> Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 14:48:44 +0530 > Subject: Swami Vivekananda Sardha shati samaroh vrutta 2013-14- Interview of Prof. Anirudhha Desapande, Organizser, 15-01-2014 > From: vaidya.vidyadhar@gmail.com > To: me_mehtasunil@rediffmail.com; deodhar.nitin1@gmail.com; maheshbhai1658@yahoo.co.in; yshukla12000@yahoo.com; dr.kamalshah@yahoo.com; dracharyarr@yahoo.co.in; maunik_msu@yahoo.co.in; nikhil_20051@yahoo.com; ajayparikh.gvp@gmail.com; prof.bjm@gmail.com; mehta.apurva1@gmail.com; kb_kamaliya@yahoo.co.in; hiranink@yahoo.co.in; spkmshani@gmail.com; ranapratap.salunkhe@gmail.com; kedar.astromet@gmail.com; ketancdesai70@gmail.com; aspatel63@yahoo.com; maganlalbpatel@gmail.com; pateldarshanj@yahoo.com; anuragopl@gmail.com; bhadesia@hotmail.com; mmohanngp@gmail.com; ram.vaidya25@gmail.com; shirishb20@gmail.com; shrishdeopujari@rediffmail.com; rshiledar@yahoo.com; amitji.bikaner@gmail.com; vd.ganatra@gmail.com; hcpatel_58@yahoo.co.in; vijaybelsare@india.com; skbhavsar@yahoo.com; rameshnai@live.com; yadavpradeep86@gmail.com; pp.gujarat@sangh.org; sborisa@gmail.com; jadhavha@gmail.com; balkrishna_29@yahoo.com; bikarande@gmail.com; ervksood@gmail.com; dakhorekk@yahoo.com; rajputkn@yahoo.com; sudaoak@hotmail.com; chintan_7676@yahoo.in; bhargav_h_bhatt@yahoo.com > > Vivekananda emerged as the most acceptable figure of India—Prof > Aniruddha Deshpande > > > 150th Birth Anniversary Celebrations reconnect to Vivekananda's prism > > Throughout the year Vivekananda 150th birth anniversary was celebrated > as Sardh Shati Samaroh not only in India but all over the world. While > celebration year is ending, Organiser editor Prafulla Ketkar spoke to > the All India General Secretary of the Samaroh Samiti Prof Aniruddh > Deshpande on objectives, success and follow up of the Sardh Shati > celebrations. Here are the excerpts of the conversations: > > How do you look at the year-long worldwide celebration to celebrate > 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda? What were the objectives > of the celebration? > > Recontextualising the main thoughts of Swami Vivekananda to the > present world was the core objective of this celebration. Though > Vivekananda addressed the problems related to poverty or education etc > about 125 years ago, most of them still persist. That is why > Vivekananda is still relevant not only for India but for humanity at > large. The slogan of 'Awaken India, Enlighten the World' reconnected > that relevance to the current situation. > > What types of activities were conducted in India to spread the message > of Swami Vivekananda? > > The celebrations were broadly divided into five parts: 1. Yuva Shakti > (Youth) 2. Savardhini (Women) 3. Prabuddha Bharat (Intellectual India) > 4. Asmita (Vanvasis) 5. Gramayan (Rural India) > > On youth power, more than 250 seminars were held throughout India on > Vivekananda's thought in which more than 1.5 lac youth participated. > On September 11, 2013, on the occasion of Vishwa Bandhutva Diwas (the > day Vivekananda delivered his famous message in the Conference of > World Religions, at Chicago) more than 30 lac youth participated in > the 'Bharat Jago Daud'. Collective Suryanamaskars were held to convey > the Swamiji's message of 'healthy body for spiritual mind' and schools > and colleges of 41 prants (functional regions of RSS) participated in > the activity. > > Similarly, more than 1500 awareness camps were organised for > adolescent girls on Indian culture and sanskaras, Vivekananda and > women empowerment, health and education. Many conventions were > organised for young couples to help them in leading life with > Vivekanda's message. Five national conferences were held in the five > corners of India namely Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Raipur, Kolkata and Chennai > on five different themes, to involve in the intellectual class in > spreading the Vivekananda's thought. The unprecedented event like > Vice-Chancellors conference (which got wide publicity through > Organiser, December 12, 2013), represented by 125 universities of > India, was organised with the theme of 'Education as Man Making and > Nation Building Exercise'. It was a great success for shaping the > future courses in higher education for the youth India. More