Dutiful Sisters

RSS Feeds| SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates the year was 1997. mother teresa, founder of the missionaries of charity order, was ailing. she had suffered a heart attack in 1983 and then again in 1989 and wanted to be relieved of her duties. pope john paul ii advised the nuns in a letter that the missionaries should be led by a woman of deep spirituality. for eight weeks they conferred. the selection effort culminated in a closed-door vote, where 132 senior nuns elected sister nirmala, unanimously, as their new superior-general on march 13, 1997. sister nirmala, then 63, had not been groomed as a successor to lead the order. her selection left her no choice. she was born into a nepali brahmin family of bihar before converting to catholicism and was trained as a lawyer. she supervised the order’s centres in the united states and europe, and since 1979, had devoted herself to meditation and led the contemplative wing of the order. this year, on march 4, sister nirmala stopped over to spend time with her chandigarh family. as a volunteer in the home, i saw her at close quarters. sitting in the little room that serves as a reception area in shanti dan, her eyes brimmed over with unconditional love and empathy. she was dressed in the order’s uniform of a coarse white, blue-bordered, cotton sari. her small feet bore cracks and were shod in rubber chappals. but the aura surrounding her was bright with peace and purity. when she spoke she radiated love and compassion. she said, ‘‘love demands that we give until it hurts not from our abundance but from our wants’’. her message for the people was, ‘‘god loves each one of you tenderly — trust him totally and seek his will in your love. his will is to love one another as god loves you’’. this frail woman presides over 676 convents in 129 countries which today have 4,500 nuns. sister nirmala handed out what she called mother teresa’s visiting cards and narrated a story for how they came about. a visiting businessman, calling on the nobel prize-winning missionary, had apparently handed out his business card while asking for mother’s. she wrote down a prayer and handed it over to him saying, ‘‘this is my business card’’. the card reads: ‘‘the fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace’’. a visit to shanti dan rejuvenates one in spirit and mind. the poorest of the poor, the sick, and the old have a home here. babies abandoned at birth are nurtured and cared for. the stench of neglect does not enter the convent. there are smiling faces everywhere. love pervades every nook of the home, from the cabbage patch outside to the nursery with the little babies fragrant with talc. mother mary watches over the home. on taking over, sister nirmala had said, ‘‘i am in dreamland right now. it’s a big responsibility. but looking at god, and depending on prayer, i think i will be able to continue god’s work’’. seeing her guiding the local nuns, presiding over mass and hugging each inmate of the convent in her frail, caring arms, it was clear that god’s work goes on.