Mother Teresa born on 26th august 1910 is a name familiar to everyone. She is always known for her motherhood and her selfless devotion in the service of the needy. She spread love messages and showered her blessings and service to every poor in need. This Roman Catholic nun worked in the Indian city of Kolkata for nearly half a century and had completely surrendered her life in the service of poor, sick and helpless people. She always spread awareness to encourage people to love and help each other and be on the right path.
“If I ever become a Saint, I will surely be one of the ‘darkness’, I will continually be absent from Heaven, to light the light of those in darkness on earth.”
Her lifelong dedication to helping the poor earned her the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. And last year on September 9, 2016, she was declared as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Francis, who recognized a second miracle credited to Mother Teresa for the requirement for sainthood.
Mother Teresa always wore a white saree with three blue stripes on its border and this pattern was followed by all the senior nuns who worked for the Missionaries of Charity. A 67-year-old sisterhood which has more than 3,000 nuns worldwide, continue to wear the same pattern saree. This blue border pattern is symbolized as Missionaries of Charity. It is also said that the nun chose the blue border as it was associated with purity. The sarees have been woven by leprosy patients for more than three decades, who live at Gandhiji Prem Niwas, run by the Missionaries of Charity in the outskirts of Kolkata.
In order to mark the sainthood of Mother Teresa, Government of India has granted this famous saree as a trademark. This sari is now recognized as the symbol of love, peace, harmony, and charity which has now become the religious uniform of this global order. This order was declared in September 2016 and now it has been made public.
“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”
Mother Teresa personally did not want any kind of publicity of her Missionaries of Charity and so she declared it to the people that there should be no misuse of her name or her Charity’s name in any form after her death. Following her death in 1997, many shops, schools a, d organization in Kolkata started using the name of Mother Teresa which does not have any connection to the Missionaries of Charity. This was complained by the nuns as it is the misuse of a saint’s name and they are using it for the commercial gain.
Mr. Biswajit Sarkar, a lawyer was working for the exclusive rights of the design along with the name since 2013. Indian government agreed to make her saree as a trademark for its reputation and to combat misuse. And now if anyone uses this trademark they have to face severe legal action. This trademark acquired by the Missionaries of Charity, only covers India right now. And soon, Biswajit Sarkar will copyright the Mother Teresa name and the saree design in other countries.
