In her teens, she, too, joined this struggle for independence by becoming a youth leader, bravely leading picket lines and defying armed police. She took part in the Quit India Movement, and this never affected her determination to take part in the fight for the freedom of India.In 1942 she chose to study medicine because, as she later said, “I studied a little bit of medical science to understand what a human being is.” (22/12/73)She studied medicine at the Christian Medical College in Ludhiana and the Balakram Medical College in Lahore. However, in 1947 these medical studies were cut short due to the troubled times, so her family then thought it would be timely for her to marry.

So it was on the 7th April 1947, that Shri Mataji, then the 24-year-old Miss Nirmala Salve married Chandrika Prasad Srivastava and settled into married life, supporting her eminent husband in his diplomatic career and raising their two daughters.From this time to 1970, Shri Mataji courageously stood against prejudice, offered protection to those in need, nourished a growing family, farmed the land, encouraged culture through music and film, constructed numerous homes, engaged in charitable work, fulfilled everyday household duties, was a loving wife and mother, a supportive sister and eventually a grandmother

All the while, she was deepening her perception of human nature, focusing her attention on the best way to help human beings rise to their highest potential.She understood that this transformation could only occur through the process of Self realisation, which is the activation of the inbuilt subtle energy present in all of us.Her father had intuitively known his daughter’s potential. Shri Mataji recounts:“My father felt that I would do something great in this life. I don’t know if he dreamed it or simply understood it, but all the time he used to say, ‘you have to find out the way of giving en-masse realisation.’ By realisation he was meaning the need for a deep, spiritual awakening in people.” (9/7/86)She came to understand that this transformation could only occur through the process of self-realization, which is the activation of the inbuilt subtle energy present in all of us.

Shri Mataji knew that this experience was the trigger for her to be able to start giving Self realisation and raising the awareness in human beings.

“It was then I realised that there was no harm in starting the work. The confusion was over. At last, the time had come. There was nothing to fear. This ultimately had to be done. I had come to this world for this purpose only, to awaken the collective consciousness in human beings. I thought, until people receive their Self realisation or understand their own Self, this task will be impossible. Whatever else one would have tried to do in this world would be of no use at all.” (29/10/95)

Shri Mataji continued:

“I worked it out on an old lady who knew me well. When she received her realisation I was then satisfied. I felt many others could also get their realisation. It was easy to give realisation to one person. It was very easy to make one person aware, but to work it out on a collective level on the masses, some more work was needed.”

So she gathered a group of seekers around her and worked with them and eventually twelve had their realisation. She knew then that mass realisation was possible.She then gave realisation to all who were willing and worked with infinite patience, giving lectures and imparting cosmic truths skilfully in simple terms.She taught spiritual culture and clearing techniques to a growing band of followers, and Sahaja Yoga was gradually established.It was then that she became known as Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, the Respected Pure Divine Mother.

Eventually, in 1977 she started giving public programs at Caxton Hall in London where she lectured and worked on people individually, spending hours dealing with their problems, pouring vibrations of love and raising them up and bestowing realisation.In 1980 she began giving realisation programs in Paris, then Switzerland and in provincial cities throughout the UK.In March 1981, programs were held in Hong Kong and Australia with great success. She returned to Europe to continue her work and later that year she went back to America.Meanwhile, she was constantly travelling to India where Sahaja Yoga was thriving.Year after year she circled the globe giving program after program and by the 1990s, Sahaja Yoga was established in over ninety countries including Russia and Eastern Europe.

Shri Mataji had become a global personality, attracting media attention wherever she went, along with a succession of tributes and awards.She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and Claes Nobel, the grandnephew of Alfred Nobel and Chairman of the United Earth Foundation, declared that “Shri Mataji empowers us to become masters of our own destiny.”She was invited to speak at the United Nations headquarters in New York as well as the UN Conference for Women in Beijing.Countless city and regional governments established a day in her honour.Institutions around the world bestowed honorary awards and doctorates upon her.In 1995 she spoke at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing.Claes Nobel spoke of her Nobel Prize nomination in 1997, at the Royal Albert Hall in London. A great admirer of Shri Mataji and Sahaja Yoga, he proclaimed it “a source of hope for humanity” and “a reference point for determining right from wrong.”