Swami Vivekananda in America 1893

Departure for America On May 31, 1893, Swamiji boarded a fire boat.  There were tears in  heart and tears in  eyes.  He was standing on the bank of the fire boat, staring at the land of India.  The time had come for his name to be engraved in the history of India.

So Swamiji's journey started by ship.  He gradually adapted to life on the ship.  The first thing that bothered them was to take care of everything nearby!  Till today, Parivrajaka Sannyasi had walked around with Danda-Kamandalu.  But now the burden of managing the passenger trunk was on them.  Swamiji looked at all the forms of the sea with great joy.  By observing the customs of other Europeans, he became acquainted with different perfumes and atmospheres. 

 The captain of the ship was attracted to Swamiji's personality and intelligence.  When he got time, he also came to hang out with Swamiji.  He showed the whole ship to Swamiji and informed him about the operating machinery.  The ship traveled to Colombo, Penang, Singapore, Hong Kong and reached Nagasaki in Japan.  On the way, Swamiji went to all the places where he could go.  He introduced different cultures.  They wanted to get another ship from Yakohama, Japan.  On the way, they also visited the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo.  From the letters written by Swamiji we get a lot of detailed information about all this.  He writes that countries like Japan and China should be seen by our youth and they should learn what entrepreneurship and progress are.  To illustrate: See a letter dated July 10, 1893:

 'The Japanese seem to have fully understood what is needed in the present age, and they have become extraordinarily aware.  They have now built a well-organized and well-equipped army are also expanding their large fleet of warships.  I have seen a tunnel about a mile long built by Japanese engineer

  "I have seen many of his temples. Each temple has some Sanskrit mantras written in ancient Bengali script. Few of the temple priests know Sanskrit, but they are well-informed.  It is not possible to write all these things in a short letter, but I wish that hundreds of young people from our country would visit Japan and China every year and see them with their own eyes. Crazy people, Europeans on the beach with books in their hands. 

                       

 Some of the thoughts that came out of my brain, I don't understand their meaning! And how much you struggle to get a clerk of thirty rupees! This is the goal of your life, or at most, you are struggling to become a lawyer.  Behind the student's back, 'Baba! Feed me, Baba  !  Feed me! '  Isn't there enough water in the sea to drown you with your books, your gown, your university degree?

“Mother India wants the sacrifice of at least a thousand young men;  Remember 'humans' are wanted, not animals.  God sent the British government to India to destroy your lifeless, inactive civilization and it was mainly the Madrasis who first helped the British to settle in India.  Trying hard to reshape society, empathizing with the poor, feeding the hungry and educating the masses, and the ancestors

I would like to ask you how many selfless and sincere young Madras who are dying to rehabilitate their brothers who have been decimated by atrocities will now be provided.  That is my question to you. 

 On July 14, 1893, Swamiji boarded a new ship weighing 6,000 tons at Yakohama.  The name of this ship was 'Empress of India'.  On July 25, 1893, the ship arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia.  From there they left by train the next day.  It was a long way to get to Chicago.  On the fifth day, they landed at the Chicago station.  Swamiji had now come to a completely different world. 

 Leaving the life of a free ascetic in India, he now stands in a bustling western city.  The luggage nearby, the confusion in my mind, I don't know where to go now, the children looking at their unfamiliar clothes and following them for fun;  Looking at his new face, the porter started asking for a quarter of the money to pick up his luggage.  Finally, Swamiji decided to go with a man and reach the hotel.  He decided to go to a good hotel first and then review the situation. 

 The World's Columbian Exposition was a huge event in Chicago.  When he arrived in Chicago, he inquired about the Interfaith Council.  It will start in the second week of September, no delegate will be able to attend the conference without an identity card and the registration date is now over, much to their shock.  Swamiji did not know what to do;  He did not come as a representative.  If you want to stay in America for so many days, you don't have enough money, you don't have enough warm clothes.   He remembered his acquaintance with Kate Sanborn.  He invited them to come to his houseWas given.

  So after staying in Chicago for twelve days, Swamiji went to Boston.  The cost was low there.  After landing at the Quincy House, he telegraphed to Kate Sanborn.  He immediately called them to his home, Breezy Meadows, in a village near Boston.  "Get out today: the 4.20 train, Boston and Albany," was the immediate message from Kate Sanbourne, a professor and writer. The introduction of Swamiji to her cousin was significant.

