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To become a Christian you get baptised; to become a Muslim you don't even have to visit a mosque, you can recite the kalima even under a tree. But how do you become a Hindu? Says Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's director-general S. Ramakrishnan, "I don't think there is any mechanism for conversion to Hinduism. Hindus never converted anybody." Other Hinduism spokespersons are equally stumped by the question: how does a non-Hindu become a Hindu? And what would be her caste/sub-caste?According to R. Ramagopalan of the Hindu Munnani, a right-wing group founded after the mass conversion of Dalits at Meenakshipuram in 1981, "You just have to practice the Hindu way of life. You don't need a formal entry." He dodges the caste aspect: "That's a hypothetical question." Like the vhp and other Sangh parivar outfits, Hindu Munnani concentrates onceremonies that "re-convert those who strayed away". Their premise: all those born in "Bharatvarsha" are already Hindu "since 5,000 years".But Swami Agnivesh, working president of the world council of Arya Samaj, founded by Swami...