Stories from the grassroots | Thoughts on development
This is the talk given by me on the leadership message of Swami Vivekananda. This is part of the lecture series that i am giving in my role as the Visiting Professor of the Vivekananda Chair of the University of Mysore. This lecture was given at VLEAD on the 27th of May 2014.
Leadership has been defined in many ways and is possibly one of the most researched subjects in the world today. Though so much has been said and written, one finds it difficult to have a final word on the subject of leadership. Similarly, a lot has been written and said about Swami Vivekananda. He has been called a monk, a prophet, a social reformer, a nationalist, a philosopher, a yogi, a prolific writer, an orator par excellence, an educationist and so on. But there has been very little analysis or research done on him as a Leader and his leadership qualities are
A few years ago, Vish a friend who had lived for a long period in the US and had come back to resettle in Mysuru and I were talking about Swami Vivekananda and how his message had inspired me. Our talk drifted to how Swamiji was a tireless worker and how so much was done by him in such a short time. We started talking how the Vedanta Society in New York was established by Swamiji in 1894 even before he set up the Ramakrishna Math in Belur. Vish suddenly asked me if I had visited the Ridgley Manor in
Many a friend has asked me about my regular visits to the US and about the teaching I do here. One oft repeated question has been, ‘What are the major similarities & differences that you see between the two countries? ‘ And knowing my background, another question usually asked is about my continued commitment to the causes I espouse back home in India and how it relates to my visiting the US? India, as Swami Vivekananda put it is the Punyabhumi (holy land) and the Karmabhumi (land of one’s work) for me. The last 35 years has seen me live