Wednesday 18 August 2010

CONVERTING A PRETTY WOMAN

This title would have enkindled great hopes in the miserable lives of henpecked husbands, more so if their wives are pretty, and more accomplished than they themselves are! Alas, this is not to be, for I am writing about the reported conversion of Julia Roberts, of “Pretty Women” fame, to Hinduism. Tough luck for all those guys aforementioned!

Julia Roberts’ co-star in “Pretty Woman” was Richard Gere, who has become a Buddhist. Another star, Michael Jackson, also reportedly converted to Islam, as did legendary boxer Cassius Clay, who became Mohammad Ali. Closer home Kamala Das, the Malayalee poet of soft porn also became a Muslim, as did Pakistani cricketer Yusuf Yohanna.

Some years ago we had the Beatles rushing to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Haridwar. Rajineeesh’s ashram in Pune has more westerners (read white persons of Christian origin) than Indians. India is a happy hunting ground for seekers from the West of spiritual solace. In Mussoorie one comes across several white Sikhs with blonde hair. Obviously the West is looking East for salvation and/ or spiritual balm.

Despite mush hyped World Youth days, a special year for priests, and worldwide live TV coverage of Papal elections, the Catholic Church in the west makes headlines for all the wrong reasons – like clerical paedophilia, opposition to “unnatural methods” of family planning, and an inflexible approach to abortion, regardless of the circumstances. Colossal Catholic cathedrals in Europe have become museum pieces, visited by bus trotting camera savvy tourists. South America, which was once almost entirely Catholic, has lost millions of followers to evangelical sects that have more personalised worship and community bonding.

Here in India, traditionally large families of Kerala and Mangalore, that contributed thousands of clergy and religious to the Indian and universal Church, now find that small families are no longer willing to contribute their mites (sorry for the pun). Fishing for vocations has now shifted focus to the tribal belts where there are still large families, and limited opportunities for economic development. The Church in India continues to pursue the path of least resistance – the easy way out.

The same would go for the universal church. It seems unable to read the writing on the wall. Good Pope John XXIII did. He convened the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) and prayed for a new Pentecost. He opened the windows of the church to the world, to science, to other religions; and flushed out the stale air and cobwebs that had accumulated over two millennia. He jettisoned excess baggage. His successor Pope Paul VI was an intellectual giant who actually weathered the storm of reform that came in the wake of Vatican II. Pope John Paul II, the first non–Italian pope in several centuries, was again a breath of fresh air. He was a man of the people, with a powerful social doctrine, including what was called the “pink” Catechism, promulgated during the early part of his papacy.

Unfortunately, with failing health and fading charm, he seemed to go back on the bold reforms of Vatican II, in the latter half of his papacy. Then came Pope Benedict XVI, with his Eurocentric world view and a conservative mind set. He blundered with his statements on Islam, abortion and his alleged soft stance on clerical paedophilia. With such a mindset and leadership one can expect a lot more pretty women like Julia Roberts looking elsewhere for spiritual solace, and an answer to the mysteries of life and death.

Vatican II took place from 1962-1965. The new Code of Canon Law was promulgated in 1983. The Catechism of the Catholic Church was issued in 1992. Has the Holy Spirit stopped functioning since? Has the universal or local Church arrived at its destination, or is it still a “pilgrim church”, as clearly annunciated in the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church (LG No. 8). It is on earth “the initial budding forth” of God’s kingdom (LG No. 5). It is not yet in full bloom. If that is the Church’s own stated dogmatic position, it needs constant renewal and updating – aggiornamento, as Pope John XXIII called it.

In the modern world, IT enabled as it is, situations and circumstances change in seconds, let alone days or years. The church cannot sit back smugly like a cat that has drunk the milk, and give us old wine in new bottles. It has to think afresh, and constantly discern God’s will. It is now 45 years since the conclusion of Vatican II. That is a very very long time by today’s standards. We need another Pentecost, a fresh out pouring of the Holy Spirit. Patchwork papal encyclicals are not enough. Not even a synod (which is Greek for “walling together“).

We need another universal ecumenical council. Call it Vatican III if you like. I appeal to national organisations like the CBCI, CRI and AICU to pressurise Rome for the convening of the next Council. The laity, women, clergy and religious should be actively and constructively involved in the preparation of the working papers (Lineanmenta) for Vatican III. If not, we will see the conversion of many more pretty women and men, and disillusioned or dissatisfied youth. Come Holy Spirit and enkindle in us the fires of your love. Maranatha. Come Lord Jesus.