  He was a philanthropist who wrote biographies of philosophers such as Emerson, Thoreau, and Alcott, so it was natural for him to appreciate the importance of Swamiji's study and philosophy.  Swamiji was convinced that his plan to stay was in jeopardy, but Professor Wright was impressed by Swamiji's insistence that he should represent Hinduism in such an important conference.  Say Professor Wright on it  He said, “Swami, asking you for an identity card is like asking the sun for support for its right to shine!  He promised to facilitate the letter. He wrote a letter to the chairman of the committee to select the representative of the Interfaith Council, informing him, "Even if all our learned professors were brought together, he would be a more learned man."  He also wrote an identity card for the committee looking after the accommodation of the Eastern delegates.

Wherever Swamiji was, there was an atmosphere of curiosity and excitement about him. Even wherever he went for a walk, news about him was published in the newspapers.  To illustrate:  There was a weekly called the Famigham Tribune.  It read on Friday, August 25, 1893, "Holliston: Miss Kate Sanborn, who had just returned from the West, welcomed last week an Indian king - Swami Vivekananda."

"Some of Swamiji's lectures took place in Salem, Sanratoga. The news and statements about it were as follows: Evening News, August 24, 1893 

heliston from India will visit Salem on August 28 and give lectures." Next Monday at the Thought and Work Club.  An educated ascetic from India will address the members.  They will give some information about their country, religion and customs.  Club members will be able to meet the Kings at the Wesley Shrine on North Path at 4 p.m.  Decent men and women who are not members of the club will be able to purchase tickets from other members of the club.  Rajesaheb will be in his native costume.  Swamiji had now gone to Chicago again.  There was so much joy, so much excitement.  He had a letter of introduction to be a representative.  But did the anonymous problems stop?  When he landed at the Chicago station, Swamiji did not know his address.  It so happened that he met a trader on the train.  He agreed to explain his address in Chicago to Swamiji.  Dr. Chairman of the General Committee of the Interfaith Council.  Swamiji wanted to reach John Henry Barrow's office.  But when he arrived at the Chicago station, the merchant hurriedly disembarked and left, and unfortunately, his nearest address was lost in the mishap, Swamiji realized.  He tried to talk to people on the street;  But most of the northeastern part of the city was inhabited by Germans.  So they did not understand what Swamiji was asking them, even if they asked about the hotel.  Finally helpless, a large empty space in the train station yard  stretched his legs in the box (which is called goods wagon in India).  Putting all their trust in God, they fell asleep.  Now, in the next two days, he was going to leave America's most important platform!  But at the moment, destiny was testing him.  It's morning.  They set out in search of a place of water and arrived shortly after at Lake Shore Drive, a very wealthy residential settlement.  Swamiji was very hungry.  So he went begging for the address of Darodar Atra and the office of Sarvadharma Parishad.  Seeing their strangeness, crumpled clothes, tiredness of travel, they got very rude treatment.  They were kicked out by the servants and in some places they were slapped in the face.  The key to pain was in their hearts.  They knew neither the city nor the telephone numbers!  Eventually completely exhausted, they sat down on the side of the road.  Again, she was dependent on one God.

In a desperate moment, she opened the door of the luxurious house in front of him and came to him.  She asked him in a very soft, polite tone, "sir, are you a representative of Sarvadharma Parishad?" Swamiji told her.  Hearing this, she immediately took Swamiji to her house

He ordered his servants to take care of them.  After Swamiji had eaten a little, she assured him that he would take her to the council office himself.  Swamiji was filled with immense gratitude.  The name of this important woman was Mrs. George W. Hale.  Mrs. Hale, her husband and children all became close friends of Swamiji 

  They were warmly welcomed and accommodated.  Once again, Swamiji became engrossed in chanting, meditation and contemplation.  He was working as a tool of his beloved Thakur - Sri Ramakrishna.  Thakur's darling Naren was not only drowning in his own liberation, he was going to be a banyan tree for many people.  This banyan tree was not only for Indians but now its branches of cosmopolitanism had expanded.  The same was to be witnessed from the platform of Sarvadharma Parishad!