![]() Swami Vivekananda the monk who addressed the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago in 1893 with a simple but amazing speech that earned him a standing ovation just after the opening words: “Sisters and Brothers of America…”, continues to inspire millions across the globe, with his message about the oneness of existence, the divinity of the soul, and the harmony of religions. When I was a kid I admired his great oratory skills but it was much later that I realized the remarkable contribution he had made to the world by inspiring a band of missionaries, dedicating their lives to serving the poor and downtrodden, helping eradicate illiteracy among women, giving the rich a life purpose of finding happiness by serving others. The latter was a pursuit of happiness that material pleasures could not provide. I was extremely fortunate to be asked to help out by playing the role of Vivekananda at short notice, in a skit at the Delaware Hindu temple, when a professional actor who was originally invited to play the role, could not make it on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary event. Just after I had valiantly accepted to do the role – I realized that I had less than a week left before the event. All of a sudden I felt a sense of panic looking at the script that I had been given to memorize. When was the last time I had memorized anything? Except maybe login passwords, and I manage to forget even those. Not to mention the nervousness of playing the role of such a strong historic personality that almost everyone respects and has a strong preconceived image of. And the uncertainty of the few virtual rehearsals with the other participants. And of course the unwieldiness of the costume. Slowly it dawned on me that I had made a huge mistake by accepting the role. But as I slept over it, the idea felt less like a mistake and more like a nice and juicy challenge that I was going to enjoy cracking through. It was not so bad after all. I mean if I didn’t remember my lines, I was going to “wing it” anyway. Many years of singing and dancing in front of all kinds of audiences with boring PowerPoint slides, should at least keep me standing on my feet till the end. I told myself if people didn’t like it, it was their problem, not mine. Having convinced myself that this was actually a good situation I was in, I started reading Romain Rolland’s book on Vivekananda’s life and began rehearsing the script in the morning hours during my otherwise boring workouts. As I read about the influence Vivekananda had especially in America and Europe, an impact great enough to inspire some of them to devote their lives to the upliftment of the poor and to enhancing the lives of poor illiterate women, I realized that Vivekananda had diligently followed his own teachings – he had devoted an infinite amount of energy, enthusiasm, daring and patience, to accomplish the great deeds. It is truly amazing how he could inspire so many people towards a common cause. For example he met Ms Greenstidel in New York who was so inspired that later she became Sister Christine and joined the Mission in India. He met Ms Margaret Nobel in London who later became a sincere and staunch disciple, assumed the name of Sister Nivedita and helped run schools for poor women. There were many others such as Mr & Mrs Sevier, Mr Sturdy, Mr Goodwin, Ms Henrietta Muller - all of them followed Vivekananda back to India and devoted their lives and their resources to the Mission. With the support of my family and the encouragement of my friends - the skit was a great success. All the lines were delivered smoothly. The synchronization with the participants was perfect. The costume was a big hit. People walked up to congratulate us. As I changed back into regular clothes, I wondered to myself - All this happened more than a hundred years ago. Is Vivekananda’s message relevant today? Well, the world may have changed and will continue to change, but the teachings of Vivekananda (Vedanta) are relevant even today. His message is simple: - Be strong and steadfast in your journey, be prepared to weather any passing storm - Aim for the highest, and you shall reach the highest - Be a hero, always say ‘I have no fear’ - The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves! As we witness a great deal of violence and unrest in the world, I think back to the immediate relevance today of Vivekananda’s speech 120 years ago at the Parliament of World Religions. Here is how he had ended his great speech: “Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization, and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.”
