The first social media handle that had attracted my attention was that of Pagal Patrakar, that is, Faking News—for his understanding of politics. I can guarantee that most people missed the nuances of his narrative, but got a macro idea of where he was trying to lead them—a shakha. But this shakha wasn’t what one would want to believe. This was the shakha of modern info-war.

The swayamsevaks were ‘mad’ social media activists. This was a modern war of identity, narrative and Bharat. And Rahul displayed enough pagalpan to be a successful patrakar in this info-war and battle of narrative building. In fact, I have learnt a lot from his political acumen during the many conversations and collaborations I had with him.

This is one of the most important books for the students of politics, media and modern narrative builders. But, above all, this is a very important book for the Left-wingers and Right-wingers to learn what Rahul could see and they couldn’t.

This is not just the story of Rahul, it’s the story of modern India and it is about you. Leave everything aside and read it now, for it will take you to a shakha where even shakha people need to go—to learn, and to get inspired.

Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri
Author and Filmmaker