than 3000 > health camps, with participation of more than 500 women, were > organised while 3.5 lac trees were planted to nurture the message of > 'live with nature'. More than 300 villages are adopted for > self-sufficient development. Besides many literary and cultural > festivals, competitions were organised and people from all sections of > society participated with enthusiasm. > > In other words, the Sardh Shati celebrations achieved a great balance > of quality and quantity. > > It seems the government celebration remained mostly on papers and only > the social organisations were seen conducting various activities > throughout the year. What do you feel? > > The original idea was, people should come together and celebrate > Vivekananda's thought and bring them in action. So no government help > was sought, financially or otherwise. But all government's ministers, > even bureaucrats made their representations in various programmes and > whole heartedly supported the activities. The HRD minister Shri Pallam > Raju himself inaugurated the VC conference. So governments were > supportive but the activities were undertaken by the society. Though > Vivekananda Kendra was at the forefront in organising these > celebrations other organisations such as Ramkrishna Math, Sharda Math > etc also played a very constructive role. > > What has been the response from outside India? > > In more than 40 countries similar activities were undertaken and > people and governments wholeheartedly participated in the > celebrations. > > What has been the biggest achievement of this year-long celebration? > How far the defined objectives were achieved? > > The Sardh Shati celebrations can be considered as a great success > because it has achieved the objective recontextualising Vivekananda in > three ways. Firstly, Vivekananda and his message was reconnected to > the contemporary issues and the present generation. In this regard, 4 > to 5 crore people were contacted through door to door contact with a > portrait and a message of Vivekananda, which is unprecedented. > Secondly, huge amount of literature was made available on Vivekananda. > Sardh Shati Samiti itself published 21 types of booklets, which were > distributed in large numbers. Thirdly and most importantly, it has > established Vivekananda as the most acceptable figure of India. > Whatsoever, there was not a single word of opposition to Vivekananda > from any quarters of the society. The message of 'Awaken India to > enlighten the world' is acceptable to all is the biggest achievement > of this celebration. > > Lot of awareness has been generated all over the world during this > celebration. Has the Committee planned any follow up action so that > the awareness generated so far could be used for any positive activity > in future? How would we carry forward the legacy of thought and > actions of Swamiji? > > These celebrations were never meant for just organising events, it was > just a starting for resurgence. Follow up activities are planned for > each section. For the holistic development of villages, the concept of > Vivek Gram will go on. Vivekananda study circles are taking shape to > inculcate Swamiji's teaching through self-learning method. Vivekananda > Study Centres and Chairs are being constituted in various universities > and colleges. In Tamil Nadu itself, 9 universities have come up with > the Vivekananda study centres. UGC is supporting this with generous > funding. In February, a follow up meeting is organised with 45-50 > universities to introduce various courses on 'Vivekananda's thinking'. > Libraries and community centres are built up with social initiatives > known as Vivek Vatika. Health counseling will be institutionalised for > the adolescent girls. Many activities will be continued for the > sustainable development. Vivekananda's basic Indian thinking is still > so relevant and Sardh Shati celebrations are successful in conveying > that relevance so with or without support, these follow up activities > will carry on and message of 'Awaken India, enlighten the world' will > be realised.
"FW: Swami Vivekananda Sardha shati samaroh vrutta 2013-14- Interview of Prof. Anirudhha Desapande, Organizser, 15-01-2014"
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