1)Narrate in your own words the experience of Mother Teresa in an old age home. [5] [ Annual Exam. = 2014]
Ans. Once Mother Teresa had an opportunity to visit an old-age home. She saw that the inhabitants of the home were provided with all facilities for comfortable living. But everybody was looking towards the door. There was no smile on their face. Mother was surprised and asked her sister what was the reason for that. The nurse answered that it was nearly a matter of every day. They were expecting their son or daughter to visit them. But they did not come. Actually, they were forgotten by their near and dear ones. So they were not smiling. They were hurt.
2) ‘And she died with a smile on her face.’ – How did she die with a smile on her face? [5] [Annual Exam. = 2019]
Ans. One evening, Mother Teresa and her sisters went out and picked up four people from the street. One of them was in a serious condition. She took responsibility for that serious woman and did whatever she could with her love. Mother Teresa was surprised to see the greatness of the lady. She had no objection to life. She even did not try to draw the attention of Mother Teresa by showing her pangs of hunger, pain and misery. But she took hold of Mother’s hand with a beautiful smile on her face and uttered the words ‘Thank You’ and died.
3)Narrate the experience Mother Teresa had when there was great difficulty in getting sugar. [5] [Annual Exam. = 2017]
Ans. Once there was great difficulty in getting sugar in Calcutta. A little boy of four years told his parents that he would not eat sugar for three days. He wanted to collect the sugar and give it to Mother Teresa for her children. After three days his parents brought the boy to the home of Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa said that she had never met the boy before and the little boy could not pronounce her name properly. But he knew exactly what he had come to do. He wanted to share his love with the poor children of the home.
4) ‘I had the most extraordinary experience with the Hindu family that had eight children.’ – Which experience is Mother Teresa speaking of? [5] [Annual Exam. = 2015]
Ans. Mother Teresa had an extraordinary experience with a Hindu family of eight children. She came to know from a gentleman that they had not eaten for so long. She took some rice and went there immediately. Reaching there, Mother was shocked to see the extreme condition of the family. The eyes of the children were shining with hunger. But what surprised her most was the action of the lady of the house. The lady of the house divided the rice and went out. When she came back, curious Mother Teresa asked her where she had gone. The woman replied to give some rice to a Muslim family because they were hungry like them. And this incident struck Mother Teresa most because, in spite of separate religions, they enjoyed the joy of sharing.
5) In what ways does Mother Teresa appeal to the emotions of her audience? What stories does she share of her encounters with the poor in Kolkata? [1+4 = 5] [Annual Exam. = 2016]
Ans. Mother Teresa appeals to the emotions of her audience by siting stories of physical as well as psychological suffering and poverty of humanity.
Mother Teresa shares a number of touching encounters with the poor in Kolkata. One evening they picked up a dying lady from the street. The lady died with a smile on her face without blaming anyone or trying to draw the attention of Mother Teresa. She just expressed her gratitude saying ‘Thank you’. Another same incident happened when a man was picked up from the drain half eaten with worms. He accepted that he was dying like an angel, loved and cared for. She speaks about a boy of four years who did not eat sugar for three days and stored it for the children of Mother Teresa. She shared an extraordinary experience when a mother of a Hindu family shared her little rice with a Muslim family. In spite of their hunger and different religion, they shared the joy of sharing. In this way, Mother Teresa shows the greatness of the poor.
6) Why did Mother Teresa say that poor people are great people? [5] [Annual Exam. = 2020]
Ans. See the answer to Question – (5) [ Second paragraph]
7) Why does Mother Teresa think ‘abortion’ to the greatest destroyer of peace? How does Mother appeal to fight abortion?
Ans. Mother Teresa thinks that abortion to the greatest destroyer of peace because it is a direct war against God. Birth is the greatest gift of god. By aborting, a mother is denying god’s gift. In this way, they are confronting god and destroying their peace in life. Where a mother is involved in the direct killing of her own child, there is no place for love and peace.
Mother appealed everywhere not to kill unborn babies rather she requested people to bring the unwanted babies to her. They saved thousands of lives by fighting abortion by adoption. They sent this message to all the clinics, hospitals and police stations. They had a tremendous demand from families who had no children. It was a great achievement for Mother Teresa.
Read more about: ‘Nobel Lecture’ – Questions and Answers(S.A.Q.), Class 11, WBCHSE
Answer: Mother Teresa was the third child of Albanian grocer Nikola Bojaxhiu and his wife Drane. She had an older sister, Aga, and an older brother, Lazar. Her father died when she was about eight years old. Answer: In 1928, when Mother Teresa was 18 years old, she went to Ireland to join the Sisters of Loreto at the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a community of nuns with missions in India. Six weeks later she travelled to India to work as a teacher in the order s school in Calcutta.