(10 Sep 1997) English/Nat
Calcutta is famous the world over for being one of the most difficult cities to live in.
But for many years the plight of the city's poor and destitute was relieved to some extent by one woman and her followers.
Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity went into the Calcutta's slums to do what they could to make the lives of the poor more bearable.
But some people are suggesting that despite the years of work by Missionaries of Charity, life in the city has hardly improved at all.
The Indian city of Calcutta has long been a by-word for poverty and deprivation.
For the majority of its citizens, life in the slums is a constant struggle.
Many are reduced to picking through the city's rubbish to find enough to support their families - and in the absence of any real income people must use what they find around them to make ends meet.
But the city was not always famous for its poor and hungry.
In the days of the British Raj when the modern city of Calcutta was constructed - it was regarded as a jewel in the imperial crown.
The British designed and built the city to celebrate their rule in the country, and all over modern Calcutta the faded grandeur of Empire is still visible - even a statue of Queen Victoria remains in one of the city's squares.
But those days are long gone.
For many years Calcutta has been run by the Indian Communist party and many of the industries for which the city was once famous have fallen into decay.
In the once bustling dockyards ships and cranes now lie rusting and unused.
But despite the city's industrial decline the population has spiralled upwards - outstripping any attempt to build new facilities.
SOUNDBITE:(English)
The problem was compounded by the fact that Calcutta kept growing all the time. The Britishers had built this city for 35- or maybe 45-thousand people and today it accommodates 3-and-a-half million. And the civic amenities have not developed proportionately, in fact they are far less than proportionate".
SUPER CAPTION: Manojit Mitra, Calcutta newspaper editor
With the death of Mother Teresa last week conditions in the city have once again been the subject of discussion.
And some people are suggesting that despite the years of work by Missionaries of Charity, life in the city has hardly improved at all.
SOUNDBITE:(English)
"I would agree that probably what she did has not made a long term impact on too many people. To that extent the criticism is probably valid".
SUPER CAPTION: Manojit Mitra, Calcutta newspaper editor
As the elaborate preparations for the funeral near their completion, these questioning voices may well be lost in the general support for Mother Teresa's work.
Close friends and the other members of the order have closed ranks in recent days - vigorously rejecting appeals for the grave to be sited in a place accessible to outsiders.
SOUNDBITE:(English)
"Mother would not have liked this at all. She would have said "Make no fuss at all, I don't want all this publicity". She always complained, "They talk too much about us, there is too much publicity. We want to do the work simply and quietly"".
SUPER CAPTION: Edward Le Jolie, Friend of Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa will be buried at the Headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity - the nuns say they wish to keep her close to them.
For them, there is no question about the legacy of her work.
KEYWORDS: LOCATIONS
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