Inaugural Function of 53rd All India English Teachers' Conference
Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar, 18th December 2008

For the first time the All India English Teachers' Conference was scheduled to take place in the Uttarakhand State, in the prestigious Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar, in the proximity of the holy Ganga.

Prof. Ved-Prakash Shastri, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University, who has highest regards for Omkarananda Ashram, came personally to invite Swami Vishveshwaranandaji, the President of this Ashram, for this Conference.

From all parts of India, hundreds of English-Professors and also some Indian Professors, residing abroad, like Canada, had gathered in the University-Campus to take part in this event and share their views.

The grand inaugural Function of this Conference took place in the big Auditorium of the University, which was packed full with English-Professors from all over the country. The Chief-Guest of this Function was Prof. Dayanand Dongaonkar, Secretary General, Association of Indian Universities. As Guests of Honour were specially invited Shri Swami Vishweshwarananda, President of Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas and Shri S.K. Das, Chairman, Uttarakhand Public Service Commission. The Keynote Speaker was Prof. Manjit Inder Singh from Punjabi University, Patiala.

All these dignitaries were gracing the Dais, along with the Vice-Chancellor of the Gurukul Kangri University, Prof. Swatantra Kumar, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of this Unversity, Prof. Vedprakash Shastri, Kumari Somashekhari, General Secretary of Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas and others.

After lighting the Deepas by the Chief-guest and Guests of Honour, Saraswati Vandana was sung by students of the University. Then the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Acharya Vedprakash Shastri started the Conference with a beautiful, fiery and poetic speech in fluent Sanskrit. His speech sounded like music, infusing joy and life into the hearts of all listeners.

The main-topic of this conference was the difficult subject 'Indian Sensibility in Indian English Literature'. All participants in this Conference had been requested to present papers on this topic and the Main-Speakers on the Dais, too, were expected to share their thoughts on this theme.

First the key-note speaker, Prof. Manjit Inder Singh, spoke to the audience. Then Shri Swami Vishweshwar'anandaji was requested to address all the professors and talk about the topic of 'Indian Sensibility in Indian English Literature'. Similar to Prof. Vedprakash Shastriji, who delighted the audience with his beautiful Sanskrit Speech, Shri Swami Vishweshwaranandaji captured the hearts of all listeners with his interesting and meaningful speech, which he delivered in a very charming, natural and lively way. The most striking and admirable fact concerning Swamiji's speech was, that he did not deviate from the given topic at all. He made that difficult subject interesting and inspiring for the audience, which was indeed not an easy task. From the rapt attention, with which the audience listened to Swamiji's words and the spontaneous and loud applause Swamiji got, it was clear, that his speech was extremely successful and very well received.

Other speakers followed, like the Secretary General, Association of Indian Universities, Prof. Dayanand Dongaonkar, who shared memories of his times as a student of English-Literature with the audience.

In the end the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Swatantra Kumar, gave Vote of Thanks. He specially expressed his gratitude to Swami Vishveshwarananda, for having attended the function. He said, that by Swamiji's presence the whole event has got a spiritual touch, which is a great blessing for all. Then everybody was invited to lunch in the University-Campus.

After lunch Prof. Swatantra Kumar spontaneously invited Swami Vishweshwaranandaji, Kumari Somashekhari and Shri R.D. Gaur, Member of Omkarananda Educational Society, to come along with him and visit the Gurukul of the University, which is one of the oldest in India. Hundreds of small Brahmacharis reside there and are trained in ancient Vedic Studies, like Sanskrit, performing Hawana, Yoga and also in contemporary fields, like Computer-Science, modern languages and Technical Education.
 
The honourable Vice-Chancellor went with Swamiji and others from ward to ward, where the Brahma'chari-boys live and study and requested Swamiji to bless all the students.

In the end a small Satsang was held outside in the big and beautiful Gurukul garden, near the Yagnashala, where a class for the higher class students was held in the warm evening-sun. The students demonstrated some of their skills, like delivering speeches in Sanskrit and English and singing some nice Bhajans. In the end Prof. Dongaonkar, Swami Vishweshwarananda and Kumari Somashekhari were requested to address the students, in order to give them some inspiration.

Prof. Swatantra Kumar, the Vice-chancellor of this University, happily and proudly informed Swamiji and others, that very prominent personalities have visited this Institution many times.

To conclude their extensive visit to this University, the honourable Vice-Chancellor invited Swami Vishweshwarananda, Kumari Soma'shekhari, Mr. Dongaonkar and a few others to have coffee in his main-office. While sitting there and talking about the activities of Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas, Prof. Swatantra Kumar spontaneously expressed the wish, to pay a visit to this Ashram, on the very same day, inspite of his hectic schedule.

He reached Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas exactly during Arati-Time for Omkarananda-Kamakshi Devi. He and some of his friends, like Prof. Dongaonkar, who had accompanied him, were shown the beautiful Omkarananda-Kamakshi-Temple and Omkarananda-Shanta-Durga Mandir, the Heart and Headquarter of Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas. Prof. Swatantra Kumar and two other Professors, who were with him, greatly admired the beauty, cleanliness and powerfully spiritual atmosphere of Omkarananda Ashram. They expressed their deep thanks to Shri Swami Vishweshwarananda and returned to the University in Haridwar with the hope to come back to Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas, again, soon.