Those were the days: The Vedanti who won over the world, and his disciple from Madras

“America is expensive, and it costs me one pound a day. Before you get this letter, I will be down to 60 or 70 pounds. Try your best to send some money. All those rosy ideas we had before I started have melted. Starvation, cold, hooting in the streets because of my dress, these are all the things I have to fight against. But no great things were ever done without great labour.”

This letter was written by a Hindu monk addressed to a follower in Madras, one who had arranged 179 pounds to enable the monk to attend an important event, a visit that would not only propel him but Indian spirituality itself to the wider West.

The devotee was MC Alasinga Perumal, headmaster of a high school, and the monk was Swami Vivekananda, who went to attend the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago, in 1893.

Such was Alasinga Perumal’s devotion to Vivekanda that immediately after he received the SOS from the monk, he raised money by selling his wife’s gold ornaments. During his rather short life of only 39 years, Vivekananda visited Madras thrice, each visit standing in stark contrast to one another.

The first time was when he was wandering all over India, spreading the message of his guru Ramakrishna. Vivekananda spent several months here, staying in Santhome as the guest of Manmathanath Bhattacharya, the Accountant-General of Madras.

Not very well known at that time, Vivekananda was introduced to the Madras public at the Triplicane Literary Society, where Alasinga was an active member. The closer he got to Vivekananda, the more Alasinga realised that the monk could make a great impact if he addresses the Parliament of World’s Religions in Chicago. 

He offered to collect the required funds and managed to do this despite the initial hurdles, including backtracking by some of the donors. At Vivekananda’s insistence, the contributors were mostly poor people.

But there were also the royalty among the ones who chipped in, including the Maharaja of Mysore and the Nizam of Hyderabad. Even after that, he still had to face difficulties as made clear by the letter he wrote to Alasinga Perumal. However, all that seems to have ended after the West heard his speech at Chicago.

Vivekananda’s memorable opening, “My dear sisters and brothers of America”, was the beginning of a new chapter in the history of post-colonial spiritualism in India. Thanks to the eminence he acquired there, what started as a trip to the Parliament extended to become a lecture tour of the Americas and Europe that lasted for four years.

On his return in 1897, Swami Vivekananda came by ship to Colombo and then took the Boat Mail from Pamban to Madras. By then, he had gained recognition as one of India’s illustrious sons, and was welcomed with fitting receptions all along the way. As he travelled from Kumbakonam in train, some of the more competitive reporters rushed to the Chenglepet railway station to board it and have an interview ahead of others.

By the time the train reached Egmore station, large crowd had found its way to the platform. The roads of the city wore a festive look, with welcome arches all the way from the railway station to Castle Kernan (Ice House, later Vivekandar Illam) on the beach.

When the procession reached the beach, city students unhitched the horses from his carriage and pulled it themselves. Behind the festivities was Alasinga, fondly called Achinga, who was hard at work to ensure that the Swami’s reception at Madras was a success.

During these nine days, Vivekananda stayed in Castle Kernan, preferring the upper chambers where the rooms were cooled by the sea breeze. Every day, he walked on the beach and wrestled with fishermen for fun. Notably, he wore his new saffron clothing, appearing as an Indian sannyasin instead of the European garb. 

He delivered many a memorable speech, including one where he exhorted young Indians to ‘Arise! Awake! Stand up and assert yourself’. The vast crowds assembled in front of Victoria Public Hall demanded an open-air meeting and Vivekananda obliged them by coming out of the hall and standing atop a Madras coach to address them — “in the Gita fashion” as he quipped.

During those days, Castle Kernan resembled a temple, filled at all times with visitors. Some even believed Vivekananda was an avatar of Sambandha, the Tamil Shaivite child saint, which led some to prostrate on the road when he passed by in his coach. The last visit, however, stood in stark contrast to this.

Vivekananda came to Madras for the third time in 1899 but was barred from entering the city. Because his ship had started from Calcutta where plague had been prevalent at that time, and quarantine rules prevented passengers from disembarking. 

So Vivekananda preached from his ship under anchor, while his disciples flocked around it in small boats trying to hear his speech over the wind. Vivekananda lowered a pot of Ganga water for his disciples, which is still preserved.

Men achieve the greatness they are destined to after travelling the path fixed for them. In his journey to become one of the most influential modern day Vedantis, Madras played a substantial role – as did the unassuming headmaster, Alasinga Perumal.