Rich tributes paid to Nirmala Deshpande at SNSMT

Rich tributes paid to Nirmala Deshpande at SNSMT 

Bhubaneswar  (17 Oct 2017): On her 88th birth anniversary a remembrance meeting was held here at the Smt. Nandini Satpathy Memorial Trust (SNSMT) Head Quarters for Padmavibhushan Nirmala Deshpande .

Nirmal Didi as commonly known was born to Vimala and Purushottam Yashawant Deshpande in Nagpur on 19 October 1929. She had embraced the Gandhian philosophy at a very young age. She ended up devoting her life in promotion of communal harmony and service to women.

Deshpande joined Vinoba Bhave's bhoodaan movement in 1952. She had undertaken a 40,000 km journey on foot all across India to carry Gandhi ji's message of Grām Swarāj. She recognized that it was difficult to practice Gandhian principles, yet believed that doing so was the only way towards a truly democratic society.

Nirmala Didi had done her MA in Political Science from Nagpur. She also studied at Fergusson College  Pune. Thereafter, she served as a lecturer in Political Science in Morris College, Nagpur

She was decorated with Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award of India in 2006 and was awarded with Sitara-e-Imtiaz posthumously by Pakistan in 2010

Deshpande was a nominated member of Rajya Sabha for two terms.

Addressing the attendees the Chairman of SNSMT Shri. Suparno Satpathy said " Nirmala ji was a mentor to me. She was very close to both my grandparents. In year 2007 her name was very considered for the Indian Presidential position. I personally was privy to the same. Had she not taken ill then, India would have had Nirmala Deshpande as the first lady to take the office of President of India. She was a wonderful soul. Her sudden demise on 1st of May 2008 was a huge personal loss as well as a great loss to India. 1st of May 2008 shall always remain as one of the saddest days of my life".

In another meeting held at Chennai to commemorate the 88th birth anniversary of Late Smt. Nirmala Deshpande, the Vice President of India Shri. M Venkaiah Naidu attended the same and paid his tributes there.