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'Miss Sorabji a Christian lady from Poona and Mr. Gandhi, the representative of Jainism are staying for a long time in this country and are moving from town to town delivering speeches. I hope they will be successful'.
Both Swami Vivekananda and Virchandbhai were very compassionate. We know the way they exerted themselves during the drought of 1896-97. Swamiji moved from place to place, nursed the sick and helped the stricken. To him service of the people was service of God. He was so convinced about this truth that he was ready to sell the biuldings of his ashram to help the rehabilation programme.
Virchanbhai was in America at that time. When he received the news of the drought, he organised a committee for drought relief fund under the chairmanship of C.C.Bonney, the president of the Parliament of Religions. Appealing to the people of Chicago, he arranged a shipment of food-grains to India as an immediate relief step. When he asked them for more help, the people of Chicago helped generously and about Rs. 40000 were collected and sent to various parts of India as a relief measure. Virchandbhai has referred to this in his letter 19-7-1897. He says : 'After a lot of trouble, we have sent a shipload of corn from San-Fransisco to Calcutta. That will be distributed among the poor. We sent about Rs. 40000 to different parts of India. We shal send in a few days Rs. 2000(appr.) to the Jain Sangh of Bombay'.
Shri Mohanlal Dalichand Desai writes, as he compares these two great men : 'Both were jewels of India, popular orators who attracted the American audience and who impressed others with their idealogies.
At the time of Swami Vivekanda's demise, 'Banner of Light', a well known periodical in America, drew a comparison between the two and wrote :
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