Manager Within the Monk
by Sushil Soni

There is a child-like innocence about him. In this innocence is a clear reflection of an immensely powerful yet amazingly simple spirituality. You cannot miss it, as you cannot but notice the piercing eyes that look straight into you, penetrating deep inside of you. There is, however, a feeling of depth, of vastness in these glittering eyes that sparkle at every little new idea. And as he speaks English in a typically German accent, a soft, inviting smile appears on his face. Then, suddenly, he jumps up in happiness and joy. And you wonder if this tall man, after all, is here or somewhere far away.

Of course, his physical appearance would betray your understanding of him. Indeed, he looks like an ordinary sadhu who would mingle with one and all. Moreover, you would hardly recognize him in the crowd. That is the essence of Swami Vishveshwarananda. He is the monk within the manager. Yes, there is hardly even a reflection in his gait or in his speech of the high office he holds as President of Omkarananda Ashram, Rishikesh. He sits with a dignity that comes from decades of simple living and speaks in much more simpler terms than a common man. What he says comes from his heart, from the life of devotion to his Guru and God, from the learning experiences that he has had all these years and not just from reading the dusty books.

Heading an ashram or an institution or a company has never been an easy task even for the best of CEOs. The running of an ashram, the schools, serving the Sadhakas, pilgrims and visitors, day-to-day tasks and, above all, caring for the wonderfully dedicated workforce is definitely not the simplest task one can ever get. But Swami Vishveshwarananda does all this with an 'lan that very few would have. Though his forte has been the establishment and running of the educational institutions that he founded and cared for like a mother does for her children. This probably has been his mission, though he would rather quietly go about doing his work without anyone knowing it. Because education, for him, is the greatest need of the people. And rightly so!

Today, we are caught in a mad rush. We honestly do not know where we are rushing to. We are just jostling through a narrow tunnel. No one quite knows where one is heading. But everyone's running. There is a rush, a fervent hope that we need to reach somewhere - and that is the funniest part of modern living. "When you don't know where to go, any road will reach you there," Lord Buddha said this many thousands of years ago, ironically. And we have become living examples of this. Only if people are educated would they be able to walk on the right track. And awareness of this right track comes through education, through wisdom and through personal integrity and values.

In the last few decades, if there has been a any man in Uttarakhand who has taken the initiative of spreading education in the Hilly State, then that man has been none other than Swami Vishveshwar'ananda. Though a Sannyasi, he is truly a Karma Yogi in this regard. So far, he has founded 50 educational institutions, 29 Primary Schools, 9 Junior High Schools, 2 English Medium Schools, a Degree College in Deoprayag and the Omkarananda Institute of Management and Technology, besides various Educational Foundations, including one in Mumbai and another called, Ayurveda Research and Formulations Centre.

Indeed, he is the man of the moment. Trained as an Electronics Engineer, he served as a pilot in the country of his birth, Switzerland, before being influenced by none other than Swami Omkarananda Saraswati, who himself was a disciple of Swami Sivananda.

Swami Omkarananda himself said about Swami Vishveshwarananda in this wonderful way:

"His name signifies the Happiness of Lord Siva Vishwanath of Varanasi, of Sivananda Ashram's Vishwanatha Temple and the Omkarananda Ashram's Dipeshwara Temple. He is an Akhanda Brahmachari, one who has embodied in himself from childhood and youthhood unbroken principle of Brahmacharya."

From 1967 to 1982, he rendered distinguishing services to Omkarananda's European Ashrams. In 1982 he came to India and changed the face of the holy space that was once reserved for Sadhakas and the pilgrims.

Times have changed. In a short span, Swami Vishveshwarananda has spearheaded the growth of a region that was once remotely reserved for the Sadhakas, the pilgrims and the travelers into a largely bubbling and influential constituency of educated people. He has built Ashrams for Sadhakas, Schools for students, residential buildings for Sannyasis and teachers and professors, and above all, helped in fulfilling the simple yet necessary requirements of bringing joy and happiness in the many families that live in this Hilly State.

But for his initiative towards educating people, many promising children of Uttarakhand would have been deprived of the golden opportunity to do well in life.