be a source of compensatory grandeur.

4.1.1 The Pain of a Subjugated Past

The Sanghi is haunted by the narrative of “subjugation.” He views the historical reality of Islamic rule and British colonization not as complex periods of history, but as personal humiliations that must be “avenged” or “erased.”

4.1.1.1 The “Humiliation” and the Need for a Rewrite

Because he cannot change the power dynamics of his own home (Ch 1), he seeks to change the power dynamics of history. He “reclaims” territory, renames cities, and rewrites textbooks as a proxy for reclaiming his own stolen autonomy. The act of stripping a Muslim name from a street is, for the Sanghi, a symbolic act of stripping the authority of the “Invader” who mirrors his own domestic patriarch.

4.1.1.2 The Erasure of Complexity

He seeks to flatten history into a binary of “Purity” vs. “Pollution.” Any historical evidence of syncretism or cooperation is viewed as a “distortion” meant to weaken the resolve of the tribe.

4.1.2 The Psychological Need for a Victim-Hero Narrative

The Sanghi identity requires the individual to be both a victim and a hero. He is a “victim” of historical conspiracies (by invaders, liberals, or elites) and a “hero” who is finally waking up to his true strength. This duality allows him to justify his aggression as “self-defense.”

4.1.3 The Rejection of “Western” or “Liberal” Historiography

Any history that relies on evidence, peer review, or complexity is viewed as a “conspiracy” designed to keep the “true” history of the nation suppressed.

4.1.3.1 The “Distortion” Claim

The Sanghi believes that a globalist-liberal-secular elite has conspired to keep his “ancestral glory” hidden. This belief gives him a sense of secret knowledge, making him feel superior to the “experts” he otherwise fears. He views the academic historian not as a researcher, but as a “Propagandist” of the enemy.

4.1.3.2 The Authority of the “Alternate” Source

He values the YouTube “historian” or the WhatsApp “forward” over the university textbook because these sources validate his internal “Identity Repair” project.

4.2 The Golden Age Fallacy: Constructing a Perfect Past

The foundation of the Sanghi mind is the belief in a Golden Age—a time of absolute purity, scientific superiority, and global dominance that was “interrupted” by the outsider.

4.2.1 The Myth of the Unbroken Heritage

He believes in an “unbroken” line of culture that stretches back millions of years. This provides a sense of permanence and “belonging” that his own precarious domestic life lacks.

4.2.2 Puranic History as Literal Truth

Mythology is not treated as metaphor; it is treated as archaeological data.

4.2.2.1 From Archeology to Mythology

The Sanghi seeks “proof” for the events of the Ramayana and Mahabharata not because he values science, but because he needs his religious identity to have the weight of material fact. If the bridge to Lanka exists physically, then his “Proxy Father” (Ch 3) is divinely sanctioned.

4.2.2.2 The Sanctification of Geography

Every hill, river, and stone in India is mapped onto a mythological grid. This turns the nation into a “Sacred Body” that must be protected from “Pollution” (Ch 5).

4.2.3 The Claim to Scientific Superiority in Antiquity

The obsession with proving that ancient India had “airplanes,” “plastic surgery,” and “nuclear weapons” is a direct response to modern feelings of technological and cultural inferiority.

4.2.3.1 The “Vedic Airplane”

By claiming that the past was more “advanced” than the present, the Sanghi escapes the reality of his own stagnation. He doesn’t need to innovate; he only needs to “remember.” This allows him to maintain his “Bronze-Age Mindset” while using high-tech tools (Ch 10), as he convinces himself that his ancestors invented those tools first.

4.2.3.2 The Rationalization of Superstition

He uses modern scientific terminology (Quantum, Energy, Vibration) to justify ancient rituals, creating a “Pseudo-Science” that allows him to feel intellectually modern while remaining domestically and ideologically tethered.

4.3 Victimhood as a Source of Power

In the Sanghi world-view, being a “victim” is the highest moral state.

4.3.1 The “Thousand Years of Slavery” Trope

He views the last millennium as a period of absolute “slavery.” This hyperbole is necessary to justify the extreme measures he advocates for the present. If the “injury” was total, the “remedy” must be total as well.

4.3.2 The Fear of Demographics and Cultural Erasure

The Sanghi is terrified of being “out-numbered,” a fear that is a projection of his own domestic claustrophobia.

4.3.2.1 The Great Replacement Myth (Indian Version)

He believes that a specific demographic is “out-breeding” his tribe. This fear is a manifestation of the feeling that there is “no room” for him, and that his “Sacred Space” (the home and the nation) is being crowded out. He views every newborn of the “Other” as a strategic assault on his existence.

4.3.2.2 The Siege Mentality

He lives in a state of “Constant Emergency,” believing that his culture is on the brink of extinction. This justifies the “Performance of Aggression” (Ch 8) as an act of existential survival.

4.3.3 Converting Historical Grievance into Modern Political Capital

Every historical “wrong” (real or perceived) is kept alive as a modern political tool. The Sanghi does not seek reconciliation; he seeks a reversal of roles. He wants to be the one holding the tether.

4.4 The Institutionalization of the Myth (From Textbooks to Dinner Tables)

The myth is not just in books; it is in the air he breathes.

4.4.1 The Role of RSS Shakas in Narrative Building

The Shaka provides the structured environment where the “Golden Age” myth is reinforced through ritual, discipline, and repetition. It is the “Extracurricular Family” that validates the domestic father’s prejudices.

4.4.2 The Reinforcement of Myths within the Family Unit

The family is the primary incubator for the ancestral mythos.

4.4.2.1 The Grandparents as the Keepers of the “True” History

The “Oral History” of the elders—full of unverified stories of past glory and outsider cruelty—is given more weight than any academic text. In the Sanghi home, the grandmother’s tales of “temples destroyed” are the foundational truths upon which his entire world-view is built.

4.4.2.2 The Domestic Indoctrination

The myth is shared at the dinner table, reinforcing the “Domestic Tether” (Ch 1) by making the parents the ultimate authorities on both the present and the past.

To question the myth is to betray the family. In the “Theatre of Surveillance,” doubt is a sign of “Anti-Nationalism” and “Filial Impiety.” The mind shuts down all critical faculties to maintain the domestic and social peace.