By Shyamal Baran Roy

Kolkata : A painting and sculpture exhibition opened in Kolkata June 15 to commemorate the birth sesquicentennial of an Irish Hindu nun who lived and died in India, working as a ‘servant, friend and mother’ for its people.

‘’Be thou to India’s future sons a friend, servant and mother in one,’’ Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda had said to Margaret Nobel, who went to listen to him in November 1895 at a friend’s house in London.

Responding to the call, she arrived in India a couple of years later and was initiated in the vows of Brahmacharya (lifelong celibacy) by Vivekananda who named his disciple ‘Nivedita’ (the dedicated).

‘’Nivedita was a foreigner, but she gave her everything to India,’’ said Pravrajika Amalaprana, general secretary of Sri Sarada Math and the Ramakrishna-Sarada Mission, while inaugurating the exhibition.

‘’By dedicating herself completely to India and her people, Nivedita lived up to her monastic name,’’ said Amalaprana.

Stating that India was reeling under Biritsh rule when Nivedita arrived in this country, Amalaprana said, “she made the country her motherland and was relentless in her efforts in bringing to light the country’s lost glory.”

‘’Nivedita’s was a penance of dedication,’’ Amalaprana said quoting poet Rabindranath Tagore.

Citing Nivedita’s contribution to Indian art, Amalaprana said, ‘’when she arrived in India, the art school run by the government was teaching students to imitate European art, that too, the lower art forms. Nivedita collected works of art of the best European artists, had them published in the Modern Review, and wrote introductions to them. This was aimed at exposing Indian students to the best examples of European art. Alongside, she also encouraged young Indian artists to develop their own style based on Indian sensibilities.’’

Her efforts bore fruit when the artist A D Havel took over the reigns of the Government Art College as superintendent. ‘’Inspired by Sister Nivedita, Havel brought about a change in the way art was taught in that institution and shifted the focus on Indian art,’’ Amalaprana said.

‘’Nivedita never believed in art for art’s sake. She felt Indian art should reflect the national culture and national glory. Abanindranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose, initiator of the Bengal School of Art, have always acknowledged their inspiration from Sister Nivedita,’’ Amalaprana said.

Organised by the Kolkata-based Indian National Forum of Art and Culture, the five day exhibition has on display 56 paintings and sculptures. The exhibition will continue till June 19.