Dedicated soul: Sister Nivedita “Here reposes Sister Nivedita who gave her all to India” — words inscribed in her epitaph. Sister Nivedita loved India as her ...own land and served Indians as her own people but we are yet to comprehend the magnitude of her contribution to this country. Sister Nivedita was born Margaret, to Samuel Noble and Mary Hamilton on 28th October,1867 in a small town of Ireland. Inheriting the qualities of courage, patriotism and compassion for the poor from her grandfather John Noble and her father Samuel Noble. Margaret lost her father at the tender age of ten, and was brought up by her maternal grandfather Hamilton, who is one of the first ranked leaders of the freedom movement of Ireland. In the year 1895, she met Swami Vivekananda through a friend Lady Isabel Margesson. Swamiji’s teaching “Every religion is a highway to God” inspired her greatly. He recognised her inner fire and asked her to come and serve India by starting schools for girls and women. Swami Vivekananda told her that he wanted a Lioness for India and promised that he would be by her side always, irrespective of the results of her work in India. Finally on January 28, 1898 Margaret arrived at Calcutta. She learnt Bengali language along with the study of scriptures and a lot about India. On March 25, 1898 Margaret was initiated into the holy order and came to be known as Sister Nivedita. Her first work, Nivedita started a school in Calcutta. During the 1899 plague epidemic in Calcutta, she taught basic sanitation to the people. Due to the shortage of funds, she frequently gave up her food and saved money to buy medicines for others. She worked hard for women empowerment in India.When her health deteriorated she made a will giving all she had including the copyrights of her books to the Belur Math. Sister Nivedita breathed her last at the dawn of 13 October 1911, age 43, in Roy villa, Darjeeling. Today, her memorial is located below the Railway station on the way to the Victoria Falls (of Darjeeling) with these words inscribed in her epitaph – “Here reposes Sister Nivedita who gave her all to India”. Sister Nivedita’s dedication and self-sacrifice will hostil a spirit of patriotism and a sense of dedication in the hearts of our people forever...
Posted on: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 06:12:41 +0000
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