Dhirendra K Jha explains why the world of sadhus is an expanding enterprise

Jha has been a careful chronicler of the Hindutva project, putting in the slog of exhaustive ground reporting to write two well-received books

Dhirendra K Jha says he doesn’t know much about eating out beyond the Press Club, so could I choose a place, preferably somewhere central? Mindful of the subject of his latest book, Ascetic Games, an expose of the murky world of sadhus and its connections with right-wing politics, and Narendra Modi’s expressed aversion to the westernised elite, I gleefully select The Big Chill Café in Khan Market. 

Sadly, my attempt at personal subversion falls flat: Jha says he is unfamiliar with Khan Market’s restaurants but agrees to the venue. At the noisy restaurant, he expresses no interest in the elaborate Hollywood