Age does not determine old or young: Advani to RSS

“A person should consider himself old at an age when he starts thinking that he cannot learn new things,” Advani said. His remarks came after yoga guru Ramdev and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj termed him as a “guardian” and “elder” respectively.

“I may be the Sarsanghchalak (RSS chief),but Advani is too elder to me,” was all Mohan Bhagwat said,evading to engage with Advani’s argument that age need not be a handicap for any person ready to learn.

The release of three books — My Take,Rashtra Sarvopari,and Drishtikon — saw Advani passing on his three messages to audience through anecdotes drawn from his long political career. Apart from his message to never consider oneself old till one stops learning,his other two messages were: one should always try to live a “meaningful” life on the call of one’s “inner voice” and eat frugal for longer life.

The BJP patriarch reminded how his actions derived from his inner voice earned him the epithet of “fanatic Hindu” as well as criticism for “rebellion against party’s ideology” in the wake of his remarks regarding Jinnah in 2005.

Advani admitted that his utterances in some blogs may have come as disapproval of the party’s decisions but he said he made those remarks on the basis of his inner voice. Speaking earlier,Sushma Swaraj had reminded how some of his blogs came as a “rebuke” to party leaders. “We eagerly wait for his blogs. Sometimes,he has rebuked us through them. He has criticised us. He is our elder and he has every right to caution us,” she said,referring his blog criticising the then party chief Nitin Gadkari’s handling of Karnataka affairs under pressure tactics of BS Yeddyurappa.

“The underlying sentiment behind his rebukes are not anger but his concern (for the party),” Bhagwat said. “It is not necessary that everyone should agree with one’s opinion always.”