I BELIEVE IN………

“I believe in God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth”. This is a traditional Christian Credo. The Marxist differs, and says, “I believe in Man, the maker of heaven on earth”. How does a Christian respond to the Marxist challenge? My personal credo is a combination of both. I therefore profess “I believe in Man the maker of heaven on earth, by God’s grace “!

So let me share my credo, with you. For millennia, the Catholic Church preached about the here after; heaven, hell, final judgement etc. It often lost focus on the imminent, the here and now. Christians were exhorted to accept poverty, injustice and pain, as part of the redemptive suffering of Jesus, for which they would be suitably rewarded in the next life. Unfortunately, many Christians did not have the “stamina” required to hold out for so long, for something intangible, but blindly accepted in faith. So they “fell by the wayside”.

It is this “fallen state” that bred the French Revolution and Marxism, in the Christian bastion of Europe. Hand Christianity laid equal emphasis on the existential as to the escalogical, we would never have heard the Bastille cry for “Fraternity, Equality and Liberty”, nor the Marxist accusation that “Religion is the opium of the masses”. Pardon a pun, but did the triumphalistic, opulent, holy Catholic Church, actually make attendance at Sunday Mass the opiate for all that afflicted the masses?

I am an existential Christian. For me Christianity or my personal faith, cannot be lived or expressed in a vacuum. Thankfully my faith evolved in the Post Vatican II era. Had I been writing such things before that, I would either have been ex-communicated, or would have left the Church in disgust.

Vatican II wrought a revolutionary change in the mindset of the church. We may be familiar with Vatican II ecclesiology and the landmark document “Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World”. In the light of what I have just stated, it is befitting to recall the opening lines of that historic document. “The joys and the hopes, the grief and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in anyway afflicted; these too are the joys and hopes, the grief and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in these hearts …. This community realises that it is truly and intimately linked with mankind and its history“(GS 1).

My Christian faith (credo) is based on my experience of Jesus (Christology), which in turn impacts my understanding of, and involvement in, the Church (Ecclesiology). I was brought up as a good Catholic, who did not know Jesus! I encountered him in a youth animators programme conducted in 1975 by Holy Cross priest John Desrochers. Like the rich young man in the gospel, I had kept all the commandments (cf Mat 19:20), but Jesus did not think it enough. He was exhorted to leave everything and follow Jesus, but he could not do that, and Jesus was sad (Mat 19: 21–22).

I felt like that young man. I began to pray and study the Bible. I felt the call of John the Baptist “Prepare a way for the Lord” (Mat 3:3). After 6 months of search and study Bp Patrick D’souza of Varanasi directed me to Jyotiniketan Ashram, Barielly, run by a holy priest Augustine Deenabandhu OFM Cap. Here again I was enamoured of the scriptures and the life of St. Francis of Assisi. His early life and aspirations were so similar to my own. Even our ages matched – 25! I could no longer defer a decision. As a dedicated layman I took the name of chhotebhai (friar minor in Hindi). I literally followed the Franciscan and Gospel way, travelling without money, just a set of clothes, a Bible and a crucifix in a cloth bag. I also worked among youth.

Then I bumped into the Jesuits. I made two 30 day Ignatian retreats – one at Fr Dan Rice’s ashram in Bihar, and the other under Fr. Josef Neuner SJ, at Denobili College, Pune. From the Jesuits I learned the gift of discernment, to comprehend what God is asking of me. I realised that I needed to follow the teachings of Vatican II, being inserted in the world, not isolated from it. I got married and now live a “secular” life, but with strong convictions and commitment to both church and society.

To commemorate 2000 years of Jesus, I encapsulated my thoughts in my book “Beyond 2000 – The Other Side”. It was my way of sharing what Jesus meant to the modern world. I was happy and satisfied with this monumental faith sharing of 300 pages. Then I got goose pimples. As I was writing the concluding chapter I had a rather deflating experience – for all my cleverness, I really didn’t know who Jesus was!

