MOTHER TERESA

 

Mother Teresa, a great humanist and philanthropist, was born on August 2, 1910 in Albenia of Yugoslavia. Her real name was Agnes Teresa. She was the youngest child of Nikolle and Dranafile Bojaxhiu. Her father, who was involved in Albenia-community politics in Ottoman Macedonia, died in 1919 when she was eight years old. He was born in Prizren, however his family was Mirdita. Her mother may have been from a village near Gjakova. She had her schooling at a Government School in Albenia. In 1928, Agnes came to Calcutta to do some missionary work and later took Indian Citizenship. Then she devoted and decided herself to the service of suffering and distressed humanity. She set up the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 and the Nirmal Hridaya in 1954 in Calcutta and was known as Mother. She lived and led a modest life of nun, wearing the simple dress of a white-blue bordered shari generally used by a female sweeper. Mother was unlike others, a silent worker and avoided publicity. Mother Teresa was honoured with the Nobel Prize in 1979 and the Government of India awarded her the country's highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna in the very next year. These honours were showered upon her in recognition of her selfless services to the suffering poor people. She died on 5th September, 1997. A state funeral was given to her. The whole world bade her a tearful farewell. Mother is no more but her patients, poor and helpless people still remember her. Her soul will rest in peace if we can render service to down-trodden people.