Swami Vivekananda - Youth is the Future of India!
Born to an aristocratic Bengali family of Calcutta, Swami Vivekananda is considered as the Youth Icon of India. Known as Narendranath Datta in his pre-monastic life, he was the son of Vishwanath Datta, a successful attorney with interests in a wide range of subjects, and his mother, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, was gifted with deep devotion, strong character and other qualities. A talented boy, Narendra excelled in the fields of gymnastics and music, besides his regular studies. He acquired a vast knowledge of different subjects, especially Western philosophy and history by the time he graduated from Calcutta University. He was an important person to introduce the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major religion of the world during the late 19th century. He was a major power for revival of Hinduism in India, and contributed to the concept of nationalism in the country. He was influenced by his guru, Ramakrishna, from whom he learnt that all living beings were an embodiment of the divine self; therefore, service to God could be rendered by service to mankind and later he established the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission.
