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   From: alt.fan.jai-maharaj@googlegroups.com   
      
   A RARE GEM IN HISTORY   
      
   MARGOT   
   Author - REBA SOM   
   Publisher - PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE, Rs 599   
      
   Margot set up a school in Bengal under Swami   
   Vivekananda's direction. She adopted India as her own   
   land and spent her entire life for the betterment of the   
   people, writes Avantika Pokhriyal   
      
   By Avantika Pokhriyal, The Pioneer, dailypioneer.com   
   Sunday, September 17, 2017   
      
   Reba Som's Margot is not a book that one comes across   
   every day. As the subject of her biography, the writer   
   chooses not a martial hero or an illustrious political   
   leader but a simple Irish woman who with her conviction   
   and selfless service redefined the very contours of   
   heroism and went on to become both a hero and a leader   
   for the people of India. Margot Noble (1867-1911) was   
   born and brought up in Ireland but dedicated her life to   
   the cause of the emancipation of the masses in India,   
   especially women. Her life is a testament to the fact   
   that an individual's willpower can, sometimes, move   
   mountains.   
      
   With painstaking detail and meticulous research, Som   
   presents before the readers a vivid picture of Nivedita's   
   life. However, at no point does the book read like a   
   hagiography. With refreshing candour, Som lays bare the   
   (often self-confessed) foibles of Nivedita's character.   
   Her argumentative nature and impulsiveness were unusual   
   for a brahmacharini, but instead of taking away from it,   
   they serve to heighten the readers' admiration for her as   
   they make her character so much more accessible and   
   relatable.   
      
   Margot's first encounter with Vivekananda was in London   
   in 1895, when he was in the country giving public as well   
   as private lectures on the Vedantic message of unity of   
   all beings. She was greatly moved both by the simple   
   grandeur of the message and the Swami himself and decided   
   to answer his call for help to the West. In 1898, she   
   moved to India and dedicated herself to the cause of the   
   education and the upliftment of Indian women. She set up   
   a school in Bengal under Vivekananda's direction and for   
   the years to come devoted herself to this cause. Margot   
   never saw India as the oriental 'other' to the civilised   
   West. Instead, she adopted India as her own land and   
   spent her entire life for the betterment of her fellow   
   men and women. Not surprisingly, she was bestowed with   
   the epithet of 'Jagat Mata' later in her life.   
      
   Nivedita's life in India was far from easy. Living in an   
   alien environment, away from friends and family, must   
   have been an intimidating challenge. As a foreigner, she   
   was seen with a mix of suspicion and animosity. Although   
   she gradually won the hearts of the native population,   
   she came under the scanner of the British Government. She   
   was always quite open about her critique of Britain's   
   policy of racial discrimination as well as the economic   
   and social exploitation of India. . . .   
      
   Continues at:   
      
   http://www.dailypioneer.com/sunday-edition/agenda/books/a-rare-g   
   m-in-history.html   
      
   Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi   
   Om Shanti   
      
   http://bit.do/jaimaharaj   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)