 MIN BAJRACHARYA |
Birth Name Kusum Joshi
Born on 23 July 1934 in Duranda, Ranchi, India to a Hindu family of Nepali origin.
Baptismal Name Sister Mary Nirmala MC (5 April 1958)
Eldest of 10 siblings; eight sisters and two brothers.
Ancestral home Putali Bajar, Syangja
As a child I felt moved to love the poor. Shiva became my favourite deity when I learned that he was not loved very much because of his ugly appearance.
Growing up as a Hindu I cherish within me the most beautiful values of Hinduism: that of giving. I believe that there is partial truth in the other religions, and therefore also in Hinduism.
Heard of Jesus at age seven.
Education Schooling from Avila Convent, Patna. MA in Political Science from Patna University. Mother Teresa sent me to study for an LLM from Calcutta University when she learnt I was studying to be a lawyer. She said I could provide free legal aid to the poor. I obtained my degree but never exercised my profession. I chose a more exalted law, that of love.
Wrote Garibiki Aahat a story that was a hit, it was performed in Ranchi's military camp in 1948.
Elected as Mother Teresa's successor on 13 March 1997. When I was given the office of Superior General, I realised the enormous responsibility. For six months Mother Teresa was beside me with her advice and her physical presence. Now I feel her beside me in prayer. The concerns and anxieties belong to my human nothingness, I entrust them to God and he takes them and relieves me, as a parent does with his little child. And then I am not alone.
Feels privileged in serving people and in being a child of God. We serve the poorest of the poor.
Finds peace in giving myself to help the needy.
Will visit Nepal again I'm not as free as I used to be, I can't say when I'll return. I came this January after 10 years.
(Based on a tete a tete with WAVE)
