'Sneher Khuki....your mother Thakurani'

Kolkata: ‘Dear Mago, I went to church early this morning to pray for Sarah. Everyone there was thinking about Mary. Suddenly I remembered your words.’
Sanghajanani Ma is writing his love letter to Sarada. She is an Irish woman. He is a different religion. Yet when he approached him, the little child became a sharp Buddha, a disciple of Swami Vivekananda, who possessed infinite courage. She is Margaret Elizabeth Noble. She is sister Nivedita. She is fire maiden.

March 17. Bagbazar. House No. 10/2 Bospara Lane. The mother is inside. Her face was almost covered with a veil. But the mind is never trapped in the chains of conservatism. First darshan of Sri Ramakrishna’s consort Saradadevi. He was then the driving force of the Sri Ramakrishna Sangh. But hidden from the public. Many books have documented that moment of first meeting. Three foreigners have come to meet Sarada Devi. Many enthusiastic eyes are on it.
In that era, Hindu widows will come to foreigners! To everyone’s surprise, mother drank sweet water with them that day. It is known that Nivedita was the first person who spoke two different languages. He broke his silence and said ‘what a wonderful sight’! Ma smiled softly. As much as Swamiji was impressed by the meeting that day, he was relieved to see Nivedita accepted by her mother. Because Vivekananda wanted to bring the tide of women’s development through her. That day proved why Sri Ramakrishna trusted his mother for the future.

Fresh across the ocean, getting to know India through the eyes of Swami Vivekananda, meeting a foreigner Sri Ramakrishna-Jaya. No one knows anyone’s language. However, this mother-daughter relationship is a proof of the strong bond that eye-to-eye conversation can build. Later, the two had many strange encounters. But in the first meeting, such an unbreakable relationship developed with three foreign women from the orthodox Hindu society of that time

The sight is rare in history.

In Margaret’s words that day was the ‘Day of days’. Even then he was not sacrificed. She is Margaret. Along with two other foreigners were Miss McLeod and Mrs. Sarah Ollie Bull. Mother welcomed them on first meeting, my daughters say. Even being the widow of a Brahmin, they sat together and received fruit-sweet prasad. It was as if he had welcomed the foreigners to the Hindu heartland. It is worth noting that in an era when Nivedita had to go hand in hand with parents to get students for her school, a section of the society first shunned her as a caste of a different religion, the Hindu Brahmin widow Srima gave her the status of a daughter.

The story of the endless blessings he later showered on Nivedita and the girls of Nivedita’s school is no small story. Sri Ramakrishna wanted to put an end to the disdain for the female caste in Bengali society at that time. Swami Vivekananda took a vow in that thought. And the image that needed to be established to make that work a reality, that image is Maa Sarada. Sri Ramakrishna did not organize the women’s liberation movement. But he established his foundation by saying that he is all the wives. He is God in meaning. Ramakrishna believed that having a child is not only motherhood, motherhood is a great ideal. And Saradadevi has presented this ideal to everyone forever.
My mother’s sister was an eleven-year-old girl. He looked like a five-year-old child in his mother’s mouth. Ahladi used to let her sit and kiss her like a girl. When Nivedita used to visit her mother at night, she used to put paper over the light, lest it hurt her eyes. While bowing to her mother, Nivedita used to gently wipe her head with a cloth and put it on her head.

While a section of the conservative society is busy avoiding her touch, Maa Sarada also gives her the right to cook Tagore’s bhog. Although there were whispers about it in the women’s circles, he did not accept it. Instead, he said, Nivedita is my daughter. He has the right to offer food to Tagore.

Not only Nivedita, but also other foreign female fans were drawn to him in a deep way. Nivedita writes in a letter to Eric Hammond, ‘This gave us dignity and made my future work possible in a way nothing else could possibly ever done. ‘

Later, the more he saw Sister Ma, the more impressed he became. Even as a bride from a rural village, she used to handle the difficult problems of the Ramakrishna Sangh. Even among the followers of Ramakrishna, if there was any dispute or doubt, he would remove it with prudence. That is why he is sanghajanani. Once the question arose in Nivedita’s mind, is Sardadevi the last representative of the old ideology or the forerunner of the new ideology?

When talking about the relationship between Nivedita and Saradadevi, the topic of Nivedita’s school must come up. If we want to start the women’s liberation movement, we must first show the light of education. So the first dream of Swamiji and Nivedita was to establish a school for girls. Where Western science and judgment were combined with Eastern culture and ideology. Saradadevi also founded this school. Said, I pray that the blessings of Jaganmata shower on this school and that the girls educated here become ideal girls. Nivedita also said nothing could be a greater blessing to her school and girls. At that time the name of the school was Ramakrishna Girls School, which is now Ramakrishna Sarada Mission Sister Nivedita Girls School. It is known that Nivedita’s school was near Sarada’s mother’s house, so she often went to meet her mother with her students. Because the river of his expression is what he wanted to impart to the students.

Nivedita School in Bagbazar

When Srima lived in Calcutta, Nivedita and sister Christine used to run to her every evening. Both enjoyed mother’s proximity. After Nivedita’s death, Christine took over the school following her mother’s example. After Swamiji’s death, Nivedita distanced herself from Ramakrishna Math due to her political activities, but her closeness with Shrima did not diminish. Because that relationship was mother-daughter.

Nivedita used to write down every day of her meeting with her mother. And the mother carefully guarded every gift given by Nivedita. Be it a German silver coat or Andy’s sheet. Even though it was torn, he did not throw it away. He used to say, seeing that reminds me of Nivedita. Such was the tension.

It seems that Margaret of Ireland was able to become a nurse-sister-mother Nivedita all at once, as she was able to be a mother’s darling. Herein lies the meaning of motherhood. On the one hand, he held the ropes of the chariot of Ramakrishna Vivekananda ideology, on the other hand, he became the charioteer of the women’s liberation movement. Whether monk devotee or householder, male or female – her motherhood has become universal. He binds all the children in one word – “Let no one know, you have a mother. Am I afraid to be a mother?”

Credits: Sister Nivedita, Prabrajika Muktiprana
Women’s Liberation Movement of Bengal and Sri Sri Ma Sardadevi, Sushmita Ghosh