History narrates that two important events unfolded on the day of September 11, 108 years apart, surprisingly the two messages are in complete contrast of each other. While the first event displayed and evoked feelings of universal brotherhood and inclusion, the other one gave the message of terror and war. The first event was the iconic address of Swami Vivekananda at the Parliament of World’s Religion in 1893, the event opened the eyes of the western world to the wisdom and knowledge of India. The speaker from India was none other than the favourite disciple of Swami Ramakrishna and his address at the Parliament of World’s Congress is now quoted and remembered by one and all. The auditorium at Permanent Memorial Art Palace on September 11, 1893 was filled to the brim with a crowd of approximately seven thousand people. Every one of the seven thousand rose up and clapped heartily when Swami Vivekananda began his speech with the words, “Sisters and brothers of America!” Silence could be restored only after a gap of two minutes, a hearty welcome to the saint from India.
It was an iconic event in the history of India and Hinduism which took place on September 11, 1893, the Vedic religion had arrived on American soil and had managed to conquer all in a single sweep. But this conquest was one which was carried without bloodshed and it united people in a way the West had never seen before. Infighting between factions of the Christians took a backseat, clashes between the Islamic and Christian world had to take a backstage all because a Hindu saint had opened his speech with a salutation which was so big that it brought everyone present to his fold. The rest of the speech which followed on consecutive days had many elements which touched upon the problems India was facing back in those days under colonial rule, poverty, lack of education and exploitation to name a few. But the eyes and ears of the audience and fellow speakers present at the event were wide open and their hearts were receptive to what the monk from India had to say. His message lives on till date, India is seen as a spiritually enlightened country and the image of India which has passed on is of a country which is welcoming to all ideas and cultures.
The other event too introduced a form of religion to the world, although a more distorted and extremist version of it. The brutal terrorist attacks on New York City which killed thousands of innocent people and left countless others injured was the second incident which took place 108 years later on September 11th, 2001. The Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda which had Osama Bin Laden as its leader was directly responsible for the attacks. The twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City crumbled after they were collided with two hijacked planes from the United States passenger airplanes, while a third plane partially crashed into the Pentagon in Virginia. It began an age of war which continues till date, the Islamic extremists had dealt the first blow and America was in no mood to take things sitting down. The war which started post the september 11 attacks has claimed lakhs of lives on both the sides, many lives have been lost and countries after countries have remained war zones 17 years after the incident.
In a world where poverty, lack of healthcare and other problems continue till date we cannot afford to have a repeat of the 2001 version of the 9/11. What we need today are more inclusive talks and actions along the lines of the speech given by Swami Vivekananda in 1893. To care for one another, to look out for one another and be there in times of each other’s distress was the message of Swami Vivekananda and we need more such messages. The Vedic religion speaks about ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, “the world is one family”, and that is exactly the message which we need to learn and preach today.