From: bhatnagr@ucunix.san.uc.EDU (Raj Bhatnagar)
Subject: article
Organization: ----
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 92 21:39:09 GMT

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It was in August 1893 that Vivekananda from Indian
subcontinent became a celebrity in USA - mainly due 
to his speaches at the Parliament of Religions held
at Chicago in that year - and also due to his other
lectures and presentations expounding Indian 
philosophy. 

Next year will mark the hundredth year of those events.

Excerpted below is some text from his Collected
Works, published by Advaita Ashram, Calcutta.

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                                     Chicago,
                                 2nd November, 1893.

Dear Alasinga,

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 . . . . . . On the morning of the opening of the Parliament,
 we all assembled in a building called the Art Palace, where
 one huge and other smaller temporary halls were erected for
 the sittings of the Parliament. Men from all nations were
 there. From India were Mazoomdar of Brahmo Samaj, and Nagarkar 
 of Bombay, Mr. Gandhi representing the Jains, and Mr. Chakravarti
 representing Theosophy with Mrs. Annie Besant. Of these, 
 Mazoomdar and I were, of course, old friends, and Chakravarti
 knew me by name. There was a grand procession, and we were all
 marshalled onto the platform. Imagine a hall below and a huge
 gallary above, packed with six or seven thousand men and women
 representing the best culture of the country, and on the platform
 learned men of all the nations of the earth. And I, who never 
 spoke in public in my life, to address this august assemblage!!
 It was opened in great form with music and ceremony and speches;
 then the delegates were introduced one by one, and they stepped 
 up and spoke. Of course my heart was fluttering, and my tongue
 nearly dried up; I was so nervous and could not venture to speak
 in the morning. Mazoomdar made a nice speech, Chakravarti a nicer 
 one, and they were much applauded. They were all prepared and 
 came with ready made speeches. I was a fool and had none, but 
 bowed down to Devi Saraswati and stepped up, and Dr. Barrows 
 introduced me. I made a short speech. I addressed the assembly as
 ``Sisters and Brothers of America'', a deafening applause of two
 minutes followed, and then I proceeded; and when it was finished,
 I sat down, almost exhausted with emotion. The next day all the
 papers announced that my speech was the hit of the day, and I became
 known to the whole of America. Truly has it been said by the
 great commentator Sridhara - 'Mookam karoti vaachaalam - Who 
 maketh the dumb a fluent speaker.' His name be praised! From that
 day I became a celebrity, and the day I read my paper on Hinduism,
 the hall was packed as it had been never before.    . . . . . . .
 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


                                          Yours with blessings,
                                               Vivekananda

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Collected works, Vol . 5, pp. 19-21.

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---raj