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Poor Calcutta [Mother Teresa still giving my hometown a bad name]
The New York Times ^
| September 5, 2007
| Chitrita Banerji
Posted on 09/05/2007 9:13:54 PM PDT by syriacus
Cambridge, Mass.
ONE morning in January 1997, I walked into my office at a nonprofit group here after a visit to my hometown, Calcutta. A very senior colleague, whom I would have, until then, characterized as being the “sensitive” sort, greeted me: “Welcome back. And how is everyone in Calcutta — still starving and being looked after by Mother Teresa?”
At first I thought this might be a bad attempt at humor, but I soon realized that my colleague was seriously inquiring about my city’s suffering humanity and its ministering angel — the only images Calcutta evoked for him and countless others in the West. When Mother Teresa died eight months later, 10 years ago today, foreign dignitaries and the Western news media descended on the city. The reports on the funeral portrayed a city filled with starving orphans, wretched slums and dying people abandoned on the streets, except for the fortunate ones rescued by Mother Teresa.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: calcutta; chitritabanerji; foodwriter; motherteresa
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I wonder what nonprofit Banerji works for? We know she writes books about Indian food.
1
posted on
09/05/2007 9:13:56 PM PDT
by
syriacus
To: syriacus
Quite a few loved to hate Albert Schweitzer for similar reasons.
2
posted on
09/05/2007 9:18:51 PM PDT
by
sinanju
To: syriacus
From the op-ed
With cultish fervor, her organization, the Missionaries of Charity, promotes her as an icon of mercy. Meanwhile, countless unheralded local organizations work for the needy without the glamour of a Nobel Prize or of impending sainthood.
3
posted on
09/05/2007 9:18:56 PM PDT
by
syriacus
(If the US troops had remained in S. Korea in 1949, there would have been no Korean War (1950-53))
To: syriacus
MSM in it’s unending quest to malign Saint Teresa and Christianity.
4
posted on
09/05/2007 9:19:41 PM PDT
by
Mad_Tom_Rackham
(Elections have consequences.)
To: syriacus
From the op-ed
a religious figure who was as shrewd as any fund-raising politician, as is evident from the global expansion of her organization
5
posted on
09/05/2007 9:19:58 PM PDT
by
syriacus
(If the US troops had remained in S. Korea in 1949, there would have been no Korean War (1950-53))
To: syriacus
Final comment from the op-ed
Mother Teresa might have meant well, but she furthered her mission by robbing Calcutta of its richly nuanced identity while pretending to love it.
A saint is not without honor except when helping the starving people who live in a food editor's home town.
6
posted on
09/05/2007 9:23:23 PM PDT
by
syriacus
(If the US troops had remained in S. Korea in 1949, there would have been no Korean War (1950-53))
To: sinanju
Quite a few loved to hate Albert Schweitzer for similar reasons. I was thinking that very thing.
7
posted on
09/05/2007 9:24:29 PM PDT
by
syriacus
(If the US troops had remained in S. Korea in 1949, there would have been no Korean War (1950-53))
To: Mad_Tom_Rackham
MSM in it’s unending quest to malign Saint Teresa and Christianity.Yes.
8
posted on
09/05/2007 9:25:52 PM PDT
by
syriacus
(If the US troops had remained in S. Korea in 1949, there would have been no Korean War (1950-53))
To: syriacus
Poor Calcutta [Mother Teresa still giving my hometown a bad name]....worked for years with an Indian physician who said the best thing that could happen to Calcutta was an atomic bomb.......
To: Mad_Tom_Rackham
Thank you , it is exactly that — their undending quest to malign Mother Teresa.
10
posted on
09/05/2007 9:28:25 PM PDT
by
bboop
(Stealth Tutor)
To: bboop
The good thing is, an article like this is so hilariously obvious that even the Lefties have to feel embarrassed.
11
posted on
09/05/2007 9:30:58 PM PDT
by
JennysCool
("The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." -Mencken)
To: syriacus
Not surprised that the nyt would print this trash. What do we have here? A 'civilization' and religion that existed for thousands of years yet cannot provide clean water and a basic subsistence living for it's citizens, let alone a basic education.
The author, no doubt with a western education, laments how one of the most saintly people to visit this vale of tears dissed her and her culture by providing comfort for those who were tossed literally into the gutter.
Yo Chitrita, I think Christopher Hitchens dance card is open. Give him aring.
12
posted on
09/05/2007 9:36:34 PM PDT
by
Eagles6
To: syriacus
13
posted on
09/05/2007 9:37:43 PM PDT
by
gunsofaugust
(Ignore the bishops who choose to ignore the laws that interfere with their leftist political goals.)
To: syriacus
If Calcutta’s so great, why is the author a food editor in Cambridge?
14
posted on
09/05/2007 9:39:28 PM PDT
by
LexBaird
(Behold, thou hast drinken of the Aide of Kool, and are lost unto Men.)
To: Eagles6
The author, no doubt with a western educationYes. She went to Harvard as a graduate student. She has translated books into English, written books on Indian food and rites, and lives (I think) in Cambridge, MA
15
posted on
09/05/2007 9:41:48 PM PDT
by
syriacus
(If the US troops had remained in S. Korea in 1949, there would have been no Korean War (1950-53))
To: LexBaird
If Calcutta’s so great, why is the author a food editor in Cambridge?Excellent question.
16
posted on
09/05/2007 9:42:35 PM PDT
by
syriacus
(If the US troops had remained in S. Korea in 1949, there would have been no Korean War (1950-53))
To: syriacus
Conservation Law Foundation (don’t wonder, Google). Another Godless enviro . . .
17
posted on
09/05/2007 9:44:00 PM PDT
by
Iconoclast2
(Two wings of the same bird of prey . . .)
To: syriacus
Conservation Law Foundation (don’t wonder, Google). Another Godless enviro . . .
18
posted on
09/05/2007 9:44:02 PM PDT
by
Iconoclast2
(Two wings of the same bird of prey . . .)
To: syriacus
One woman goes to Calcutta and spends her life getting people food. One woman leaves Calcutta to go to Boston and write about food. Guess which one I find more valuable in this world?
19
posted on
09/05/2007 9:45:08 PM PDT
by
LexBaird
(Behold, thou hast drinken of the Aide of Kool, and are lost unto Men.)
To: Iconoclast2
Conservation Law Foundation (don’t wonder, Google). Another Godless enviro . . . Thanks, Iconoclast2. Good find.
20
posted on
09/05/2007 9:45:36 PM PDT
by
syriacus
(If the US troops had remained in S. Korea in 1949, there would have been no Korean War (1950-53))
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