I’ll start by saying that I am not an atheist. Neither am I a strict believer. So you kind of get the idea that I am still figuring out my way in this maze called religion. (Believe me, it is a maze!). My mother is as devoted as they come. So I’ve had more than my share of “Why should I pray?”, “Who I should pray to?”, “Who has done what for God” and all that. Amidst all these preaching’s there is one so called ‘monk’ who actually got my attention and still has not lost it. I say “so called” because his words, actions, deeds nowhere resemble what one expects from a typical saint. Anyways, listen to this, “You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself.” This is one of the many famous quotes of the man in question, “Swami Vivekananda” Nowhere does this quote signify the usual preaching’s we associate these men with. Vivekananda never shied away from challenging the norms. In his childhood home, there were different hookah pipes which were meant for different castes. Swamiji smoked hookah from all the pipes. As the taste was same, he concluded that the caste system was baseless. Basically, a tight slap on the face of all the orthodox people then.

As far as I know, he was the first representative of India in the west. His introductory line at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago was, “Brothers and sisters of America”. The line was followed by a two minute applause after which he resumed his speech which was thrice allowed to exceed time. He was a saint himself but his lectures were never focused on God. Hard work, dedication, concentration always found precedence. His firm belief was that the best way to prevent children from getting spoilt is to leave them at a ground with a football. To cut a long story short- he hardly sounds like a religious preacher, but if what he preaches is religion then I am definitely willing to be called religious.