History: Social Reformers

History: Social Reformers

1.Swami Vivekananda:
One of the chief disciples of Ramkrisna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda was born as Narendranath Dutta on January 12, 1863 in Kolkata to Vishwanath Dutta and Bhuvaneswari Devi. He took the name Swami Vivekananda after becoming a monk. He was a good student, besides being proficient in music and sports. He stood up against many of the superstitions prevalent during that time and had great affection and respect for ascetics.

He entered the hallowed portals of the Presidency College in 1879. After a year, he joined the Scottish Church College in Kolkata and studied philosophy, western logic, western philosophy and the history of European nations. His studies made him question the existence of God. Though he associated himself with the Brahmo Samaj for sometime, he did not get the answers to his questions. It was then that he went to visit Ramakrishna Paramhansa. Soon, he became Ramkrishna's disciple.

Ramakrishna passed away in 1886. Swami Vivekananda and a few other disciples of Ramkrishna decided to become monks and renounced everything. In 1890, he set out on a on a long journey across the length and breadth of the country. This brought him in close contact with various kinds of people: rich as well as poor, good as well as bad. He reached Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of mainland India in December 1892 and started meditating on a lone rock. He meditated for three days; this rock has presently become popular as the Vivekananda memorial .

His greatest moment came when in 1893, he went to the United States and addressed the Conference of World Religions in Chicago. He mesmerized everyone with his speech. He also traveled to England. He returned to India in 1897 after four years and started the Sri Ramakrishna Mission in 1897. This great saint and philosopher passed away for his heavenly abode on July 4, 1902.

2.Raja Ram Mohan Roy:
Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the founder of the Brahmo Samaj and is known as the Father of the Bengal Renaissance. Born in Radhanagore, Bengal on May 22, 1772, he is most well-known for his efforts to abolish the evil practice of sati.

He founded the Brahmo Samaj in 1828 along with Dwarkanath Tagore. He initially worked as a moneylender and from 1803 to 1814 worked with the British East India Company. Ram Mohan Roy also campaigned against polygamy.

Though he campaigned vigorously against practices like Sati, idolatry and polygamy, he was not against tradition and religion. He was a scholar of the Upanishads. Besides, he campaigned for the right of widows to remarry, the right of women to hold property and the right of women to education.

It was his firm opinion that English-language education was much better than the traditional Indian education system, and he opposed the grant of government funds to support schools teaching Sanskrit. In 1822, he started a school based on the Western scheme of education.

The Brahmo Samaj was set up to fight against the social and religious evils in society prevalent during that time. In 1831 Ram Mohan Roy traveled to the United Kingdom as an ambassador of the Mughal empire. He died in the U.K of meningitis on September 27, 1833.

3.Mother Teresa:
The "Saint of the Gutters, " Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia on August 27, 1910. She was very religious from her childhood days and at the age of eighteen, she left her parental home in Skopje and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns which ran many missions in India. She first landed in India in May 1931. She taught as a teacher from 1931 to 1948, but her heart lay elsewhere. In 1948 she began her work among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. She started running an open-air school for slum children and on October 7, 1950, she started her own order, The Missionaries of Charity".

The Missionaries of Charity spread to different countries all over the world undertaking relief work in times of natural calamities like floods, earthquakes, epidemics and famines. Besides, it runs shelters for alcoholics, homeless, and AIDS victims in different countries.

Her work won her accolades from individuals and governments all across the Globe. She was awarded the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1971 and the Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding in 1972, besides the Templeton and Magsaysay awards. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.