Words are not enough to express the achievements, good deeds and reputation of Mother Teresa. Still, I have tried my best to express her through my eyes.
Mother Teresa – A Saint
The name that comes to our mind at the very mention of selfless service is none other than Mother Teresa, known in the Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta (Now Kolkata). She was born on 26th of August, 1910 as Albanian in Skopje (now the Capital City of the Republic of Macedonia), then part of the Kosovo Vilavet of the Ottoman Empire.
She came to Calcutta on a Missionary work at the age of 18. The sufferings and distress of millions of slum dwellers in around Calcutta touched her heart, and she decided to devote herself to alleviate their sufferings.
Till date, she’s been an embodiment of succour to the poor and the distressed. Her chief concerns were the invalids, the helpless destitute, the lepers and orphans.
The House of Lepers, Nirmal Hriday at Kalighat, the Nirmal Kennedy Centre at Dum Dum are only a few of the many homes she’s established for the unfortunates. Totally unconcerned about her health, she travelled around the world meeting different governments, world bodies and dignitaries for financial assistance for her projects. All these, she said, had been possible because of the will of God. Different foreign dignitaries, politicians and eminent personalities made it a point to pay this great lady a visit whenever they were in the city (of Kolkata).
In recognition of her humanitarian and selfless service, she was awarded the Nobel Prize for peace in the year of 1979. In spite of all these, she tried to avoid publicity and led a simple life.
She was awarded Padma Shri (India’s Fourth Highest Civilian Award) in 1962, the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in the year of 1969 and many other Indian Awards came into her kitty. But, the most prominent Award to be bagged by her is the Bharat Ratna (India’s Highest Civilian Award) in the year of 1980.
The selfless service, love and affection for the suffering humanity have made Mother Teresa a LEGEND in her lifetime.
She passed away on September 5, 1997. It’s been more than two decades but still, we don’t waste a single moment to mention her name and well-doings whenever and wherever possible. We worship her irrespective of any caste and religion. We are really proud of her.