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“Look that’s where we were standing yesterday!” I exclaimed pointing through the stone grills of the windows while crossing inside the covered Bridge of Sighs in Venice. It was a beautiful view of Venice through the peep-holes between the stone bars of the little windows. One could see dozens of tourists outside taking pictures of this famous white limestone bridge. Many were viewing it while standing on the Ponte della Paglia (another bridge) just like we had done the previous day. What a fine example of bridge architecture and what an amazing difference of perspective from inside and outside, I thought to myself. The Bridge of Sighs is a beautiful covered bridge arching high above the canal, connecting the Doge’s Palace to the Prison. It was built around the year 1600 to connect the interrogation rooms in the Palace to the new prison that had been built across the river. The most senior elected officials of Venice resided in the Palace. The Palace has preserved the various chambers and the Doge’s apartments including the great works of art on the ceilings and the walls. The old prison cells in the ground floor of the Palace were found inadequate, so a new prison was built that had more light and was better ventilated. The convicts who were sentenced would cross the bridge to the new prison. It is believed that the bridge got its name as prisoners would “sigh” as they got one last glimpse of beautiful Venice through the windows of the bridge. Venice is perhaps the most beautiful and the most romantic city
in Europe. A group of 118 islands separated by canals and linked by bridges, it is built miraculously on a marshy lagoon. With a great history of Renaissance art and world leading commerce, Venice has been sinking 4 inches every century. It is listed as a World Heritage site. The British poet Lord Byron who lived in Italy for 7 years, once wrote: "I stood in Venice on the Bridge of Sighs, a palace and prison on each hand". As per legend - if a couple kisses under this bridge on a gondola at sunset, as the bells of St Mark’s Campanile toll, they would be granted eternal love! Is the bridge named after the sigh-ing of the prisoners or the sigh-ing of the lovers?! It is hard to tell which version is the real reason for the naming of the bridge. Perhaps both versions are accurate and it really depends on your position with respect to the bridge. One could be inside the enclosed bridge sighing while looking at beautiful Venice through the stone bars, or one could be outside on the river floating under the bridge on a gondola sighing in a romantic mood. Many movies have been shot in Venice over the years. In the 1979 romantic comedy “A Little Romance” starring Laurence Olivier, based on the novel E=mc2 Mon Amour, a French boy and an American girl journey to Venice, where they hope to seek eternal love under the Bridge of Sighs. Laurence Olivier, one of the greatest English actors, was 72 at the time of the movie and he played the kind but seasoned pick pocketeer who shares the legend of the Bridge of Sighs with the unsuspecting young boy and girl. Incidentally, Laurence Olivier acted in another Venice based movie when he played Shylock in the 1973 drama “The Merchant of Venice” based on William Shakespeare’s famous play. The super hit 1964 Bollywood movie “Sangam”, starring Raj Kapoor and Vyjayanthimala, was shot in Venice. The duo are shown spending a perfect honeymoon together, playing with the pigeons on St Mark’s square in one scene, floating on the grand canal past the Doge’s palace on a gondola, in another scene. It was Raj Kapoor’s first color film, and this movie started the Bollywood trend of shooting song sequences in scenic foreign places. Raj Kapoor attracted a world-wide audience. “Desperado Square”, a 1992 movie from Israel pays tribute to Raj Kapoor’s movie “Sangam” as the characters reminisce “the show man”. Coming back to the Bridge of Sighs, it is possible that the prisoner, who sighed while crossing the bridge, saw through the windows his own prior youthful self, basking in the bright freedom outside. It is quite possible that the prisoner worried about his future, sighing at the view and envying the people outside who seemed to be enjoying the world at that moment. The people outside, perhaps not knowing that they were being watched, may have worried that the perfect fleeting moment was passing too soon, sighing as they looked up and wondered at the timelessness of the bridge. It is hard to tell who is not a prisoner. But the bridge remains the same: beautiful, distant, mysterious. “Heyyy…where’s my wallet???!!!” I exclaimed in a high decibel voice as I suddenly felt my left front pocket to be much lighter than usual. I realized that my wallet was missing. We had just entered the noisy and crowded Metro train at the Rome Termini station. It was a hot and humid Friday evening in the month of July, and the train was packed with peak hour commuting traffic. In a wild movement filled with panic I spun around slapping my hands on my pockets. But there was no wallet to be found. The wallet had cash, credit cards, keys and ID. Oh Gawd. This couldn’t be happening to me. In my delirious state of mind, I did notice two people step off the train as the automatic doors closed. Two innocent looking young people who could not board the train due to the traffic. Or so it seemed. But most probably they were two pickpockets working