Author: Rukmini Chawla
• Price —Rs 125
• Publication — Puffin Books
Amidst the heat and hurry of this life, do we give ourselves to the world in real and true sense of the word ‘give’? Rukmini Chawla’s biography of Mother Teresa urges us to give as the mother had across the barriers of race, religion and culture.
This book traces her life from the sleepy little town of Skopje to her home in Kolkata, from being a geography teacher to the angel of the poor and the destitute.
The story of Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu started at the turn of 20th century in Albania where at the age of eighteen, she heard the call of God and decided to help the poor. She chose Kolkata after being moved by the stories of suffering in Bengal.
The author highlights not only her humanity but also Mother Teresa’s dogged determination to be true to her convictions and not to be cowered down by the circumstances. She overcame the barriers of language and culture, and not only left the nun’s habit for the sari but also her country and her people to be with God ‘in the guise of the poorest of the poor’.
This book has to be read, as it is not one of those biographies in which the author writes about a personality maintaining objectivity. The pages are lovingly crafted by an artist close to her subject. Rukmini Chawla’s close association with the Mother since childhood and her involvement with the work of the Missionaries of Charity gives her a certain vantage point. Through her eyes, we see not only Mother Teresa’s work but also her spirit of giving and seeking God through the orphans, lepers and destitute.
{{/usCountry}}This book has to be read, as it is not one of those biographies in which the author writes about a personality maintaining objectivity. The pages are lovingly crafted by an artist close to her subject. Rukmini Chawla’s close association with the Mother since childhood and her involvement with the work of the Missionaries of Charity gives her a certain vantage point. Through her eyes, we see not only Mother Teresa’s work but also her spirit of giving and seeking God through the orphans, lepers and destitute.
{{/usCountry}}The book informs as well as inspires. Through various anecdotes, collages and paintings, we get to know about the person beyond the persona.