However, during this exercise, I began to identify myself more and more with St. Peter – his request to Jesus to leave him, his desire to bask in reflected glory at the Transfiguration, his triple denial of his master, and ultimately his inability to categorically state that he loved Jesus. Peter was weak in faith. Yet Jesus said that on this rock (pathar/ petrus) would he build his Church. St. Paul fathomed this mystery when he confessed, “When I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor 12:10). My journey of faith in Jesus has led me through the experiences of great saints like John the Baptist, Francis of Assisi, Ignatius of Loyola, Peter and Paul. Let me be but a small fraction of what they were, so that I may strive to make heaven on earth, by the grace of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Brother.

* The writer is the author of 3 books, and hundreds of articles on Christian faith and praxis.

Saturday 7 August 2010

THE NORONHAS OF KANPUR

Many friends and relatives keep asking me about the history and origin of the Noronhas of Kanpur. I had initially recorded this piece in 1996, and have now updated it.

THE PIONEER: This saga begins circa 1854, from the prosperous village of Aldona, Goa. It was famous for its chillies and business acumen. A 26-year-old intrepid entrepreneur set out on a journey to nowhere. He had learnt photography from the Portuguese in Goa, and set out with a caravan of 300 bullock carts to take photographs of the high and mighty, mostly in the princely states of Rajputana (Rajasthan today). They alone could afford the princely charges of Rs 200/- per photograph then. In those days there was neither camera nor film. The camera was one’s own fabrication, and gold or silver nitrate solutions were used for making the pictures on glass. Celluloid had not yet been invented. A far cry from the effortless ease of digital photography today.

There were times when this intrepid adventurer was beaten up and his equipment smashed. He was accused of extracting the “souls” of his subjects. This is because the negative images looked like ghosts, which was not always pleasing to the rajas and Nawabs! In the course of his meanderings he turned up in Cawnpore (now Kanpur) circa 1856. It was then a boomtown, with a vast agricultural hinterland, prosperous mills, and the Ganges River still navigable for small sea going vessels. This young man was Manuel Xavier de Noronha (30/10/1828 to 18/9/1888), better known as MX.

Two important events influenced his staying on in Kanpur. One was the First War of Independence in 1857, and the other was the coming of the railways from Calcutta in 1858.

During the 1857 conflict there were hardly any ethnic Christians. They were probably caught in the crossfire. MX was given shelter in the Fort (now the Ordnance Equipment Factory). During the ensuing battle a British officer was lying wounded on the battlefield, crying for succour. MX, being a non-combatant, walked out of the fort unarmed, slung the Officer over his broad shoulders and headed back for the Fort. He almost got to safety when a canon ball knocked off the head of the man he was carrying. He then dropped the body and ran back inside. The deceased was later identified as one Col Wilson of the 64th Foot Regiment, and the firing was from the Gwalior Contingent. A souvenir published in 1943 by the Aldona Association of Bombay states that MX saved 80 lives during the 1857 war, for which his name was inscribed on the village’s Roll of Honour. It is not clear whose lives he saved, or how credible the claim is.

MX stayed on in Kanpur, establishing his business in 1858 under the name and style of M/s M.X. de Noronha & Son. From photography he branched out into auctioneering (which continued right up to 1987) and printing. The press was known as Aldona Press. MX also finds mention in one of Rudyard Kipling’s books; as a Goan businessman in whose house an elephant ran amok.

THE PHILANTHROPIC RAIS OF KANPUR: This is how MX’s only son, William Constantine de Noronha (Sr) came to be known in later life. WC (31/8/1862 to 24/11/1932) expanded and diversified his father’s business. He established a tannery, hide and skin business, dal and rice milling, electricity generation for the Cantonments, ran the Post & Telegraph services (Noronha’s Exchange Post Office still functions), manufactured coaches, carriages and furniture, had brick kilns, and dealt in arms and ammunitions. His forte was real estate. He reportedly owned 99 bungalows in the Cantonments, so much so that old timers would say that the Noronhas owned half of Kanpur.

