VSK TN
‘Spiritually enriching’ trip to Kanyakumari by IT Milan
Swayamsevaks, Chennai
Swayamsevaks, Chennai
IT Milan
karyakartha narrates his experience:
karyakartha narrates his experience:
Recently 25
swayamsevaks of various IT milans in Chennai returned from a “spiritually
enriching” trip to Kanyakumari. It all started when one of our swayamsevaks
shared the heroic story of “Lakshman ji – A Forgotten Hero” in our weekly milan
and that spurred everyone to embark on this trip to Kanyakumari. After few
rounds of moving around the trip dates to accommodate everyone we finalized to
Feb 22 – 24.
swayamsevaks of various IT milans in Chennai returned from a “spiritually
enriching” trip to Kanyakumari. It all started when one of our swayamsevaks
shared the heroic story of “Lakshman ji – A Forgotten Hero” in our weekly milan
and that spurred everyone to embark on this trip to Kanyakumari. After few
rounds of moving around the trip dates to accommodate everyone we finalized to
Feb 22 – 24.
We started on
Feb 22 evening by Kanyakumari express and reached Kanyakumari on Saturday
morning. We all walked to the Vivekananda Kendra which was a 10 minute walk
from the rail station. As soon as we entered the sprawling campus dotted with
pictures of Swami Vivekananda and his ever inspiring quotes a sense of purpose
for the trip has dawned on us. We got
ready and visited the Kanyakumari Amman temple and bathed in the ocean before
returning to the Vivekananda Kendra for lunch. After lunch as planned we all
wore our Ganavesh and left to the beach to take a ferry to the Rock Memorial.
Our fellow passengers were curious about all of us in Ganavesh and a couple of
German tourists came to us and asked us who we are and if we belonged to any
particular organization. We briefed them about RSS and its noble mission, they
were all ears and wished us the best in our endeavor.
Feb 22 evening by Kanyakumari express and reached Kanyakumari on Saturday
morning. We all walked to the Vivekananda Kendra which was a 10 minute walk
from the rail station. As soon as we entered the sprawling campus dotted with
pictures of Swami Vivekananda and his ever inspiring quotes a sense of purpose
for the trip has dawned on us. We got
ready and visited the Kanyakumari Amman temple and bathed in the ocean before
returning to the Vivekananda Kendra for lunch. After lunch as planned we all
wore our Ganavesh and left to the beach to take a ferry to the Rock Memorial.
Our fellow passengers were curious about all of us in Ganavesh and a couple of
German tourists came to us and asked us who we are and if we belonged to any
particular organization. We briefed them about RSS and its noble mission, they
were all ears and wished us the best in our endeavor.
We all got on to
the ferry and as soon as the ferry left for the Rock Memorial slogans like
“Bharat Mata ki Jai” filled the air. As we were sailing through the turbulent
ocean it made me think of the turbulence in the mind of Swami Vivekananda which
prompted him to swim in such treacherous conditions to the rock and meditate
upon Bharat Mata which fell from its pinnacle of glory and her beloved kids who
were once the thought leaders of the world, now living in abject moral and monetary
poverty. With all these thoughts we reached the rock and went around visiting
the Sri Pada Mandapam and the Vivekananda Mandapam. Then we assembled on the
rock facing mainland Bharat and sung our RSS prarthana. By that time many
people flocked around us in curiosity. Some tourists came and introduced
themselves to us saying that they want to join RSS and some said that they used
to attend shakha in their childhood. Overall it was a very positive response
which epitomizes the respect society has towards sangha and it’s swayamsevaks
no matter how much vested interests try to malign us. We sat around and sung
patriotic songs for a while and returned back to the mainland.
the ferry and as soon as the ferry left for the Rock Memorial slogans like
“Bharat Mata ki Jai” filled the air. As we were sailing through the turbulent
ocean it made me think of the turbulence in the mind of Swami Vivekananda which
prompted him to swim in such treacherous conditions to the rock and meditate
upon Bharat Mata which fell from its pinnacle of glory and her beloved kids who
were once the thought leaders of the world, now living in abject moral and monetary
poverty. With all these thoughts we reached the rock and went around visiting
the Sri Pada Mandapam and the Vivekananda Mandapam. Then we assembled on the
rock facing mainland Bharat and sung our RSS prarthana. By that time many
people flocked around us in curiosity. Some tourists came and introduced
themselves to us saying that they want to join RSS and some said that they used
to attend shakha in their childhood. Overall it was a very positive response
which epitomizes the respect society has towards sangha and it’s swayamsevaks
no matter how much vested interests try to malign us. We sat around and sung
patriotic songs for a while and returned back to the mainland.
The next day we
went around few temples nearby and then met Sri Lakshman ji who was living in the
Vivekananda Kendra. He narrated to us his role in
reclaiming the rock from the Christian Missionaries who were trying to
occupy it. It was an awe-inspiring story which brought tears in my eyes. We
could feel the numbness that paralyzed the huge mob with weapons upon seeing the
“roudra” in Lakshman ji and his friends. It is just because of such countless
sacrifices of thousands of people like Lakshman ji we are still able to
maintain our identity in this sacred land of ours even after repeated savage
attacks on us in last thousand years. Meeting Lakshman ji was the perfect
ending to our trip and we all returned home with a sense of commitment to
positively contribute to this great Motherland of ours.
went around few temples nearby and then met Sri Lakshman ji who was living in the
Vivekananda Kendra. He narrated to us his role in
reclaiming the rock from the Christian Missionaries who were trying to
occupy it. It was an awe-inspiring story which brought tears in my eyes. We
could feel the numbness that paralyzed the huge mob with weapons upon seeing the
“roudra” in Lakshman ji and his friends. It is just because of such countless
sacrifices of thousands of people like Lakshman ji we are still able to
maintain our identity in this sacred land of ours even after repeated savage
attacks on us in last thousand years. Meeting Lakshman ji was the perfect
ending to our trip and we all returned home with a sense of commitment to
positively contribute to this great Motherland of ours.
Report by
Rajasekhar Kuppa, IT Milan for VSK Tamilnadu
Rajasekhar Kuppa, IT Milan for VSK Tamilnadu
For photos: