12 January is celebrated as the National Youth Day in India on the birth anniversary of the youth icon, Swami Vivekananda. While his life and message continues to inspire millions of young people around the world, one needs to appreciate how he was not just a Hindu monk. Understanding his work will take more than a life time. While he can mean so many things to many people, from a monk to a spiritual giant, a philosopher, a social reformer, a nationalist, a compassionate humanist to a great orator, poet and so much more. While understanding his work will take more than a life time, I have tried to explore what he has meant to me over the last many decades. Listen to the speech that I gave virtually to the devotees of the Ramakrishna Center, Johannesburg, South Africa on January 12, 2022.