Mukherjee dedicates plaque of Swami Vivekananda in Chicago

Chicago, Jan 30 (PTI) India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Sunday dedicated a plaque of Swami Vivekananda at the prestigious Art Institute of Chicago and inaugurated a Tagore art exhibition here, to mark the 150th birth anniversaries of Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore. "Swami Vivekanda was practically India's first cultural ambassador to United States," Mukherjee said at Fullerton Hall, where Vivekananda had delivered the famous and historic address at the Parliament of the World Religions in 1893 to tremendous applause. "This plaque fulfills our commitment and executes the long-cherished desire of people of India," he said. India will give USD 500,000 to Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) to conduct 'Vivekananda Memorial Programme for Museum Excellence' that will allow professional exchange of ideas between it and various museums in India. Under the programme, AIC will work with the Indian Government to impart a broad range of knowledge on modern operations of museums like conservation, planning of exhibitions, etc., for a four-year period. Mukherjee thanked AIC president Douglas Druick for his cooperation in setting up the Chair. The minister also cut the ribbon for the opening ceremony of Tagore's paintings called "The Last Harvest". "His (Tagore's) paintings and drawings remain fresh even today," Mukherjee said. Mukherjee quoted from Vevekananda's landmark address in which the luminary referred to Bhagvad Gita to speak against bigotry and fanaticism. The Minister said the message delivered by Vivekananda was "universal" and "time-invariant" and was as much relevant today as it was over 100 years ago. He said Swami Vivekananda made a powerful impact upon the American psyche in the last decade of the 19th century as he interacted with eminent philosophers, scientists, inventors, entrepreneurs, priests and thousands of ordinary people, men and women from all walks of life. "The great interest in the spiritual traditions of the East that we see in the West today is in substantive measures directly attributable to Swami Vivekananda," he said. PTI