Kolkata :
When a 73-year-old woman stepped into Mayer Bari — Maa Sarada’s house at Bagbazar — everybody was busy with their daily chores. Sight of tourists is nothing unusual for them. But when they came to know that the lady was actually the grand-niece of Sister Nivedita, there was no leaving her alone. For rest of the day, a strong crowd milled around Selenda Margot Giardin, who came all the way from Newbury at Vermont in the US. By evening, it was a day well-spent for Saradha Math monks, students of Nivedita School and Selenda as well.
“I am fascinated. I feel like a celebrity,” beamed Selenda, who was the centre of attraction at Sarada Sarani on Monday. The pangs of Parkinson’s and acute arthritis could not dissuade Selenda from embarking upon the long journey in quest of “truth, love and God”.
Selenda didn’t know how to react when people touched her feet. Anushuya, a student at Nivedita School where Selenda led a prayer, said: “For us, it’s like being with Bhagini Nivedita herself.”
Some found the same eyes in Selenda, who shares her middle name (Margot) with her Irish grand-aunt Margaret Elizabeth Noble, whom Swami Vivekananda christened Nivedita. “My middle name is ‘curiosity’. From the age of seven, when I first read at the church that ‘God is Love’, I have been curious about God. The search continues…and now I am here, searching…” reminisced Selenda, who runs her choir at the United Church of Christ at Vermont.
The septuagenarian will be attending a host of programmes over the week. She will spend two days at Belur Math before flying back to the US on Saturday. Her son John Grow is accompanying her.
Selenda let out more about herself and the Nobles as she spoke to TOI: “Ever since I was a child, I remember my mother, Isabel Noble, telling me stories of her aunt who pursued her quest for truth and worked for the people living in this faraway land.”
She gifted the monks of Sarada Math the handwritten notes by Sister Nivedita circa 1909 and a replica of Michaelangelo’s Pieta, which Sister Nivedita had gifted Selenda’s mother Isabela. These items will be on display at the upcoming Nivedita Museum inside Nivedita House.
Mayer Bari head Swami Viswanathananda said: “Selenda’s amazing. We never imagined that a descendent of Sister Nivedita would come here after all these years.” Another monk Prabuddhaprana shared the euphoria: “We are glad to discover the Sister’s family at last.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Ajanta Chakraborty, TNN / February 17th, 2015