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From A Chicago Roadside Curb—An Unknown, Unslept, Unfed Monk Gets A Loving Home

On the morning of 10th September 1893 an affluent locality in Chicago had a strange sight. At the roadside curb of Dearborn Avenue that day, a young monk of foreign origin sat in a disheveled ochre robe, which he seemingly had no time to change for a day or two. But it was unreadable from his look that he neither had a good sleep overnight nor any food for about a day. He came to Chicago the day before by train from Saratoga Springs, New York—and finding no other place to ‘rest his head’—passed the previous night inside a boxcar at the nearby railway station. Initially, he had the necessary papers to get a shelter and pursue the purpose which brought him to Chicago. But his utter unworldliness made him mislay those things somewhere en route, and when all efforts to find a solution failed, he sat on the curb with an inscrutable quiet. For such situations were not new to him—merely a few years ago, when roaming alone in India as an unknown monk—devoid of any personal resources—the lack of daily food and shelter had been quite common in his regular itinerary. Therefore, notwithstanding the apparent impact on the onlookers at his sitting on the roadside, his unfazed calm betrayed no sign of frustration or discomfort. His experience taught him that God would show him the way—as had happened umpteen times before.

But America during those days did neither understand nor approve of a person sitting on their roadside, regardless of whether a monk or else. Quite expectedly, the situation evoked two kinds of responses from the people who saw him in such distress—they offered either a dispassionate look or an utter disregard. But none knew at this point that within slightly over twenty-four hours, this man would make a history that shall endure centuries. Nonetheless, unmindful of everything around him, Vivekananda remained on the curb in a profound calm—with everything relegated to his God.

Almost opposite where the Swami sat stood a house, marked 541 Dearborn Avenue, of a wealthy family. We shall soon find out exactly what had brought him there on that day and then watch a respectable lady, Mrs George W. Hale, who would come out from that house. It was the window facing the road through which she had first observed the monk. Later-day history spoke of her motherly heart and an independent bearing. Perhaps her intelligence and wit allowed her to guess why a man with an unknown attire and unusual appearance was sitting before her house. But notwithstanding everything else, fate had marked her long back to become immortal for a noble act on that day. Therefore, instead of following her fellow Americans, she decided to act differently.

The Arrival

From Yokohama, the RMS Empress of India brought Swami Vivekananda to Vancouver in British Columbia at about 7 pm on 25 July 1893. He remained overnight on the ship before boarding the CPA Atlantic Express the following morning for Winnipeg. His impact on fellow American traveller Kate Sanborn later found a place in the latter’s autobiographical work[1]: ‘I had met him in the observation car of the Canadian Pacific, where even the gigantically grand scenery of mountains, canons, glaciers, and the Great Divide could not take my eyes entirely from the cosmopolitan travelers, all en route for Chicago ….But most of all was I impressed by the monk, a magnificent specimen of manhood—six feet two, as handsome as Salvini[2] at his best, with a lordly, imposing stride, as if he ruled the universe, and soft, dark eyes that could flash fire if roused or dance with merriment if the conversation amused him.’ The brilliant personality of the Swami had always impressed people wherever he went—whether in his own country or abroad. The lady continues in her autobiography: ‘I told him, as we parted, I should be most pleased to present him to some men and women of learning and general culture, if by any chance he should come to Boston.’ Kate Sanborn was fifty-four when she met Vivekananda and was not unknown in the American intellectual society. According to her obituary in the New York Times, ‘…She taught in Packer Institute in Brooklyn for two years. She was five years Professor of English Literature at Smith College.’[3] Incidentally, we know, she had some books to her credit.

Vivekananda visited Kate’s house at Breezy Meadows, Mass., in August 1893. He stayed there for a week when he met some eminent people who did two things for him. One of them ensured his appearance at the religious parliament in Chicago, and a few others allowed him to meet various people at places in Massachusetts and Saratoga Springs, New York, and deliver some speeches to local people, which permitted him to feel the real pulse of the country he would soon storm with his profound message.

(Figure 1: Early Impression about Vivekananda of an American Lady)

Leaving Breezy Meadows, Vivekananda went to Annisquam, a nearby seaside holiday resort, to become the guest of Professor John Henry Wright of Harvard University, who was vacationing there with his family. It had been Professor Wright who, while giving his legendary letter of introduction to Vivekananda for becoming a delegate at the religious parliament, made other arrangements as were necessary before his appearance at the occasion.

