In this world every human being is born a human but his/her
identity gets defined by his/her nationality. So, by that account, I am an
Indian first for the world. However, for our ever migrating world, ever since we
have crawled out of our caves many millennia ago, we have also tried to
re-define our life’s boundaries by immigrating to foreign lands, seeking better
chances at life – sometimes as an individual/a family person, and many a times
as explorers, in quest of fortunes for our nations in faraway lands –
Christopher Columbus and Vasco Da Gama being the foremost among them. In both
the scenarios, our life adapts to our new land and our identity gets hyphenated
with our newly adopted home. E.g., an
Indian who has moved permanently to America becomes an Indian-American. There
isn’t – and should not be – any undue pride or shame associated with this
acquired identity; it is simply a new status of that being in a new nation.
We Indians have never been explorers, may be because when
the ancient Indian civilization was at its full flourish, the rest of the
humanity was still learning the meaning of it. And then, when the latter caught
up with India, they travelled large distances and came to our land drawn
especially to our material riches. Even then Indians did not try to go anywhere
else as ‘crossing over the seven dark
seas’ was considered a sin in Hinduism – the founding religion, the guiding
philosophy, of the cradle of civilization, which shaped our thoughts and
actions. Therefore, we don’t have tales to tell about India’s explorations and
conquests around the world. Rather we have the fables of embracing the various
world religions and the people into our society, and thereby, laying the
foundation of today’s modern India - a secular and sovereign democracy.
As in India of today the sin of sea-crossing is not relevant
anymore, we see millions of Indians settled abroad, adopting and adapting to their
new nation, and simultaneously, remaining an Indian at their core all their
life – numerous as NRIs and many as PIOs (citizens of their new country). As
America has always been the dream destination of freedom and opportunities for
the humanity, Indians too have immigrated in huge numbers (3 million by current
count) and have become one of the largest and the most influential diaspora in
that land of liberty and equality as Indian-Americans.
The saga of a
successful Indian-American perhaps started with Swami Vivekananda who though
didn’t settle down there but did try to make America his home state post taking
the country by storms with his famous ‘My Brothers and Sisters of America’
speech in 1893 at Chicago Parliament of the World’s Religions; his purpose
was to introduce the concept of Hinduism and Yoga to Americans and to the world.
His unfinished mission was taken up – independently - by Swami Yogananda who was Divinely ordained to make America his base and
dedicate his life towards teaching Kriya Yoga to the West, and this is how came into being the most
famous Indian-American of all times till date!
The year was 1920.
Swami Yogananda at the age of 27 was
already a renowned saint in India for having established the Yogoda Ashram in Ranchi in 1917 under
the guidance of his Guru Sri
Yukteswar-ji. The stories of his spiritual prowess had travelled from the
shores of his hometown Calcutta to the territories of the USA, and he was invited
to represent India at the International Congress of Religious Liberals in
Boston where he was to speak on Hinduism and Spirituality. At the break of the
news to him, young Yogananda felt
exhilarated but soon became doubtful about the outcome of his journey, as he
had been asked by his Guru to stay
back in America and work towards spreading Yoga. He was aware of Swami
Vivekananda’s failed mission which had forced him to come back disappointed.
But Sri Yukteswar-ji was confident, ‘When you will speak, thousands will come to
listen to you and millions will follow you!’
Yogananda-ji
agreed and started preparations for his departure. However, in his heart he was
still not fully convinced. Thus he decided to seek Mother Divine’s reassurance. One day he locked himself into his
room and sat down to meditate. After almost a full day of meditation he finally
got the Divine Answer; the deathless
Guru Babaji appeared to him in person and reminded him about his Divine
Duty which was to take the age-old treasure of wisdom on Indian Spirituality
and Yoga to the deserving souls in the West. Sri Yukteswar-ji’s Guru Lahiri Mahasaya – disciple of Babaji - had
informed Yogananda-ji’s parents – his disciples - about the Divine purpose of
their son’s reincarnation. And, thus, Swami
Yogananda travelled to the US.
Sri Yukteswar-ji’s
prophecy came true: Swami Yogananda
was instantly embraced by the American
society and soon he became the most sought after speaker in the country and
thousands thronged to his spiritual discourses and Yoga-initiation ceremonies.
He established his spiritual base at Los Angeles as SRF-YSS (Self-Realization
Fellowship – Yogoda Satsang Society) and
dedicated his life towards teaching spirituality and Kriya Yoga. His spiritual
fame spread rapidly all across the world. In 1935 his Guru bestowed upon him the highest spiritual honour of ‘Paramahansa’
– the Supreme Swan/Soul. His ‘Autobiography
of a Yogi’ in 1946 took his divine teachings further and since then the
book has remained on the top in the genres of autobiography and spirituality. After having fulfilled his Divine Duties,
Paramahansa Yogananda entered into Mahasamadhi on the 7th of March
in 1952.
Today this Yogi has
millions of disciples all over the world and is the most famous and hugely
revered Indian-American of all times!
When we are excited about the strengthening relationship
between India and the US through the strong personal bonding between their respective
heads of state Mr Narendra Modi and Mr
Barack Obama, and the world ready to converge on the concept of International Yoga Day – Mr PM’s brainchild – one
name that can bring the entire global population ever closer and make them
instantly connected with India’s Yoga Mission, it is Paramahansa Yogananda –
the Universal Indian-American!
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P.S: May be, now Bobby Jindal will feel equally proud of
his ‘Indian’ roots as he is of his acquired ‘American’ identity … sometimes
duality gives full dimension to a personality …
