Over the past one year, i was writing a weekly column in Prajavani Kannada daily titled Naa Kanda Vivekananda (Vivekananda as I saw him). It gave me an opportunity to share with the readers the life and times of Swamiji and the relevance of his messages to the present day world.… Continue reading
Nationalism and Swami Vivekananda
We live in times where patriotism has been reduced to celebrating by bursting firecrackers after India wins a cricket match, especially against Pakistan. Waving the tricolor and shouting slogans like ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Jai Hind’ have now become symbols of street-corner Nationalism. … Continue reading
Ramasnehi and the old woman at Alwar
What separates great and extraordinary people from the rest of us is their ability to stay humble and rooted to their values all their lives. Greatness does not affect them and they never lose sight of their convictions. It is only people who are insecure and are constantly seeking affirmation from society try to project themselves as great.… Continue reading
What kind of reforms does India need today?
India is a land of tremendous contradictions. On one hand, one sees such enormous prosperity and wealth, while on the other hand one-third of Indians go without a second meal every day. While India’s scientific achievements in the field of telecommunication, information technology and space is enviable, it makes one’s heart bleed when you know that only around 20% of rural Indians have sanitation facilities and 40% of them are able to get potable water to drink.… Continue reading
Swami Vivekananda in China
Swami Vivekananda’s parivrajaka life traveling through India is reasonably well documented. His travel around the United States has also been well captured. Recently Asim Chaudhari has written eloquently about these in his book ‘New Discoveries’. I would like recount the visit of Swamiji to China.… Continue reading
National Reconstruction, the Japanese way
There are so many negative events happening in the country that even a hardcore optimist is likely to lose faith that our country can achieve greatness. The situation over the last 100 years has been a very challenging one for India.… Continue reading
Great thinkers on Swami Vivekananda
The true greatness of a man is felt and understood years after the person’s death. Whether it is Gandhi or Swami Vivekananda or Ramana Maharshi or Martin Luther King, they leave behind indelible impressions in the minds of thousands of people for generations to come.… Continue reading
Swami Vivekananda on ‘Anger’
Anger is one emotion that all of us have experienced at one time or the other. We get angry at ourselves, at people around us, at circumstances that we cannot control or manage. We would have experienced situations in which we get rightfully angry, but many a time we feel guilty that we lost our temper.… Continue reading
Measuring Swami Vivekananda’s leadership accomplishments
Leadership and leadership outcomes are indeed difficult to define and measure. Though there is a lot of literature on this subject, the fact remains that very little is actually known. Though many yardsticks have been developed to measure leadership outcomes, some of the widely accepted ones are answers to the following questions in the organization that a leader founded or inherited.… Continue reading
Swami Vivekananda’s approach to religions
Much has been written about Swami Vivekananda’s views on other religions. He was said to have carried two books with him on most of his travels – one was a copy of the Bhagawad Gita and the other was a book titled ‘The Imitation of Christ’ written by the devout Christian, Thomas Kempis.… Continue reading
Swami Vivekananda in Belgaum
Apart from Mysore and Bangalore, Swami Vivekananda had visited Belgaum in Karnataka during his travels. Swamiji reached Belgaum from Kolhapur on 15th October, 1892. For four days, he was a guest of Prof Sadashiv Bhate, a Maharashtrian who found Swamiji a very unusual monk.… Continue reading
The anointment of a world leader
Leadership is indeed a great responsibility. To lead is not only to have a vision, but also inspire others to share the same vision. This would be easy if one were to lead and inspire people in the world of business or politics, but leading and inspiring others to share the vision of self-realization by willfully and cheerfully accepting poverty and celibacy will surely require a special person.… Continue reading
The last days with the Master
The old saying of ‘Health is Wealth’ is something that we are taught from childhood. The importance of health is understood only when we fall sick. Each one of us knows and has experienced sickness in one way or the other.… Continue reading
Preparing the Disciple
Our ability to perform any task or engage in any activity with quality requires that we are adequately trained and prepared for the same. One cannot decide to jump into the ocean without having first learned how to swim. Whether it is the world of business or that of service or that of the world of monasticism, one requires the preparatory training.… Continue reading
Learning from Adversity
Adversity is the true test of character. It does not take much strength to live in times when everything goes our way. It is only when things go wrong and we are constantly challenged by the circumstances around us will our true nature emerge.… Continue reading