So we all know who she is .I remember her from my childhood, when she sometimes came on tv .Dressed in white,this frail old lady was the symbol of purity and kindness.
This 5th of September marked the 13th death anniversary of Mother Teresa and a few weeks before , her birth centenary on August 26 , saw the world entire world paying homage to her . Dwelling a little deeper into her story , i found ,to my surprise, that was that for someone who has to her name the Nobel Peace Prize (1979) and india's top honour for civilians , the Bharat Ratna (1980) ,among others recognitions ,and a life time of service to the downtrodden and destitute , good old Mother Teresa has quite a few critics .
I learnt that over the years she has attracted a lot of criticism from all over , even from sources within the charities .
My reaction " On what grounds would anyone criticise her? She's gone , she did good things .. leave her alone ,cynics!." I read on ..
Among other things ,the fact that she professed that pain and suffering would bring people closer to Jesus , was not recieved well by many in the light of the work she did , that is , to provide care to the ailing . One Mr.Aroup Chatterjee , who worked in the Missionaries of Charity briefly , wrote a book , Mother Teresa -The Final Verdict , wanting to 'unveil' the the real person behind the image of Mother Teresa . He along with a number of other indians didn't like the picture she painted of Calcutta , as a dark , poverty stricken city , a Calcutta which wasn't the one they knew . Over the years , there have been allegations that a substantial portion of the heavy donations received by the charities were not allowed by Mother Teresa to be utilised to alleviate the crisis in India , but were put to use for other purposes and even ended up in the Vatican bank . So while some say that she was a friend of the poor and helpless , others say she was best friends with the rich and powerful.
http://mostlywater.org/mother_teresa_faithless_fraud_and_hypocrite
In 1994, a british physician visited the calcutta charity facilities and was startled by the way medical care was being administered there .An english journalist called Christopher Hitchens ,made a documentary called 'Hell's Angel' ,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WQ0i3nCx60 , which reveals quite a different picture than the one i had in my mind .....
But what did i have in my mind ? This picture actually .This image that embodies who she is for me everytime i come across the words 'Mother Teresa'. It's like that for most of us isn't it ? However , the things i now know , true or not , i don't like . And what i hate even more is the fact that some of it is hard to turn a blind eye to and just push aside.
But i think i will . Simply because it doesnt matter anymore, i guess. Eventhough she might be 'guilty' of some of these 'charges' , the work she started is successfully helping multitudes around the world today involving sick and ignored people, prostitutes , terminally ill cases, refugees , to running soup kitchens for feeding the hungry and giving shelter to abandoned children .
Year 2003 saw the Beatification of Mother Teresa , which is the second step in canonization, the process towards Sainthood . She then became the Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.
For her to become Saint Teresa , there needs to be another 'acceptable' miracle in her name which ,by the way , means that someone should have been cured 'by her' who wasn't gettin any medical care otherwise.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article590170.ece
Whatever said and done , i guess it's safe for me to assume that for most us , her face still shines a glint of hope .Maybe most people don't know that there's two sides to this beautiful story . But for the simple reason that she gave people hope , i respect this saintly figure .
