Later this month maverick minister Mamta plans to flag off the Mother Express from Kolkata. It will be coloured white and blue like Mother Teresa’s sari. This is Mamta’s birth centenary tribute to the true mother of mamta (compassion) on 26th August. Minister Mamta has decided on the colour of the train, but not on where the train will go!
The Govt of India plans to release a special coin on the occasion, bearing Mother’s image. Other countries will also be having commemorative stamps, coins and naming ceremonies; like New Delhi’s Willingdon Crescent renamed Mother Teresa Crescent.
These gestures, though of noble intent, alarm me. Shades of Munnabhai II and the Mahatma. The yokel only knew of the Mahatma as an image in Govt offices and on currency notes. His birth anniversary was a “dry” day, a matter of grave concern to Munnabhai. He went through a traumatic transformation to discover that the Mahatma was not “up there” to be adulated as an icon, but “down here” as a model to be emulated.
Society tends to idolise and pedestalise its icons. It placates one’s collective conscience. It isn’t as demanding as discipleship; actually following in the footsteps of the maha atmas. It is so much simpler to give a “donation” to that charitable cause, rather than pay one’s taxes or just wages. Let this not be the fate of the mother of mamta of Kolkata.
I was privileged to be associated with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity for several years and had some deep personal experiences. At her birth centenary I see the need to refocus on what really motivated Mother Teresa.
She was not a mere social worker, or an NGO. She was essentially a deeply spiritual person on a God given task. She was driven by the Biblical injunction of Jesus Christ, that service to “the least of the brethren” was service to God. She was equivocal in her profession that she saw the face of the suffering Jesus in the poor. She was fulfilling a divine mandate. She spent several hours in deep prayer and contemplation that gave her the spiritual stamina to undertake what she did.
When conferred the Nobel Prize for Peace, she ensured that there was no lavish dinner, so that the money thus saved could be used for charity. She did not believe in double standards. Only someone who has actually worked with the destitute knows what courage it requires to attend to somebody with malodorous and worm infected wounds, or reeking in excreta. An American millionaire reportedly said that even if somebody gave him a million dollars he wouldn’t touch such a person. Pat came mother’s reply “I also wouldn’t do it for love of money, but for the love of God, yes”.
Mother Teresa has also faced criticism (who hasn’t?) for accepting tainted money from tin pot dictators, and for opposing abortion. Liberals in the USA are actually opposing the issue of a postal stamp in her honour on this count. One needs to understand that the Catholic Church, of which Mother was a staunch adherent, objectively considers abortion to be the taking of human life, and therefore morally wrong. There may be conflicting viewpoints, but Mother’s approach was different – “If you don’t want the child, give it to me, I will care for it, but don’t kill it”. Ironically, or by natural justice, there is a long waiting list today for adoption at Mother’s orphanages.
While retaining core values, we all need to change with time. There is no substitute for work among the destitute. There is still nobody willing to touch the “untouchables”, even for free flowing NGO grants. But after recovery, the Missionaries of Charity now seriously need to look at rehabilitation, lest their homes bloat with overfed and unemployed destitutes. Leprosy is no longer considered a fearsome affliction. The orphanages are now more like conduits for adoption as the social stigma has disappeared. The disciples of Mother Teresa need to move on, to search for the “least of the brethren” in today’s changed social milieu. They have already begun hospices for the AIDS afflicted. Perhaps they should look at homes for physically and mentally challenged children who face abandonment after the death of their parents.
Time moves on. Mamta’s Express will roll on. The greatest tribute to Mother Teresa, as we approach her birth centenary, is to look around us, and identify at least one of the “least of the brethren”, and shower our mamta on them. Let’s decide now where we want the mamta mother’s express to go. Pranam Mother Teresa!
*The writer has been associated with Mother Teresa and her sisters in Kanpur for the last 43 years.
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