While on the one hand he prospered in business, on the other he was exceedingly generous. Some obituary references will suffice. “He was well known for his charities. Gold medals endowed by him are awarded annually in almost all local institutions. The gift of an X-Ray block to the local Prince of Wales Hospital, a donation of Rs 20,000/- for the U.P. Chamber of Commerce buildings, Rs 25,000/- for the YMCA’s Birdwood Hall in Simla, fans and lights in the Dufferin Hospital, Rs 2000/- for the Indian Medical Association Hall are some of his well known charities” . The Vivekananda Institute passed this resolution. “This meeting places on record its sense of profound sorrow at the sad death of its venerable President, Mr W.C. de Noronha, in whom Cawnpore has lost not only a premier citizen, but one of those rare men who inspite of their high position, continue to be friends of the poor and helpless” . “His charities were given indiscriminately to all deserving institutions of all classes and creeds; many Christian, Mohammedan and Hindu institutions are the recipients of his liberal doles, and the Catholic Mission of whose church he was a faithful servant owes much to his boundless benevolence” .

An interesting endowment made by him on 1/9/1930 was the Birdwood Sword of Honour. It was to be awarded annually in perpetuity to the best cadet of the Indian Army at the Kitchener College, Nowgong. It was named after his friend Field Marshall Sir William Birdwood, the then Chief of Army Staff. It is believed that during Partition this sword went to Pakistan.

Another interesting bit of information about WC was found in a souvenir published by the Arya Samaj in 2008. It states that he got made a cremation place at Bhairon Ghat in memory of his major domo, Ranjit Singh’s, daughter, and also built a two storey building in Ranjit Singh’s wife’s memory at the Arya Samaj Mandir on Thandi Sarak. So obviously WC was a very secular and broad-minded person, way ahead of his time.

Besides business and philanthropy, WC was a great leader, espousing various causes. In 1927 he was elected President of the United Provinces Chamber of Commerce, and represented it before the controversial Simon Commission in 1928. His stellar role was as the Life President of the All India Cantonment Residents’ Association, through which he championed the rights of Indian residents in the Cantonments, which were the hegemony of the British. A glimpse of his thoughts can be found in his Presidential address at the 6th conference of the Association, held at Ambala on 13/3/1926. Referring to the new Cantonments Act of 1924 he says, “ The reform it professes to introduce in the Cantonment Administration is more illusory than real. The act itself was not conceived in a liberal spirit. It represented a merely grudging attempt to apply to the Cantonment Administration in form, rather than in spirit, some of the rudimentary principles of local self-government. It was defective from the very beginning, and where it smacks of liberalism, the executive instructions subsequently issued in the form of circulars from the Army Department, have made it as illiberal as ever”.

Ninety years later his message seems as strident and topical as it was then. Not just the Cantonments, but also the entire system of governance smacks of pseudo-liberalism and executive preponderance. Incidentally, this writer is himself hotly pursuing the implementation of the 74th Amendment to the Indian Constitution in U.P., through which power devolves on the local self-government, through peoples’ participation and decision-making! It must be somewhere in the genes.

Because of his unique contribution to the welfare of the Cantonments, Canning Road (named after Viceroy Lord Canning) was renamed as Noronha Road, post independence. This is the arterial road that connects Phoolbagh to Circuit House. Mistaking the name for that of a foreigner, some army officials recently changed the name to Nehru Road. On my representation, the name of Noronha was restored.

Another point of interest is that WC owned the city’s first automobile . I remember an old Ford Model T that Ford Motors from America wanted to buy back from us, but my father refused. There was also an old Daimler Benz, with wooden wheels, steam engine and chain driven. Unfortunately our forefathers did not quite appreciate the value of these unique vintage cars. The Raja of Tirwa, a neighbouring principality, offered to renovate these gems and 4 others. That was about 40 years ago. We haven’t seen them since!

THE ANCESTRAL HOUSE: An aesthetic legacy of WC was the family house that he built. It was initially called “The Exchange”, perhaps because of the auction business, which may have had both cash and barter transactions. He rebuilt it 1904, renaming it “Manuel House”, after his father MX. It was perhaps the first double storeyed building on The Mall. Its architecture was unique, with intricate arches and chiselled brickwork. Ranjit Singh designed it, and the artisans reportedly came from Calcutta. Since WC had his own brick kilns, special bricks with the family name, were made for this construction. During the Quetta earthquake, sometime in the 1920’s, the building cracked through and through. But it withstood the test of time until it was demolished in 2002, to make way for the Mega Mall.

