| Sages,Rushis & Saints |
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| Biographies of Great Indians & Hindus |
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA |
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| On Foreign
SoilSwamiji reached the city of Chicago in the
middle of July. On his way he touched at the ports of Colombo, Singapore, Hongkong and
Tokyo. He chose a hotel for his stay. He made inquiry about the opening of the Conference
of World Religions. It was still three months away. How was he to stay so long in s
strange place? The money he had was fast disappearing. Meanwhile, an international fair
was going on. Swamiji was wandering in the premises of the fair. Just then he spotted a
Maharaja from India. He approached the Maharaja. But the Maharaja turned away with wry
face.
Since Chicago was a big city and very expensive, Swamiji moved to the nearby city of Boston. On the way he met a lady. She was from Boston. She was amazed at Swamiji's strange attire, his magnificent physique, and his bright eyes. She decided that he was no ordinary man. She begged Swamiji to be her guest. He agreed. Occasionally he addressed meetings at small clubs. The subject of his talk was Indian Culture and the Hindu Dharma. Gradually many scholars became his friends. Once of them was John Henry Wright University. He was greatly impressed by Swamiji's scholarship. The delegates to the Conference of World Religions had to submit their letters of introduction to the organizers. But Swamiji had lost his letter of introduction. Wright himself wrote the letter of introduction, in which he called Swamiji "A scholar who surpasses all of us professor." Swamiji went back to Chicago. When he reached the city he found that he had lost the addresses of some people. The people of the city were mostly Germans and could not understand English. As a consequence, Swamiji could not stir out. Finding no way out, Swamiji curled himself in an empty box, which was lying in the railway station. The next morning he wandered about in the streets. Unable to bear his hunger, he begged for alms at some houses. He could not get anything. On the contrary he was insulted and humiliated. He was sitting on the footsteps of a playground. A lady came out of a house facing the playground and asked him, "Are you a delegate to theconference of World Religions?" The Swamiji replied, 'Yes'. The lady said, "Please come to my house. You can bathe and have food. Then I shall take you to the Conference." Her name was Mrs.George Hails. |
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