The 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s historic Chicago address was celebrated at the Terrace Pavilion in the House of Commons in London on 15th November this year. The legendary speech delivered by Swami Vivekananda at the first Parliament of World Religions in 1893 is not only a landmark in the history of the Ramakrishna Mission and Modern Vedanta, but also marks the introduction of Indian philosophies, yoga and Hinduism in the West. During the course of this Parliament (11th - 27th September), he spoke to his audience about the commonality that intrinsically connects people all around the world – peace, harmony and tolerance are the tenets that we should live by. Following his address, Swami Vivekananda garnered much love and appreciation from his audiences as well as the American press who dubbed him the “cyclonic monk from India”. He further toured around the United States and later the United Kingdom and Germany, giving lectures at several universities around these countries.
His legacy is honoured by the followers and well-wishers of the Ramakrishna Mission all over the world, and this year, the 125th anniversary of his address was conducted by Baroness Sandip Verma and the Vivekananda Human Centre. The Guest of Honour for the evening was Revered Swami Sarvasthananda, the president of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre, UK, and the key-note speaker was Revered Swami Bodhasarananda, the Assistant General Secretary of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission from the Belur Math in India. In attendance were various councillors and mayors of London boroughs, ardent followers of the Swami’s teachings, as well as a collection of people for whom the socio-cultural influence of the teachings were particularly resonant with the current state of the world today.
The programme began with a candle lighting and a universal prayer that was led by Reverend G. Nagese, Nipoonzan Myohoji of the London Peace Pagoda. After the welcome address, a select number of passages from the Chicago address were read by Sagar Jain, Suhita Saha and Anushka Das. Following this, letters from important socio-political figures such as Her Majesty the Queen, the Prime Minister and the Mayor of London were read aloud to the audience, telling them the impact and importance of this day in the lives of the citizens of the UK.
The message that was reiterated throughout the evening was the call for tolerance amongst members of a diverse community. Councillors Debbie Kaur-Thiara (Mayor, Redbridge), Jenny Headlam-Wells (Mayor, Borough of Camden), Sirajul Islam (Deputy Mayor, Tower Hamlets), Nitin Parekh (Deputy Mayor, Harrow) and Sohan Sumra (Deputy Mayor, Harrow) all spoke of the significance of the celebration during Inter-Faith Week. They spoke of Swami Vivekananda’s critique of fanaticism and extremism, his astute observations about the danger in communalism and his advocacy of open and healthy inter-religious dialogue.
Baroness Sandip Verma addressed the audience and elucidated upon the idea of ‘tolerance’ and why we only tolerate others instead of accepting them, to revel in the strength of diversity and inclusion. She extended her gratitude to the mayors and deputy mayors of the London Boroughs who were present at the event, for it showed the unity in diversity that existed in the country even in the wake of the chaotic events spurred on by Brexit. She emphasized the importance of channelling the teachings of Swamiji in such a world fraught with such political tension.
When asked why he thought it was important that we still celebrate the Chicago Address today, Uday Shankar Das, the compere for the evening said, “If you read Swamiji’s address”, he responded, “you will see how he predicted how things could become, even in the 21st century. If you think about it, the world that we live in now, one that is besotted with hate and conflict, his message resonates now more than ever.” He also added that, “In the present, 9/11 to us is synonymous with what happened with the Twin Towers, but in history, 9/11 should be remembered for that fantastic, iconic speech that Swamiji gave in Chicago.”
The cultural performances during the night included musical renditions from Maya Ames and Shona Ames, Sarita Saha, Gouri Choudhury and the students of Forest School who were conducted by Ronan MacManus.
