Kolkata: At a time when the entire country is reeling under panic and rumour about the spread of Coronavirus (COVID 19) instead of taking proper precautionary measures to check spread of the disease, it was Sister Nivedita who wrote a pamphlet requesting people not to panic and maintain cool when plague broke out in Kolkata in 1898, over 122 years ago.
Interestingly, the casual approach and callousness about the dreadful disease which has been found now in some people who recently returned to the city from foreign countries, was also present among the educated class 122 years ago. They did not follow the instructions and left the city with a hope that this would keep them away from the disease.
The plague epidemic broke out in Kolkata in May 1898 and thousands of residents fled the city in panic. Following the instructions of Swami Vivekananda, Nivedita wrote the pamphlet which was distributed free of cost. Noted dramatist and actor Girish Chandra Ghose had translated it in Bengali and the Hindi translation was done by Swami Atmanandaji, one of Swamiji's disciples. Swamiji's brother monks used to distribute the trilingual pamphlets.
Nivedita had written: "We are happy when you are happy and we suffer when you suffer. Therefore, during the days of extreme adversity, we are striving and ceaselessly praying for your welfare and an easy way to save you from disease and the fear of an epidemic."
This was the first major relief work taken up by Ramakrishna Mission. Swamiji set up a team comprising Nivedita, Swamis Shivananda, Nityananda and Sadananda to oversee the relief work.