THE THREE BROTHERS: WC had four sons and three daughters, one of whom he disowned for marrying a non-Brahmin. Regretfully, he still prided himself on his Saraswat Brahmin lineage. His eldest son was a doctor, also called MX. But Kanpurites especially remembered the three brothers – Peter, Willie and Stanley, famed for their unity. That unity, unfortunately, often exacted a heavy price from the wives and children, who felt somewhat left out in the cold!

The threesome started their own auction business of M/s P. Stanwill & Co, popularly known as Stanwills. The household goods auctions held on Sunday mornings were a major source of entertainment and interest. Auctioneering always has hoary anecdotes, and Stanwills had its fair share. Hilarious situations arose because those were the days when Indian manufacturing was measly, and anything “Made in England” was considered precious. There is the story of one Dr Tamba, a regular auction buff. Stanley, with his legendary gift of the gab, sold him a car’s petrol tank cover. The story goes that for several years thereafter, the good Dr Tamba kept coming back to the auctions looking for a car to match the cover!

An eyewitness has another naughty story. An Englishman, who was going home, was selling everything. That included the pisspot. It was a beautiful porcelain one with handles and floral motifs. Stanley passed it off as a serving bowl to a Marwari lady desperate for the “Made in England” tag. The eyewitness recalls that raita was served in the bowl at a dinner party that she was subsequently invited too. For obvious reasons, she didn’t eat, saying that she was fasting that day. A real fast one that!

Stanley (1903 to 1970) was the youngest, and also the most dashing; by far the best orator in Kanpur. If glamour and flair was required for any social event, Stan had to be there; be it a Vintage Car Rally, a Golf Tourney or a Cricket Test. As Secretary of the U.P. Olympic Association it was always his privilege to introduce the cricket teams to the Governor of U.P. at any Test Match at the Greenpark Stadium. Stanley is best remembered for his contribution to Rotary. As Rotary Governor for two consecutive terms (1952-54) he galvanised Rotarians from Peshawar to Patna, his Rotary District.

Willie (1898-1975) inherited WC’s flair for business. He was remembered as the gentleman with the hearing aid, and a crack shikari. Very often district and police officials would contact him to hunt down marauding or man-eating tigers and leopards. His house was adorned with trophies including two beautifully mounted tigers, crocodile snouts, elephant’s feet etc. Be it big game hunting or duck shooting, his wife Mae was always by his side. Since he was hearing impaired she would nudge him to indicate what was coming. Bang.

Willie had a flamboyant lifestyle. He was one of those rare entities to possess a Diner’s Club Card. At his wedding aircraft from the Cawnpore Flying Club showered confetti on the newly weds and the guests at the Queen’s Park, now Phoolbagh .

The British adventurer Eric Newby was sailing down the Ganga from Haridwar to Calcutta in the 1960’s. His experiences are recorded in his book “Slowly Down the Ganges”, which was subsequently made into a documentary film by the BBC TV in the 1980’s. Newby writes about the legendary hospitality and Christmas dinner at Willie’s home.

Peter (1897 – 1970), the eldest of the threesome, was different. He was the wise, quiet and religious one. He was a Civil Engineer by profession, having graduated from Roorkee University (then Thomason College) in 1919. He was instrumental in building the first bridge across the Ganga at Haridwar’s Har-ki-Pauri Ghat, where the river enters the plains. During the First World War he was called up to serve in the King George’s Own Royal Sappers & Miners (now called the Bombay Sappers).

He later joined his brothers in business. But his first love was books. Standing instructions in the Cawnpore Club library were that all new arrivals were first to be sent to Mr Noronha. What he read, he shared through his writings. Several articles were published in secular and Catholic journals. His thoughts were collated in his book “The Pageant of Life”. He was particularly active in Catholic organisations. He was the first Indian, in 1946, to be appointed an Envoy of the Legion of Mary. For several years he ran the Catholic Information Centre from his own home. For his exemplary life and services he was in 1965 knighted by the Pope with the Order of St Gregory. An indication of the respect with which he was held in the city was that at his death the district courts and all Christian institutions closed for the day.

In 2008 the Indian Medical Association (IMA) suddenly remembered their former president, Dr M.X., and erected a bust in his honour at the entrance of the IMA Hall at Parade. This is actually “Mrs Noronha Hall”, as it was built by W.C. (Sr) in memory of his wife Claudine Rachel.

