Swami Vivekananda and Youth of Bengal

Coming from a middle class Hindu family from Burdwan we too had a Thakur Ghar where there were many idols which my family worshipped. Out of the idols there were Swami ji along with Ramakrishna, Sharda ma along with Shiv, Durga, Lakshmi, Sawarsati and other idols. As a kid I started worshipping Swami ji as I worshipped other idols and hoped that Swami ji can also rescue me from danger or help me during bad times and can do “Chamatkar” if I pray properly. Before the exam or before the results my prayer used to get longer to all the idols including that of Swami ji. I did know that he delivered a lecture about Hinduism in America many years back – that’s all.

Till the time I was in Bengal that is before I came to Delhi for joining a company after completing my engineering from BE College I never get the opportunity or had any urge to know Swami ji more. I always used to bow my head and asked for some favour while I came across some statue of him as common Bengali youth would do in front of any Kali , Durga or Shiv temple.   One evening while I was watching TV in the company provided accommodation in Delhi’s Sarita Vihar and eagerly waiting for the food that our cook would bring from the kitchen I came across some writing with Swami ji’s name on an old calendar which was hanging on the wooden door of the Kithen. I might have also seen that calendar and those writings earlier but never concentrated on it. As the wait for the food was little longer that evening I read those writing minutely:  "Truth, purity, and unselfishness wherever these are present, there is no power below or above the sun to crush the possessor thereof. Equipped with these, one individual is able to face the whole universe in opposition." - Swami Vivekananda.

It took few days for me to fully understand Swami ji’s message and once I understood it fully I was clear why people across India worship Swami ji. I then started trying to know more about Swami ji and came across the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda at Howrah Railway station Rama Krishna Mission bookstore and bought that.

During my near about two decades stay in Delhi I came across many people who are not from Bengal but know more about Swami ji rather than any common Bengali gentleman and they are all well established in different aspects of life. They all have very high regards for Swami ji. I was wondering why we the people of Bengal did not try to understand Swami ji in depth. One of the reasons could be the influence of communists who ruled and ruined my home state for decades. I also came across many communists who ridicule Swami ji and this is because the communists always feared that if Bengali youth start knowing Swami ji in true sense then their imported idea of socialism would have no takers in Bengal. The next regime is just following the communists but they are also trying to have didi’s idol added in the common Bengali family’s Thakur Ghar.

Bengali youth must know Swami ji more as his thought has transformed many people including that of Great Netaji. During the 2014 LS election campaign Modi ji had given interviews to many news channels and you could see Swami ji’s statue in all those interviews. After the election result while some TV was showing the family home of Modi ji I also located Swami ji’s statue there. I become very pleased and got the cue how Modi ji have implemented Swami ji’s teachings of Truth, purity, and unselfishness to win the heart of India against all odds.

His teachings should be included in our school and college curriculum so that the young generation know more about Swami ji which would help them to understand what is good and what is bad for them and for the country and work towards the inclusive development of the people of the society. Particularly Bengal does not need to import or invent any new idea rather we can look within and bring the change thru the path based on the vision and teachings of Swami ji.  Above all Swami ji was a Humanist per excellence.

Jai Hind,

Keshab Ray