in tandem, who had just targeted a weird looking tourist. Should I try to stop the train? Should I inform the police? I had experienced a different kind of pick pocketing earlier that week, when I received a very rude email from the Rome hotel reservation while we were still in Florence. It said that our hotel reservation was cancelled due to some credit card issues, and that I needed to rebook the rooms at the current rates, which were 30% higher than the rate that I had originally purchased them for. And if I did not rebook the rooms, they would still keep the non-refundable deposit anyway. I had no option but to rebook the rooms at the same hotel as it was very late to find another comparable hotel. Before I could let myself analyze the situation any further – I said to myself in a funny voice: Hello! They already have our non-refundable deposit! While giving my new credit card details on the phone, I had shared a piece of my mind with the manager at the desk. Without mincing any words I told her that I thought this whole thing was nothing but daylight robbery. And that I was so upset that I was going to make sure this was known in all possible internet chat forums and travel websites. This was even worse than pick pocketing I had said. At least the pick pocketeers know they are stealing and they run away from the scene. They do not stand there brazenly to tell you on your face that you are a tourist and by the time you bring a case against them, you would leave the country, and the case would be dismissed. Well guess what – when we checked into the hotel, there was a 3 page letter of apology and we were informed that the earlier rate was going to be applied. Hah! In Greek mythology the Gods have many different roles. Hermes is
not only the Thief, but also the Merchant, the Shepherd and the Athlete to name a few of his varied roles. Since Hermes stole the cattle belonging to his elder brother Apollo, myth has it that he is the God of the thieves. However there is a lot of debate as to whether Hermes was really adept in trickery and that the stealing part was only a manifestation of his cunningness! In “Hermes the Thief” Norman Brown argues that Hermes has mental prowess as opposed to physical strength, he is a cunning trickster, and a “hero” of stealthy appropriation. Oh well – if stealthy appropriation is heroic then stealing doesn’t seem to be that bad then, or is it? Can certain special circumstances justify the act of stealing? Ah, this is so confusing. In the movie “Mission Impossible” Ethan Hunt (played by Tom Cruise) is an agent working on a mission. When things go wrong, he has to "steal" confidential material from the headquarters of the CIA. Remember the catchy music when he is in the midst of stealing, while suspended from the roof into a heavily guarded CIA fortress?! Well, that is acceptable one might say due to the circumstances. I am reminded of the speech I heard from a glorified ex-thief at a corporate event. It was given by Nick Leeson, the Rogue Trader who caused the biggest financial scandal of the 20th century. He caused the collapse of Barings Bank while trading in Singapore with an un-monitored slush fund that nobody in the bank knew or cared about. Nick was sentenced to six and half years in a Singapore jail. Nick’s story triggered a movie “Rogue Trader” written and directed by James Dearden, starring Ewan McGregor and Anna Friel. It was released one month prior to Nick's release from prison. Nick has not only survived this episode in his life, he has thrived based on this experience. People need his advice more than ever. As the recent Financial Crisis showed, and as Enron and WorldCom have shown, the business world is full of loopholes that are the target of rogue traders. And an ex-rogue trader could be the best advisor to try and help close these loopholes. Nick now lives happily in Ireland with a second wife and three children. His experience was so valuable that he was appointed CEO of a company. He stepped down after 5 years and now he is a speaker at conferences advising organizations on governance, risk-management and compliance! Moral of the story – Rogues can redeem themselves, and can make a ton of money while doing so. What the pick pocketeers can physically steal is perhaps just a rounding error compared to what white collar criminals steal through rogue trading in financial markets. Compared to these white collar crimes, pick pocketing is perhaps just the “icing on the take”! “Look...that is your wallet!” said someone next to me. The train had just stopped at a station and many people had disembarked. With less people around I now looked clearly at the floor of the train, and sure as ever, my wallet was lying there on the side. It was lying half open with one of the credit cards loosely falling out of it. I swooped down like an angry bird and recovered my prized wallet from the floor, dusting it, caressing it, comforting it. All was intact – as I looked inside the wallet to my utmost relief. Apparently the pick pocketeer had panicked and thrown the wallet on the floor before stepping off the train, especially when I had clapped my pockets wildly, and started creating a hue and cry. |
AuthorDebashish Chatterjee lives in South Jersey. He is married and has two kids. All copyrights vest with their true owners, no copyright violations or copyright infringements are intended in this blog.
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