Tributes paid to Vivekananda

SD Sharma
Panchkula, January 15

Eminent litterateurs remembered Swami Vivekananda and paid rich tributes to the great son of India at a seminar here today. It was organised by the Haryana Granth Akademi in association with Adharshila Sahityak Sanstha as part of the celebrations of birth anniversary of the saint scholar as National Youth Day at the auditorium of Haryana Akademi Bhavan.

Adharshila president and poet Aneeta Surbhi welcomed chief guest Swami Aseema Nand Lingam and introduced the concept of the seminar. The akademi vice-chairman and director Virender Singh Chauhan called upon the youth of India to emulate and adopt the ideals and philosophy of Swami Vivekananda.

The chief guest hailed Vivekananda as attuned to the absolute and a divine scholar who brought laurels to the rich cultural heritage of India at the Chicago World Religion Parliament. Lingam observed that since there is a vast change in the present milieu, many Vivekanandas are required to face the contemporary challenges in all spheres.

In his keynote address, Prof Sudhir Baweja maintained that “we should awaken and make the world adopt of our rich heritage and cultural treatise like Yoga, which had influenced the world at large”. Dr Taruni, Dr Gulab Panchal and Dr Rajwanti Maan also expressed their views.

The highlight of the programme was recital of ghazals by guest of honour Ustad Vijay Gurdaspuri. The audience relished his kalaams ‘Jalna jalaana dono se..’, ‘bhaichare ka diya, ‘ghar tera bhi inhi ke’ and more.