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Sister Nirmala: An able bearer of Mother Teresa's legacy (Obituary)
By
Sirshendu PanthKolkata, June 23
Simple and unassuming, but
gifted with tremendous inner strength born out of her deep spirituality,
Sister Nirmala deftly carried on Mother Teresa's legacy by extending
the footprint of the Missionaries of Charity in new geographies while
ensuring strict adherence to the Catholic congregation's core motto of
serving the poorest of the poor.
Sister Nirmala, who succeeded
the Nobel Peace Prize winner as the second superior general of the
Catholic religious order on March 13, 1997, months before the Albanian
nun's demise, passed away here early on Tuesday. She was 81.
During
her 12-year stewardship of the Kolkata-headquartered Missionaries of
Charity founded by the Mother in 1950, Sister Nirmala visited a large
number of countries, opening new Houses and drawing more people to the
religious order, which now has under its fold over 4.500 religious
sisters and activities spread across 133 countries.
Born Nirmala
Joshi at Ranchi in 1934 to a hindu Brahmin family that hailed from
Nepal, Sister Nirmala was educated in a Catholic missionary school.
At
the age of 17, while waiting at a bus stop, Sister Nirmala first felt
"Jesus was alive in my heart". Her inner turbulence continued for seven
years, but the gory scenes of the Hindu-Muslim riots at the time of
partition in 1947 proved the game changer in her life.
She came
to Kolkata (then Calcutta), and met Mother Teresa, who had started her
religious order takin care of the poor and the dying.
"It was
inspiration at first sight," Sister Nirmala, who held a post-graduate
degree in political science and was a trained lawyer, later recalled in
an interview.
The 24-year-old converted, becoming one of Mother Teresa's earliest disciples, and immersed herself in the MoC's services.
She
was sent to supervise MoC's centres in Europe and the United States,
besides Panama, but came back in 1976 to start the MoC's contemplative
branch - that spent more time with the Eucharist as against the Active
branch, which catered to the poor and the needy.
But with her
advancing years, the mother turned frail and unwell, and Sister Nirmala
was elected the MoC head on March 13, 1997. The Mother breathed her last
on September 5 the same year.
It is believed the sisters who
formed the electoral college opted for Sister Nirmala over nuns more
experienced in administration for her holiness and deep spirituality.
"She
carried on the Mother's legacy very well indeed. New houses were opened
in many countries. She was diminutive, simple and unassuming, but very
strong inwardly. When she spoke, she spoke with conviction. There was
real power in her words," said the Archbishop of Kolkata, Thomas
D'Souza.
Nirmala's strong mental make-up came out beautifully during an interview she gave to Catholic World News over a decade back.
Asked
about the problems the MoC was facing, Sister Nirmala laughed it away.
"We cannot look at problems as 'problems'. Problems are gifts of God. If
you look at them as problems, they will be problems, but if you look at
them as gifts of God, they are challenges, and we always welcome
challenges. So they are challenges, not problems."
She also said there was nothing called "obstacles". "No, nothing is an obstacle. How you take it is what matters."
Sister Nirmala was elected as MoC superior general for a second term in 2003.
She
was re-elected for a third term on March 13, 2009, but wanted to be
relieved of the responsibility owing to ill-health and also expressed a
desire to return to the contemplative life she led before heading the
order.
Days later, the MoC held a second election, and chose the German born sister Mary Prema as Sister Nirmala's successor.
Sister
Nirmala returned to the contemplative branch, spending her last days in
meditation at the MoC's Ahome near the bustling Sealdah station in
central Kolkata.
"She earned everybody's respect. Her advice everybody heeded," said D'Souza.
In
recognition to her services to the nation, sister Nirmala was bestowed
the nation's second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan, in
2009.
But what endeared Sister Nirmala to all was her uncluttered
view of people and the world and ability to find joy in the smallest of
things.
During Christmas and Easter, Sister Nirmala used to
prepared small, handwritten messages and asked people to pick up one of
them.
D'Souza recalled the messages used to be very poignant,
very simple. "For example, she would write 'You must be more kind'. And
she would always ask people to read them out to her. And she was
delighted to hear what one got."
(Sirshendu Panth can be contacted at [email protected])