"Strange, but true"... is far too simple!

In this moment of joyous, yet melancholic solitude, I recollect one of the stories I had heard from an elderly soul during my childhood, and this is about the great enlightened personality, Swami Vivekananda. I cannot reproduce the exact few words but only a gist of it, for which I shall be pardoned.

It seems, when he had been to the United States of America during the late nineteenth century (on account of the Chicago conference where he would deliver one of the most touching speeches) he was to go to bed and sleep overnight (yes, he was a normal mortal!). For some reason he could not, and he opened one of the windows and started to gaze outwards. When asked about this, it seems he replied, 'I look out this window and I see the East. The Eastern world comprising of my motherland India, where many people find it hard to grab a minute of sleep because they do not even have one of the basic necessities in life: shelter. They have to fend all the evils posed by the calamitous weather, be it the sun or the wind or the rain or the cold, and yet adapt themselves to it. When such is the plight of my fellow countrymen, how can I, being so far away from India, sleep? How can I?' What a man! What a great personality! If there's not a dry eye in this world hearing this message of the revered Vivekananda, then that person is not a human being.

Alright. I won't beat around the bush. I made a mention of this story because, he was a spiritual person. Only spiritual people can view things objectively (I am being brutally subjective here, but I'm not overly spiritual anyway). Spiritualism is considered a property of India (obviously by Indian 'nationalists') but not many people have adopted it. Remarkable, yet pathetic. Religious practices are overtly and blindly followed and not much is cared about the outcome. If asked about the purpose of those practices, they look at you with disdain and might even consider you provocative, in a way that you have "offended the Gods (plural form is important) and despised the rich culture". Loads of money is lashed out to perform certain ceremonies, which, if used to help the poor and the needy will serve more purpose. Religion has lost its meaning, but the religious practices... hell yes, they still prevail. We desperately need a Swami Vivekananda.

And, for all the people who think India will become a superpower very soon... yeah, just keep dreaming. The rich have become richer and the poor have plunged into something that transcends poverty.

Dream on!
Did I hear an echo? You bet!