At 11 am, Sister Prema will inaugurate the Mother Teresa International Film Festival at Nandan. Over four days, the festival will screen 16 films on Mother’s life from across the world. “Most are documentaries, based on the interviews Mother gave during her lifetime, some of them are docu-dramas,” said eminent film critic Fr Gaston Roberge, who will be present to introduce Dominique Lapierre’s controversial film “In the Name of God’s Poor.”

“Apart from Lapierre’s movie, Fabrizio Costa’s Mother Teresa (2003), is the only other biopic on Mother. It will be interesting to watch the two and compare the approaches of the two directors,” he added.

The Mother House plans to observe the day in a quiet, non-opulent manner. Centenary celebrations will be inaugurated with a mass at 6.30 am followed by devotional songs and dance dramas through the day by the residents of several homes of the Missionaries of Charity. After distributing snacks among the workers and volunteers at the Mother’s Beatification building, at 11 am, Sister Nirmala will flag off a Mother Teresa Memorial Tram. After inaugurating the filmfest, at 5 pm, Sister Prema will flag off a Mother Teresa special train from Sealdah station. Decorated with pictures and mementos of the Mother, the train will go on a trip across the country over the next few months.

There may not be much buzz over the centenary celebrations, but people who came in contact with the Mother have very special memories.

Archbishop of Kolkata Lucas Sirkar met the Mother several times in the 15 years he had been the Bishop of Krishnanagar. One incident is clearly etched in his mind. “We had gone to a church in Behrampore, where a young mediaperson was trying to capture a video footage of Mother. He was walking backwards holding the camera, when suddenly, his slippers came off. We had not noticed anything amiss, but Mother knelt down, picked up his slippers and told him to wear them,” recalled the Archbishop. “The youth was so embarrassed about Mother touching his footwear, he ran off. But the incident opened my eyes about the Mother’s alertness to serve everybody, at any given point of time,” he added.

Sister Mechtilte, the 59th to join the order of Mother Teresa, still remembers the struggle of the initial days. “There were days when we had nothing to eat except rice and salt. Mother, smiling as usual, used to tell us that we will eat whatever we have. After all, that’s all many poor people get to eat for days.”

Recently, Mother’s centenary celebrations had begun at Baruipur’s Immaculate Heart of Mary and Mother Teresa Cathedral. It is the world’s first cathedral dedicated to