A Home that love built

M.G. Devasahayam, who helped Mother Teresa set up Shanti Dan, a home for destitutes at Chandigarh, recalls the efforts behind this noble gesture

AS we celebrate the birth centenary of Mother Teresa — counted among the greatest human beings to walk on earth this last century — my mind goes back to the mid-1970s, when I was part of Chandigarh’s milieu, searching for a soul to go beyond the affluence and physical beauty of the city, to touch the poor and the unwanted, and a soul that could give content to a body that is called beautiful.

Chandigarh — the City Beautiful is the dream creation of Jawaharlal Nehru and Le Corbusier. The city with its wide vistas, and even wider avenues, sprawling lawns and spacious bungalows, all signs of wealth and prosperity, is the very antithesis of the places and people with whom Mother Teresa worked.

Mother Teresa has been a regular visitor to Shanti Dan since its inception in 1977 Mother Teresa’s birth centenary falls on August 26Mother Teresa’s birth centenary falls on August 26
Mother Teresa has been a regular visitor to Shanti Dan since its inception in 1977 — Photo: Courtesy Shanti Dan Mother Teresa’s birth centenary falls on August 26
— Photo: Raghu Rai
The Mother discusses drawings of the home at the site Mother Teresa has been a regular visitor to Shanti Dan since its inception in 1977
The Mother discusses drawings of the home at the site Mother Teresa has been a regular visitor to Shanti Dan since its inception in 1977 — Photo Courtesy Shanti Dan
From left: Mother Teresa with inmates during one of her visits in 1985; a view of Shanti Dan as it is today; many childless couples have adopted children abandoned at the home
From left: Mother Teresa with inmates during one of her visits in 1985; a view of Shanti Dan as it is today; many childless couples have adopted children abandoned at the home — Photos: Pradeep Tewari

But under the veneer of physical beauty, Chandigarh, in the 1970s, concealed poverty, destitution, abandoned infants and mentally challenged persons. Those afflicted with these tragedies lacked everything that makes a decent and dignified life. Only love, an abundance of it, could redeem the misfortune of these destitutes and make their life worth living.

It was in this context that sometime in late 1975, that I and the Catholic Bishop of the Shimla, Chandiarh Diocese, Rt Rev Gilbert Rego, decided to invite Mother Teresa to Chandigarh, with the hope of persuading her to open a home in the city. We were not sure as to whether she, accustomed to the appalling slums of Calcutta, would ever come to Chandigarh, perceived as an affluent and beautiful city. Nevertheless, we decided to sent a joint appeal to the Mother for a home for abandoned children, unwanted mothers and dying destitutes.

The appeal must have touched a nerve and the Mother arrived in Chandigarh in December 1975. The Bishop and I took her around and were greatly relieved when the Mother was convinced of the need for a home like “Nirmal Hriday” in the city.

Things, then, moved fast. Temporary accommodation was provided to the home, courtesy the local unit of St John’s Ambulance Association. That was how Mother’s work started in Chandigarh. The Sisters of Charity, with Sister Joya in the lead, immediately plunged into their “mission of love” among the poor, sick, abandoned and the dying destitutes.

Within a year of commencing work, the Sisters made such an impact as to motivate the Chandigarh Administration to find a permanent abode for them in the city. Accordingly, we soon located a two-acre plot for the home in Sector 23, and allotted the land to the Missionaries of Charity on a perpetual lease at Rs 5 per annum.

For this noble act, a large measure of credit must go to T. N. Chaturvedi, M. S. Chahal and Aditya Prakash, former Chief Commissioner, Finance Secretary and Chief Architect, respectively.

The core objectives of the Society of Missionaries of Charity prompted the Chandigarh Administration to make this magnificent gesture: “The society and all its branches, throughout India and outside, work and serve the poorest of the poor, irrespective of caste, creed, nationality, race or place — giving the individual person whole-hearted and free service.” The poorest of the poor were described as “the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the homeless, the ignorant, the captives, the crippled, the leprosy sufferers, the unloved, the alcoholics, the dying and the sick destitute, the abandoned, the outcastes and all those who are a burden to society, and who have lost all hope and faith in life….”

I participated in the planning and designing of the spartan home and getting the necessary approvals. Mother made several visits to the city to oversee the progress, and I had the honour of receiving her at my office and residence. When things were ready, on October 3, 1977, Mother came and laid the foundation stone of the home.

The project was to cost Rs 4 lakh. During the function, I promised, on behalf of the citizens of Chandigarh, to raise a good portion of that money. But soon after this, certain unfortunate things happened with my career, and I was unable to keep my promise. But the Mother neither asked me nor reminded me of that promise. Instead, she organised the funds herself, and the work on the home progressed well.

Nevertheless, due to divine intervention, I was partly able to redeem the promise before leaving Chandigarh on voluntary retirement from IAS. This was made possible due to support from volunteers, led by P. U. Kamat and Arun Malhotra, who raised Rs 1.5 lakh in three months.

Mother Teresa, in the meantime, had received the Nobel Peace Prize and had become an international celebrity. She had issued an appeal not to offer any cash donations to her society. Yet, when we made the request in mid-1980s, she came from Calcutta to accept our felicitations, prayers and the small donation.

The fact that the home, named Shanti Dan, has indeed become a soul to the city of Chandigarh is evidence from the kind of people’s participation in providing for the upkeep and feeding of hundreds of inmates. In this service, they are finding an expression of their own inner need for loving and sharing, which, in essence, is the soul that Chandigarh had been searching for.

Besides, the home has become an instrument for the “spread of God’s love and compassion” in and around the city. And the Mother, in her true devotion and humility, had made it possible.

A typical example was that local hoteliers and restaurateurs decided to supply fresh food every day to the inmates, whereas they were requested to contribute the leftover food. It was the beginning of a new experiment in voluntary effort and people’s participation in helping the poor, disadvantaged and the needy.

Mother personally responded by writing to the owners of various hotels and restaurants: “This brings you my prayers and gratitude for the love you gave and the joy you share with the inmates of our home at Chandigarh. What you do for the poor, you do for God...”

“It is in giving, that you receive”. This passage from the prayer of St Francis of Assisi, is the rock on which Mother Teresa had built the infrastructure of “love and compassion’ spanning the length and breadth of this vast universe.” Chandigarh’s Shanti Dan is but a small sparkle of this massive infrastructure.

Some years ego, I had an occasion to visit Shanti Dan. What I saw there moved me beyond words. Young, mentally challenged teenagers, fondly clinging to Sisters; old, homeless and lonely destitutes staring with a warm tinkle in their eyes; and above all, the starry-eyed, tender, abandoned infants, giggling and smiling without a care in the world.

Chandigarh’s Shanti Dan is now part of the world community of Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity, present in 133 countries serving the “children of God” with humility as their credo.

It was John Keble, who had famously said: “God has sworn to raise on high he who sinks himself in true humility.” Indeed, God has stood by His word and that is the message that goes out on the birth centenary of Blessed Mother Teresa, the “Saint of the Gutters.”

(The writer is a former IAS officer)