Many Shades of Saffron addresses the polarised landscape of literature surrounding the RSS. Insider accounts have often been devotional, while outsider critiques have tended to be suspicious, even hostile. Both have contributed to a climate in which the RSS is either heroised or demonised, with little space for historical nuance. Ghose consciously avoids both traps.
For generations, Naveen’s family has been associated with the RSS. His grandfather, Deenanath Arora, was a leader of the Hindu organisation during the pre-independence era.