Vivekananda the Vivid

We are indeed very fortunate to have two unpublished letters of Swamiji to Prof. Wright. out of which one we read yesterday. These letters are important because they don’t only tell us about His activities in Chicago but also the luminous state of His mind during the early days of His American mission.

We were always doubtful about how long did He stay in Chicago before He started moving out to give lectures? There were many gaps in Swamiji’s biographies regarding His whereabouts during the last part of 1893 and the whole of 1894. Though we knew that He toured the Midwest and East lecturing and moving with the lecture bureau and also independently, we just got glimpses of Him here and there.

What we really miss even today is the innumerable conversations, meetings with people, private interviews He must have given during this period. We also are helpless in knowing the infinite spiritual experiences He must have had !!!

Let us peep little bit into His post Parliament activities.  From Cornelia Conger we now know that how interested Swamiji was in the American schools and about the education He wanted for us in India, especially for we girls! In this connection He visited a famous school ‘Cook County Normal School’ run by Principal Col. Francis Wayland Parker who had introduced progressive educational principles in Boston and then in Chicago.

As I always like to see Swamiji with the children and love to know their reactions this story again is very important for us. There was a young girl and let us know from a child how she saw Swamiji. This story first came in the 'Prabuddha Bharat' in Sep.1933 in an article written by Mrs. Henrietta Holmes Earl. Let us hear from her directly –

“I think of Vivekananda always as "Vivekananda the Vivid." And perhaps that is so because for a few brief moments I looked into his eyes. It happened when I, a small child, was a pupil in the school of which Col. Francis W. Parker was the head. Several of our schools are named after him, and his influence on education and thought was so great that he may be classed as a prophet of education. His work was known in far countries, and children came to his school from many lands with their parents who returned to their foreign homes to teach his methods. Among this group of foreign students was a Hindu family, the son being in my class. Each morning the entire school assembled for Chapel and often a brief talk by some distinguished visitor was heard. 

On one of these occasions we were all fascinated by the spectacle of our tall Col. Parker ushering in another stately man who was dressed in flowing robes and turban. We sang, and Col. Parker read a prayer. Then the Swami spoke to us. I was too little to remember what he said, but I do remember how quiet the big room was, and how brilliant his eyes and vibrant his voice. When his talk was over he too said a prayer, and then he and Col. Parker walked down together from the platform through the assembly hall.


The Hindu boy next to me sat in an aisle seat, and, as the Swami passed him, bent and kissed his robe. I was so surprised at such a thing that I whispered to the boy, "Why did you do that? Who is he?" "The man is Swami Vivekananda, a great saint from my country," he said. "But," said I, "there are no saints any more." "Not here in your country," he replied, "but we still have them in India."