The nameplate at the door reads ‘Mother Teresa, MC, IN’. It’s been ten years since Mother Teresa died on September 5 in 1997 but at 54 A Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road in Kolkata, it’s almost as if she never left. Inside the house her statue in stone catches her in a moment of prayer. On both sides of her statue the Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity sit and pray together. Time may have stood still here but the last decade has not been without change.It was six months before the death of Mother Teresa that Sister Nirmala took over as the Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity.Born Nirmala Joshi in Ranchi to a Brahmin family of Nepal, she converted to Christianity when she was 24 and became one of the earliest disciples of Mother Teresa. When she was chosen to head the Order, Sister Nirmala had said she doubted she could ever live up to the expectations. ‘‘I am not Mother Teresa,’’ she had said then.She may not have been Mother Teresa but she has ensured the old order continues with a new spirit. ‘‘I miss Mother Teresa’s physical presence. But then she is always with us in spirit, giving us the strength to move on,’’ she says, adding, ‘‘for me the past ten years have been a period of grace and growth.’’In the years that she has been heading the Order, Sister Nirmala has spent considerable time abroad, strengthening the 757-centre-strong Missionaries of Charity network. Under her, 166 new centres have been added to the Charity’s network worldwide. In fact, the Order intends to open one in China too.In all these years Sister Nirmala has refused to slow down. She’s in Kolkata for just a few days every month, spending the rest of the days travelling. Her hectic travel schedule has become a cause of concern for the staff at the Mission, who feel the frail Sister is pushing herself too hard.‘‘She’s very active and efficient and she is blessed by the Mother herself,’’ says Sister Placida, a member of the Mission.On the few days that she is in Kolkata, Sister Nirmala is busy catching up with others at the Home, replying to letters that pour in from the other centres and attending to administrative affairs.In fact, that’s the big difference: Mother Teresa was around at the Centre much more, interacting with the Sisters and meeting people at her regular visiting hours. Sister Nirmala has no regular visiting hours but approaching her after a prayer session is not too difficult. She always has a ready smile and pendants bearing the photograph of the Mother to gift visitors.Not surprising then that the number of foreign volunteers has nearly doubled in the past decade. Previously they came primarily from Europe but in recent years the number of volunteers from Far Eastern countries such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan has gone up.Says Sister Nirmala, ‘‘Volunteers continue to come. We don’t have any exact figures, but it seems that their numbers have gone up. They have come from all parts of the world, including East Asian countries.’’There are Indian volunteers as well. ‘‘Most of our Indian volunteers have been associated with us for many years now. They have been helping women at our homes, teaching them handicrafts, singing and dancing.’’The flow of donations too has continued uninterrupted. Says Sister Nirmala, ‘‘We don’t believe in raising funds but by God’s grace the donations continue to pour in.’’Many of the volunteers are those who first came here during the time of Mother Teresa.‘‘I feel completely at peace with myself. The place has not changed in all these years and it never will,’’ said Ute, a German volunteer who had come here 12 years ago. ‘‘What is also nice is that at Kalighat (one of the homes, set up by Mother for the destitute) at least 50 per cent of the sufferers get cured and walk away. It was quite bad during my last visit,’’ says Ute.Pedro Jara Vera from Spain has returned to the Sisters after ten years, this time with 32 volunteers from his country to share, what he says was the most humbling experience of his life. ‘‘I had met Mother Teresa and even ten years after her death, her charisma lingers on. This is a blessed place,’’ says Pedro.Inside the house, the room where Mother spent the last years of her life is kept as it was. Green tin cans still stand on shelves. Mother Teresa used them to sort out her voluminous mail that came from her associates and other centres of the Mission. Green Park, St John, Sr Priscilla, read the labels. The chair where she sat and the desk that she wrote are still kept in the room. Her presence fills the room.It’s 6 in the morning. Time for the morning mass, a ritual that Sister Nirmala never misses when in Kolkata.
