AT THE Divali Nagar in central Trinidad there is a bust of Swami Vivekananda. It was a gift from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations in New Delhi, India. The bust was unveiled in October 2004 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the swami’s speech to the World Parliament of Religions in 1893 in Chicago, USA.

In Vivekananda’s classic work, Karma Yoga, he endorsed the changes that India was slowly undergoing and warned, “we should always try to help the world and that should be the highest motive...but that this world was not made that you or I should come and help it.”

To what extent were the teachings and philosophy of Swami Vivekananda really integrated and adopted in India? In post-independence India, there was suspicion between Hindus and Muslims, caste rivalries, assassinations, sectarian violence, and tribal rivalries which posed formidable challenges to peace.

Vivekananda’s call for patriotism, equality, and humility did not directly appeal to the masses.

The Indian society could not fully grasp his use of the principles of the Vedanta religion to remove colonialism and usher in that modernity and peace long desired.

The prevalence of social vices as gambling, horse racing and prostitution created serious societal problems. In advocating social changes, the swami sought to remove the darkness from India, reveal her true inner beauty, and create an atmosphere to shake off the shackles of British colonialism and imperialism.

He appeared as India’s saviour arising to the call and demand of the Kali Yuga (Age of Darkness). And his role was to improve the status of Hinduism and that of humanity. Indeed, the swami’s unique style frequently incorporated the fusing of the religious with the secular. His mission incorporated removing ignorance, replacing evil with good, assimilating the old with the new, and attempting to bind the people of the entire world.

Vivekananda held a radical, inclusive view. It was a universalism of which “every idea has to become broad till it covers the whole world, every aspiration must go on increasing till it engulfs the whole of humanity.” He genuinely believed that there was need for a “Practical Vedanta” which would eventually become part of everyone’s life.

In retrospect, Vivekananda’s philosophy cannot be seen in isolation but must also be seen in the context of the socio-religious reform movements simultaneously occurring in British India. These developments added a dimension of social service to Hinduism, which had not previously existed under British rule.

Vivekananda gave a new impetus to the Ramakrishna Mission. This institution provided education, boosted the spread of Hinduism, and provided a social service to the needy. The mentor of Vivekananda was Ramakrishna Paramahansa, who had many distinguished visitors including Keshab Chandra Sen, the head of the Brahmo Samaj. This organisation, founded in 1833, had as its goal: educating, creating self-confidence, opposing idol worship and the caste system.

Similarly, the Arya Samaj, begun in 1875, deno