Journey in the Historic City Of Chicago

               Leaving everything that has been related to work, my situation, difficulties, challenges etc. I had been relocated to the city of Chicago, three months back. I was just waiting for things to fall in place and normalize after my relocation before I write on this splendid city. As I understood, things will never be smooth; life will have its ups and downs in the journey and let us savor the moment, setting. My journey resumed in Chicago in the U.S. which is a stuff of dreams. Though I am confined to my work-from-home routine and going through all the rigors of employment, I often remember that I was in Chicago – a city I looked up at the top from my position at bottom. Everyone will have few imaginations about a place even without visiting. I have very high imaginations of this place right from my childhood. Let me tell you a bit more about this exciting stuff.

              Every Indian hears about Chicago from the great life of Swami Vivekananda who rose to fame from his address in the World Parliament of Religions in 1893, which happened in Chicago. India discovered Swamiji in Chicago and Chicago provided a sky-deck to elevate Swamiji and bring forth his innate abilities before the audience and world. The great monk who is unknown hitherto shot to fame with his brilliant address from this city in the North. The unknown monk became real in the U.S. and India and catapulted to glory back home. His opening remarks – ‘Sisters and Brothers of America’ alone got applause for 2 minutes from the 7 thousand audience. The Swamiji shot to fame by virtue of this Parliament and there is no looking back. He became a major milestone and impression in the journey of modern India. How blessed is the city of Chicago to receive the address from a fire like Swamiji and how big Swamiji has become after giving his address from this high pedestal.

              He is one of my real-time heroes and his birthday January 12th is celebrated as National Youth Day very aptly. Every student, youth read lessons on him as part of the curriculum and the most important lesson is his address in Chicago. Everyone requests the youth to look up to the ideals of Swamiji in their own way. After these lessons, I became more interested to learn about Swamiji as a student and purchased books on him at every given opportunity. I looked up to him and the city of Chicago from the student age. The land which recognized this greatest saffron monk of modern times is sure to be blessed for many centuries and after nearly 130 years, I visited the exact location – the Art Institute of Chicago, which is nothing less than the stuff of dreams. I don’t know how Swamiji would react to the present-day U.S. but the nation, with all the riches continues to inspire, wonders people across the world, bringing out their best.

              A short summary of Swamiji – “Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) is best known in the United States for his groundbreaking speech to the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions in which he introduced Hinduism to America and called for religious tolerance and an end to fanaticism. Born Narendra Nath Dutta, he was the chief disciple of the 19th-century mystic Ramakrishna and the founder of Ramakrishna Mission. Swami Vivekananda is also considered a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga to the West and is credited with raising the profile of Hinduism to that of a world religion.” There are many quotations from Swamiji which people commonly use, and every quotation has so much meaning and irrefutable clarity in it. One of the quotations I can put forth on this occasion – “A handful of men can throw the world off its hinges, provided they are united in thought, word and deed – never forget this conviction”. To note, Swamiji did most of his splendid work in the U.S. from 1893 to 1900, giving hundreds of lectures and traveling extensively on a mission. But he served his homeland through the Western canvas and the U.S. doesn’t recognize him as much as home nation. Swamiji once mentioned – “One blow struck outside India is equal to 100,000 within”. This was true as the journey of the U.S. and Swamiji merged beautifully and catapulted him to a higher plane from where he majestically served and defined the journey of the homeland. That Swamiji would rise to fame and become a household name and teach religion, virtues of youth, nationalism etc. to millions of people wouldn’t have been possible had he not set sail to the U.S. in general and Chicago in particular.

              It is true in my case as well, in my own little way. Like Swamiji, I also started a religious blog on Ramayana after coming to Chicago. The city brought laurels to Hinduism through Swamiji and me contributing in a small way is another coincidence. Any religion is a binding energy for an individual and sticking to it brings fulfillment, righteousness to the way of life. I have been updating the blog on lessons from Ramayana, started in this Northern city and hope to spread calm, order, peace through its ideals. The city has also drawn the best out of me, and I have been writing every week on various topics of importance. Let this be a good omen to the world, U.S. and India.

            Not just the Swamiji, Chicago has a great history in several other areas. I visited three museums in this three month – An art museum, An African American museum, A suburban settlement – each having links to Indian, Black and White people. Great men from all these three groups – Swamiji, Barack Obama, Abraham Lincoln have their background in this city or state, and it is simply overwhelming to think about this heritage. Two greatest Presidents of the United States hail from this region and a path breaking monk reached to the top from here. This city is blessed in all sense and blesses the individuals that come along its way. My experience is no different as mentioned. Now, I understand the meaning of the words “God Bless America”, because of places like these. Let these places be the cultural hotbeds upon which the future of America is built. I might be exaggerating a bit, but the view is from a worldview and my limited subjective knowledge which has high place for this city.

             So, when I know the rich background of the city, state and my client location is in the very city, it makes me excited. I would like to contribute to it as much as I can to uphold the sanctity, holiness, level of the place, people. I might be a lesser person to this place but please help me out and I can deliver in my own way. I would like to continue for as long as possible in this place and give my best to this place with a lot of significance and here is to the next 130 years of glory, evolution and progress of this city (after 1893 – 2022). Let there be more great causes served, more great people emanate, and more countries benefit through this wonderful field. Last but not the least, I would like my home city – Hyderabad to model along similar lines and become great in the same way for the next couple of centuries. On this occasion, a quotation from me goes like this– “Chicago is turning out to be the reason why everyone respects U.S.”