Nirmala Deshpande was born in Nagpur, Maharashtra on October 17, 1929. Her parents were the late Shri P.Y.Deshpande and Shrimati Vimalabai Deshpande. Her father was very active in the Indian independence movement and also served as a Member of Parliament. He brought Nirmala up in what was, for the times, an unusually open and intellectually free environment. When she was given the chance for higher education she took the opportunity to earn her Master Degree in Political Science from Nagpur, India. She also studied at Ferguson College, Pune. Initially, after her graduation she served as lecturer in Political Science in Morris College, Nagpur.

However, Nirmala Deshpande was not content to remain in the safe haven of the academic community. She had a strong desire to serve the poor, deprived and downtrodden. Soon she joined the revered Vinoba Bhave’s ashram in Paunar. Nirmal Deshpande joined the Bhoodan Movement in 1955 and undertook "padyatras" (a vow to make a sacred journey by foot) of forty thousand kilometers with Vinoba Bhave. During this historic march, Vinoba Bhave and his followers collected thousands of acres of land donated by those who believed in Gandhi’s message and distributed among the poor and land less people.

After the passing of Vinoba Bhave, Nirmala Deshpande continued Gandhi’s and Vinoba Bhave’s work. In more recent times she has organized various peace marches in Punjab in 1983 and 1984 and a Peace Mission in Kashmir in 1994. She also organized meetings in various parts of India hoping to bring awareness and help to the downtrodden tribal groups and scheduled castes (minorities). Throughout her life Nirmala Deshpande has made great contributions to these groups in the fields of education, employment and empowerment. One of her most passionate goals since 1996 is to reduce the tensions in India that have led to communal violence and to promote peace between Pakistan and India. Recently, without any security, she visited the disturbed areas of Kashmir, such as Doda, Bhadarwah, Kishtwar. Today at 74 she continues to spread Gandhi’s message of peace and non-violence as the path to a better world.

When she is not traveling in the cause of peace, Nirmala Deshpande resides at Kingsway Camp in Delhi where Gandhi stayed during many years in which he worked for independence. Her simple lifestyle and sincerity make her one of the few living representatives of the Gandhi era.

Last summer of 2003 she visited Mount Madonna centre in San Franscisco, USA where she shared her vision of her Guru Shri Vinoba Bhave - of Jai Jagat or Victory to the World

www.nirmaladeshpande.org
didi@gartindia.org