Somewhere en route to Chicago, Vivekananda lost the papers containing the whereabouts of the organizing authorities of the religious parliament with whom he was supposed to meet after reaching there. We read a little before what he did to pass the night with no one to take him in. On the morning of September 10, he asked the passers-by for the whereabouts of the organizing committee of the religious parliament. But before that, he needed to wash himself up and get a little food—for he had remained unfed for no one knows how long since the day before. As far as we know, he could find no way to get him tidied up or break his overnight fast.

Thus, Swami Vivekananda—the dark-skinned, unshaven young monk with a crumpled ochre robe, decided to do what he had done before in India during his wandering days and began asking for alms from the nearby houses. The impact was immediate as he got nothing but crude rebuffs― for his vocation, attire, and the way he took to ease his troubles were all queerly unknown to the Americans; resultantly, ‘Housewives turned away; servants slammed doors in his face; some verbally insulted him. He walked on. He walked for at least two and a half miles, and at length, weary and hungry, he sat down on the west side of Dearborn Street.’[4] It was the perfect climax when a man, unknown, hungry, in strange clothes—insulted, abandoned by a representative section of the affluent and aristocratic people in Chicago—sat on their roadside just before the day he would make history. Here, we are confronted with a converging point—for now, both the believers and sceptics would hardly disagree that no less than a divine intervention could explain what followed next.

2

The door to the house opposite where Vivekananda was sitting suddenly opened, and one dignified lady appeared out of it. With purposive strides, she crossed the road to where he sat. These are the moments when God displays His concern for a chosen few. Therefore, with those few easy steps across Dearborn Avenue, that remarkable lady earned immortality in the history of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Movement. Standing before the young monk, Mrs George Hale asked a question, the answer to which perhaps had already been guessed by her: ‘Sir, are you a delegate to the Parliament of Religions?’ At that exact moment, three things happened in unison; first, the way to the religious parliament did open before the swami—for it was no more than a few hours before he would walk towards that mammoth podium and deliver his undying message to humankind. Secondly, a renunciant monk found a loving family[5] in a far-off land—a home that would always be waiting for him no matter where he was in that vast country. And thirdly, in that house, he would earn unspoken love and patronage that would gradually help him groom himself for his long sojourn in the West. But besides all else, the numerous letters he would eventually exchange with this family till almost his last days shall forever be the invaluable resource of his biography.

Epilogue

(Figure 2: Professor J H Wright and his Words about Vivekananda)

During his unique ride to prophethood, Swami Vivekananda remained in close connection with the Hales, who witnessed his inner sufferings and joy while finding his real place in the world. And while providing solace and shelter during those formative years, or even at times criticizing him like a member of their family—the Hales never allowed their acts to go beyond their walls. Even long after it all happened, the world never knew what they did to the Swami. To understand their remarkable roles, we must remember that everyone who befriended the Swami in the West before or after the religious parliament, no one came to him without being first attracted by his magnetic personality or brilliant speeches. Thus, the Hales were unique in their class—for they welcomed the Swami in their home almost unknowingly who he was—and the enduring love and relationships that grew afterwards had in its background this unconditional beginning. But by no means should one take their uniqueness as a measure of comparing the depth and magnitude of Vivekananda’s relationships with other overseas admirers and followers. Because to each of them, he bestowed his best according to their personality and traits―and thus allowed them to remain singularly significant in his life.

References and Notes

[1] Kate Sanborn, Abandoning an Adopted Farm (New York, D. Appleton and Company, 1894), 7-9.

[2] Tommaso Salvini (1829-1916) Italian Actor. ‘He had a majestic figure and a mobile face with a large forehead, dark, striking eyes, and an aquiline nose.’ (Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak, The Oxford Companion to American Theatre, New York, OUP, 2004), 546.

[3] Obituary, The New York Times, July 10, 1917, URL: https://query.nytimes.com/mem/

archive-free/pdf?res=9405E4DB133BE03ABC4852DFB166838C609EDE> Accessed January6, 2025

[4] Marie Louise Burke, Swami Vivekananda in the West: New Discoveries (Calcutta, Advaita Ashrama) vol. 1 (1992), 59-60.

[5] The Hale Family had five members. Mr and Mrs George Washington Hale had two daughters, Mary Hale and Harriet Hale—their two cousins, Harriet McKindley and Isabelle McKindley also frequently stayed with them. These four sisters were very dear to Vivekananda and are known as the Hale Sisters in the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda literature. Mr and Mrs Hale had also a son, Sam Hale, whose work and engagements usually made him stay away from home.

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