A permanent Book Stall of Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Memorial Vadodara Railway Station on platform No.1 was inaugurated on August 6, 2011 at 10.30 am by shri A K Shrivastava , Railway Divisional Manager of Vadodara Division (W.Rly.) for the benefit of thousands of passengers passing through Vadodara. Shri A k Shrivastava in his speech dwelt upon the history of book stalls which dates back to 1880 and said that Indian Railways has played an important part in the life of Swami Vivekananda, in fact the first disciple of Swami Vivekananda was Swami Sadananda who met Swamiji when he was the Station Master of Hathras Railway Station in (UP). while his name was Sharatchandra Gupta.
Earlier Swami Nikhileswarananda, Secretary Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Memorial, Vadodara welcomed the large number of Railway officers, dignitaries and devotees present on the occasion and explained the importance of opening up such Book Stalls in Railway Stations and gave case examples about the persons who got new life when they chanced to read the books of Swami Vivekananda on Railway platforms. He expressed his gratitude to the Railway authorities in general and Shri A K Shrivastava, in particular for sanctioning the Book Stall on Platform No.1 in spite of the congestion problem which is incidentally the first one in the whole of West Zone. He said that efforts are being made to open such Book Stalls in various parts of India as a part of 150 th birth anniversary celebration of Swami Vivekananda. He also read out the message sent by Shri Bharat Sinh Solanki, Minister of State, Railways. Govt. of India, who could not come to inaugurate the Book Stall due to unavoidable circumstances.
Swami Atmadipananda Asst. Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Memorial, Vadodara proposed vote of thanks.
