I was very intimately connected with the Chattambi Swami. I have often heard from him about his meeting with the Swami._x000d_ It may have been before or after Swamiji's visit to Kanyakumari. At Ernakulam, one Mr. [Chandu] Lal and a Brahmin [Shri Ramaiya] used to go for a walk every morning and evening. One day, when they had been for a walk to the seaside as usual, they saw a boat coming. A sannyasi clad in ochre robes, and with staff in hand, got out of it. On seeing him they thought that he must be a great man, and a genuine sannyasi, so they must not miss meeting him. They went forward and approached the monk, who spoke with them in Hindi. One of them took the Swami to his house. They asked him, "Do you know English?" In broken Hindi the Swami replied, "I know a little." But later it was revealed that he was a master of the language. Chattambi Swami was then living at Shankar Menon's house. The Swami went to see him there. The news soon spread. Many people of Ernakulam flocked round him.

At this time Chattambi Swami was also in Ernakulam. Once he came to meet the Swami, but on finding a crowd round him, he left, after seeing him from a distance. The local people told the Swami many things about Chattambi Swami; and some of them promised to bring Chattambi Swami to him so that they could be introduced to each ether. At this the Swami said, "If he is rally a great man, as you tell me he is, why should he come to me? I shall go to see him."

Chattambi Swami was then living at Shankar Menon's house. The Swami went to see him there. Chattambi Swami was then living at Shankar Menon's house. The Swami went to see him there. They talked in Sanskrit, since Chattambi Swami did not know Hindi. Chattambi took the Swami under a tree so that they could talk together in a secluded place. On the tree was a monkey, which had been reared by the host. When they were talking, the monkey became restless and started shaking the tree. The Swami looked up at the restless monkey and said, ` Just like my mind." Chattambi Swami said, "Only a great person like you can say such a thing." Then both of them talked about "Chinmudra". The Swami asked, "Why is the Chinmudra like this?" Chattambi Swami was a scholar learned in Tamil literature; so he gave a proper reply. The Swami was very Pleased with it. Catching hold of Chattambi Swami's hands, and bending his own head down, he said in Hindi, "Very good." Some may interpret this by saying that the Swami placed Chattambi Swami's hands on his [the Swami's] head; but Chattambi Swami said, "That. [interpretation] is not right. It was a way of showing gratitude."

Whenever Chattambi Swami saw me, he used to talk of the Swami. He was charmed by the Swami's voice. He used to say, "When the Swami used to sing, it was just like the sound of a golden pot. Oh, how sweet a voice!" He used to praise the eyes of the Swami too.

Once when the Swami and Chattambi Swami were talking in Sanskrit, a Sanskrit scholar happened to be present. He pointed out a grammatical mistake in the Swami's language. The Swami immediately reacted: "I need not follow grammar; the grammar will follow me."

Research into the Swami's visit to Kerala has been done by Shri P. Seshadri. In the "Vivekananda Centenary Souvenir", published by the Vivekananda Centenary Central Committee of Trichur in 1963, he writes:_x000d_ It is said that Swamiji met the great Chattambi Swami at Ernakulam. Both were impressed with each other and Swamiji asked Shri Chattambi Swami to go over to him alone. He did so and they were talking together one whole night. It is said that one of the topics they discussed was the Chinmudra. It is also said that Swamiji wrote down the name and address of Shri Chattambi Swami in his diary and told him, "I am writing that I have met a real man in Malabar [Kerala]." Shri Chattambi Swami often used to speak of Swamiji with great admiration. In a letter he wrote, with his characteristic modesty: "I doubt whether the difference between Vivekananda Swami and me is merely that between Garuda [the King of Birds] and a mosquito!"

Why did the Swami, so eager to visit Rameswaram, deviate from his direct route and go into Kerala at all? One Shri V. M. Korath, writing in the light of the researches of P. Seshadri in the Malayalam "Vivekananda Sataka Pra¬sasti" (Vivekananda Centenary Souvenir), published in 1963 by the Ramakrishna Ashrama, Trichur, suggests a likely reason. We noted that in Bangalore the Swami was the guest of Dr. Palpu, and that this doctor had told him of the miserable condition of the lower classes in Cochin and Travancore States. Seshadri thinks that the Swami, moved by what he had been told, made a detour through these States to see for himself the condition of the people. It should be added, however, that even if the Swami had never been given this account of caste-tyranny in Cochin and Travancore States, there was sufficient reason for him to go there. It was his intention to gain first hand acquaintance with as much of India as he conveniently could in the course of this pilgrimage. Since these States had made substantial and distinctive contributions to the civilization and culture of his motherland, it is not surprising that he took this circuitous route for Rameswaram._x000d_ Some are of opinion that the Swami's inspiration was behind the silent social revolution in Kerala, organized under the leadership of Narayan Guru, the disciple of Chattambi Swami. They say that the Swami inspired the lower classes of Kerala to improve their condition through education and other means. And when we remember the Swami's rousing call to all classes of the Indian people, made in South India and elsewhere on his return from the West in 1897, this opinion would seem to have substance.