The legacy of Mary Peter Claver

She was an American nun with a big voice and a bigger heart, working in Bihar .. one of the most underdeveloped areas in India.

I met Sister Mary Peter Claver entrirely by chance. I was in Patna, on a holiday from Kalimpong (Darjeeling district) when an aquaintence of mine asked me whether I'd like to be interviewed in a televeison studio for a project of his.
Now, I had never seen the inside of a TV studio, and those were the days (the early 1980's) when television was a licensed ornate box in a pretty well-off person's living room.
Anyway, I was really amazed to see this television studio inside a girl's school.
It was really cool.
The next thing I knew I was helping out another guy, a Dalit boy, with his final project: a drama.
Well, that's a long story. But let's say I wrote the script based on an idea I had.
Anand Lal acted as Jesus Christ, and at the last minute when the lead actress who acted Mary Magdalene fell sick, I the playwright was left with no option but to get the the studio in drag!
I was a very pretty Mary, may I add, acting opposite an absolute hunk of a guy from Loyola School.
Anyway, after that show, Sister PC said that I should take the TV production course. Of course, I was already hooked looking at all those cameras and lights, and the idea that I coud actually create something.
That started a long association with PC and several adventures, with my dear friends Sammy, Sudhir, Billu, Sarojini, and Suzy Bhengra and Rajesh - the antics we were ip to all abetted by Sister PC.
She helped us experiment, allowed ius to make mistakes, and most of all trusted us.
there were no locked doors and keys and stuff.
We youngsters took charge, and responsibility, and had access to the studio even when PC was away for long periods.
Today, there are locks, and rules, and permissions, and no young people frolicking about Notre Dame Communication Centre.
No wonder it is dying slowly.
the only way to revive NDCC would be to tear down the walls and let the youngsters in!
To let in rock music, and wierd hairstyles, and problems that start with pimples and acne.
But sadly, there are no nuns of PC's stature left to put parents in their place and to let Love blossom.
There are a sad bunch of missionary sisters in charge who want to control everything
who will not stand up for teenagers in love
who will not advocate for mixed marriages
and who certainly don't have the guts to stage another 'The King and I"
PC died of Alzhiemer's on Saturday night.