Kolkata remembers its beloved Mother Teresa (News Feature)

Aug 26, 2010, 15:02 GMT

Kolkata - The strong bond between Mother Teresa and the Indian city of Kolkata is palpable when city residents get emotional and teary-eyed recalling the selfless deeds of the kindly nun who once lived in their midst.

Mother Teresa is a beloved icon in Kolkata, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of her birthday on Thursday. The nun, who was born on August 26, 1910 in what is today Macedonia, is affectionately known among the locals as Ma or Mataji - which means 'mother' in Hindi.

Bengalis proudly claim the ethnic Albanian nun as one of their own.

Portraits of Mother Teresa are drawn on walls alongside Bengali greats, literary icons, revolutionaries and poets in India's eastern metropolis.

Some 13 years after her demise, she is still present in the hearts and minds of Kolkatans.

Slum-dwellers, workers and shopkeepers who interacted with the nun recall her devotion for the downtrodden and sick.

'I remember her from my childhood days. Mataji loved everyone in our area regardless of their creed or religion,' says Babu Palan Pal, one of several Hindu priests in the ancient Hindu temple area of Kalighat.

It was in Kalighat where Mother Teresa in 1952 established Nirmal Hridaym, which means 'Immaculate Heart' in Bengali, her first hospice for the sick and dying.

'Most of all, I remember her smiling face even after hours of tending to the sick. Till today, there is a lot of faith we have in her and the sisters,' the Hindu priest says.

Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950, three years after India's independence from the British and devoted her life ministering to the lepers, sick and dying.

Tales of Mother's selfless service abound on city streets while sisters at her congregation speak about the love she had for her adopted home city.

'She used to come often and distribute food and blankets to unfortunate people like us,' says Malati Das, a 50-year-old homeless woman in Kalighat. 'I can never forget the love and care we received from her,' says Das, her eyes welling up with tears.

Despite being a Christian religious order, the Missionaries of Charity have been supported by leaders of various religions groups and social strata.

The congregation has been even backed in its humanitarian work by the state's communist government, which has been in power for over three decades, a local journalist says.

'While in private, communist leaders were critical of the religious nature of her order, her reaching out to the suffering won their hearts. They would always praise her acumen in running the organization,' the journalist, who asked not to be named, says.

Mother Teresa may be still a step from sainthood for the rest of the world following her beatification by Pope John Paul II in 2003, but for Kolkatans she was and will always be a true saint, says social activist Niti Laishram.