Swami Vivekananda’s 150th Birthday: National Youth Day
The above celebrations held at this Ashrama last evening was a grand success. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar presided over the meeting and spoke in glowing terms about the Ramakrishna Mission. He said that in about 200 districts in India there is no development because there is no Ramakrishna Mission in those districts. His entire speech was practically dedicated to the praise of Ramakrishna Mission and Swamiji. He also mentioned about the Holy Mother’s influence on Swamiji. He urged the youth to work hard to realize the dream of Swami Vivekananda. Dr. Kiran Bedi was the Chief Guest and she emphasized again and again in her speech that the youth should take to Swami Vivekananda. The six prize-winners of the All India Online Future Leader Discovery Competition for school students also spoke very well.
The function was deeply appreciated by everyone and the crowd response was tremendous. Around 2,200 to 2,500 people attended although we had initially restricted the entry to the invitation card holders. For the first time in our Ashram we could get such a large audience for National Youth Day and there was a predominant presence of youth. Our idea was mainly to bring a large number of youths to the Ashrama and give them some exposure to the ideas of Swamiji. Our attempt was largely successful.
Our special thanks to our dedicated volunteers who worked tirelessly to make this function a success. It was a learning experience for all of us, particularly our devotees. They learnt what it is to come under the influence of the Ramakrishna-Sarada-Vivekananda tradition and what is the difference between this tradition and other traditions.
Yours in service,
Swami Shantatmananda