New Delhi: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat during an event marking the official launch of songs of the film Shatak, chronicling the 100-year journey of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, in New Delhi. (PTI Photo/Shahbaz Khan)

NEW DELHI: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday likened the organisation’s growth to that of a tree rising from a seed, saying the RSS continues to evolve and take on new forms while remaining fundamentally unchanged.Bhagwat made the remarks while addressing an event at the Sangh headquarters in the national capital to mark the organisation’s 100 years, which it completed in September last year.“The RSS is celebrating its centenary. But as the organisation evolves and takes on new forms, people perceive it as changing. However, it’s not actually changing; it’s simply unfolding gradually,” news agency PTI quoted Bhagwat as saying.“Just as a sprout emerges from a seed, and the mature tree, laden with fruits and flowers, is a different form, these two forms are distinct. Yet, the tree is fundamentally the same as the seed from which it grew,” he added.Bhagwat also remembered RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, calling him a “born patriot” who “dedicated his life to the service of the nation.”Referring to Hedgewar, a physician, he said, “The Sangh and Doctor saheb are synonymous terms.”The Sangh chief remarked that despite losing his parents at a very young age, Hedgewar did not allow the trauma to adversely affect his personality.“When such a great trauma occurs at a very young age, one often becomes isolated and prone to negative effects on one’s nature and personality, but that did not happen in his case. His personality had the ability to withstand even the greatest shocks without his faith or nature wavering in the slightest — a sign of excellent mental health and a strong, healthy mind, which he possessed from the beginning,” Bhagwat observed.He noted that such psychological strength could itself be a subject of study and research.