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: Peter’s second wife, Florence (1924-1983) was popularly known as the Florence Nightingale and Joan of Arc of Kanpur; because of her services to disadvantaged sections of society. She showed her mettle when she hoisted the Indian tricolour on the night of 14th August 1947 on the British Consulate in Goa, where she was then working. Florence came into her own during the Chinese Aggression of 1962. The District Magistrate put her in the vanguard of the war effort, through the Sena Sewa Samiti. She organised 1220 blood donors and arranged for truckloads of linen, warm clothing etc. She was the founder Chairperson of the U.P. Hospital’s Welfare Society, founder of the Indian branch of the Order of St Martha, National Vice President of the Indian Red Cross, National President of the All India Indian Christian Association, and a host of other organisations. Due to her efforts Mother Teresa came to Kanpur to establish a Home for the Destitute. Because of her commitment the U.P. Govt appointed her as an Honorary Magistrate . Here too she proved herself in judging cases with firmness and fairness.

A typical instance of her tenacity was when the President of India, Dr Radhakrishnan, was to visit Kanpur in 1965. She requested Chief Minister Sucheeta Kripalani and Governor Bishwanath Das to adjust the President’s programme so that he could address the U.P. Hospital’s Welfare Society. They refused. So she broke protocol and went directly to the President, who gladly acceded to her request, much to the chagrin of the Chief Minister and the Governor.

From social work Florence joined politics, as an active Congresswoman. She was appointed to the Minorities cell of the UPCC and AICC. For her services the Pope honoured her with the “Pro Ecclesiae et Pontifice” medal in 1965, at the same time that her husband was knighted.

THE LANDMARKS: There are four landmarks in the city, named after the family. The first is Noronha Crossing, where the family’s ancestral residence was located on The Mall. The second is Noronha’s Exchange Post Office, across the road. The third is Noronha Road in the Cantonments, and the fourth is the Mrs Noronha Hall at Parade. It cannot be called the Hall of Fame. For the fame has receded into history, though the name and the flame remain. Sri S.P. Mehra, the nonagenarian President of the Kanpur History Society says that the Noronhas were the biggest fools of Kanpur, to have lost such a vast inheritance! That would depend on what one considers wise or foolish. The Noronhas apparently chose peace and happiness over worldly fame and name. How foolish of them?

THE RISE & FALL: When MX came to Kanpur circa 1856, it was at its zenith. It was then called the “Manchester of the East”. After Independence Nehru called it the “Dustbin of the North”, and India Today labelled it as an “Industrial Graveyard”. Several other epithets have been hurled at the city. The decline in the city is mirrored in the fortunes of the Noronhas. Some moved back to their roots in Goa. Others sought greener pastures abroad. The harsh reality is that after Independence there was a steady decline in ethics in business and public life, and the Noronhas who had evolved in a different ethos, felt growingly uncomfortable in the changed scenario.

A small remnant made a fresh beginning in 1982, to keep the Noronha flag and flame going in both business and commitment to society. Like the “Last of the Mohicans” there is also the last of the Noronhas in Kanpur. But the city is again on the upswing, especially in the realm of education and industrial growth. Will it impact the last of the Noronhas? How long will it last? 154 years is a long stretch for any family. Would MX like his journey to Kanpur to disappear in the sands of time?

* The writer, born in 1951, known as chhotebhai in public life and literary circles, is the son of Peter and Florence de Noronha.
* See also “Where was Great Grand Dad?” by the same writer

THE MOTHER EXPRESS

Maverick Mamta will launch the Mother Express to commemorate the birth centenary of Mother Teresa on the coming 26th August. She has decided that the train will have the blue and white colours of Mother Teresa’s sari. What she has not decided is where the train will go!

Sounds funny, but I am sad and disturbed. Because I see Mother Teresa going the way of other icons like Mahatma Gandhi, or for that matter Jesus too. The Government of India plans to mint a special coin in Mother Teresa’s memory. There will be seminars, celebrations and platitudes. Like Jesus, and the Mahatma, Mother Teresa too will be pedestallised, with garish plaster of paris statues. She will be “up there”, and we will be “down here”. She will become inaccessible, beyond our reach. Then we will only adulate, not emulate her. This is the great danger of pedestallisation, iconoclasm and adulation. There will be nobody to emulate her, to walk in her footsteps.

