The Government on Saturday released a five-rupee commemorative coin on Mother Teresa to mark the centenary birth celebrations of the legend who made serving the poor her mission in life. The finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, released the coin as well as a souvenir on Mother Teresa and gave the first coin and a copy of the souvenir to President, Ms Pratibha Patil, here. It is said that Mother Teresa had Rs 5 when she started her mission in Kolkata.
Speaking on the occasion, Ms Patil said, "She (Mother Teresa) was truly the embodiment of the word Mother in its fullest, truest and complete sense. It has been truly said that God cannot be everywhere and that is why he has created Mother."
"Clad in a white sari with a blue border, she (Mother Teresa) and the sisters of Missionaries of Charity became a symbol of hope to many - the aged, the destitute, the unemployed, the diseased, the terminally ill, and those abandoned by their families," she said.
Mother Teresa was born on August 26, 1910 and was named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Macedonia.
At the age of 18 years, she left her parental home to join the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish Community of nuns with missions in India. Mother Teresa began her missionary work with the poor in 1948, replacing her traditional Loreto habit with a simple white cotton saree decorated with a blue border and adopted Indian citizenship.
For over 40 years, she served the poor and disabled. For her services, she received 124 awards and distinctions, including Nobel Peace Prize and Bharat Ratna. Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997.