Yesterday a journalist friend phoned me. He had taken a destitute girl to one of Mother Teresa’s homes. The sister in charge declined, saying that there “was no room”. Shades of Bethlehem? Would Mother Teresa have given the same answer? Was this one more sign of a more portent decline in the spirit of the congregation begun by the Mother?

I first met Mother Teresa in 1967, while still a teenager. My mother had invited her to establish a home for the destitute in our home town Kanpur (the same home that now had no room). As I drove her around town I noticed her praying with great intensity. I didn’t understand it then, but in later years I would recall that she was then in direct communication with God. Another experience with Mother Teresa was when my mother complained to her about a girl who I had fallen for. Mother Teresa had some very practical advice for me. She said, “Holy Week is about to begin. If you really love the girl, make a small sacrifice, and wait till Easter to meet her”. She was a woman of deep insight and practical wisdom. My third encounter with her was when I drove her to address a Rotary Club meeting. She had suddenly decided to transfer the local superior, to which I objected as I did not think that was the way to do things. Mother Teresa glared at me in anger. Her way was different. Later that night we were at the railway station. The “Superior” was reduced to a blue cotton bag and plastic bucket in a stuffed compartment.

I was away from Kanpur for many years. When I returned in 1982 I discovered to my dismay that the plot of land that we had obtained 15 years earlier for the home for the destitute was still lying vacant. I wrote to Mother, but she replied saying that she had no sisters to spare. I did not take her “No” for an answer. Ultimately the home was built, the same one which now had no room.

I have also had enriching experiences with destitutes. My first “encounter” was at Lucknow railway station. I found an old man on the platform. I got a stretcher and coolie, put him on a rickshaw in pouring rain and took him to the home. It was 11 pm. The Superior knew me and welcomed me. There was no room at that hour, so she asked me to sleep in the parlour with the old man. She gave him some food and water. When I woke in the morning, that poor soul had already gone to his maker.

Another morning when walking to Mass I saw a bedraggled figure lying on the railway tracks. I “prayed” for him at Mass, hoping he would be gone on my return! He was still there, so I had to respond. I put him on a rickshaw and brought him home. His head was shaven and wore just a dirty shirt. I thought of washing him with the garden hose before the sisters came, and tried to tear of the filthy shirt. To my consternation I discovered that “he” was a woman. My wife and I covered her, spoon-fed water and milk through her clenched teeth, and handed her over to the Missionaries of Charity.

On another occasion I had picked up a young man covered in blood and dust beside the highway. I put him into my car and took him to the home. He recovered. I was able to contact his family of the Pakistan border in Punjab, and reunite him with them. They wrote me a letter of thanks, which I received on my birthday. It was the most precious birthday gift I ever received. There have been several other similar instances.

The sisters also had an orphanage. Most of the inmates were girls. My wife tutored many of them. My younger brother and I were godfathers to most of these girls, and stood by their sides when they got married. Pleasant memories.

Now the orphanage doesn’t have any orphans, only little children awaiting adoption, after fulfilling Government formalities. The children have adivasi girls as their attendants. Perhaps the sisters need more time to pray! Even for the destitute, I found that the attendants did the really dirty work of cleaning them up. There is no more room in the home because many of the inmates have no where to go after being rescued. Obviously the sisters cannot rehabilitate them. But it is not enough to feed them and make them pray before the grotto. They need rehabilitation and reunion with their families, and even recreational facilities. The time has come to take one more step.

The charism of Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity was to go to the poorest of the poor. Once they are rescued they should be handed over to another organisation or congregation that has the requisite skills for rehabilitation. The same goes for the children. Those who are adopted are fine. But the adoption process again is more legal than charitable. Here too I feel that abandoned children, once stabilised, should be handed over to another group for adoption work. It is not for them to be filling up Government forms and attending court hearings.

I have another early memory of the Missionaries. They had just blue cloth bags and cycled everywhere. Now they travel around in vans and several are overweight. Have they, with the passage of time, accumulated extra baggage, besides extra kilos?

As we approach Mother Teresa’s birth centenary it should be an occasion for the Missionaries of Charity to go back to their true charism, of attending to the poorest of the poor; and leave other related services to those better qualified to do so. Otherwise there is grave danger of there being “no room” for those in need. It will be like Mamta’s blue line express to nowhere.

* The writer has been associated with Mother Teresa and her sisters for the last 43 years

August 2010