History can be unkindest at times. It sweeps into oblivion real incidents and heroes. Ad filmmaker Sujata Sett took an arduous, time-traversing walk to uncover the lesser known life of Umadevi aka Wanda Dynowska. The end result is a rivetting documentary. By Saritha Saraswathy Balan
Sett heard about Umadevi while she was visiting her friend Monica Kapil Mohta, the then Indian ambassador to Poland, in 2013. The unfamiliarity of the name in a foreign setting set her on a wild chase which finally culminated in unwrapping of the life of a woman who led a multi-faceted life — as a historian, philosopher and humanitarian.
Wanda Dynowska, who Mahatma Gandhi rechristened for her compassion, rescued 1,000 children, Jewish and Poles, who had to flee Poland during the excesses of the second World War with the support of the king of Jamnagar, a princely state in Gujarat. She raised funds for these children so that they could equip themselves with a changed world and are now spread across different parts of the globe. Enamoured by Indian philosophy and spirituality, Umadevi worked with Jiddu Krishnamurti, Ramana Maharshi and The Theosophical Society during her stay here.
“There was no literature available about such a great heroine of history except one article written by a Polish. She was like a mystery,” Sett says. So she put together a research team and went to Jiddu Krishnamurti and Ramana Maharshi foundations to unearth details. The search took Sett to Poland where she met people who knew Umadevi. “Travelling to Poland was of great help. I spoke to the children she had rescued, who are very old now. I spoke to Wlodzimierz Staniewski, a theatre personality in Poland, who had found Umadevi’s grave in Mysore. I spoke to sister Victorine at Nirmala Convent Mysore. I got more details and photographs from a Polish academy. Before that I had only one photo and we were just randomly shooting people who spoke about her,” Sett told us, retracing her trail in making the documentary - Enlightened Soul: The Three Names of Umadevi.
Umadevi came to India in 1935, fully transformed herself as an Indian and became well-versed in Hindi and Tamil. She was the only foreign woman who translated hundreds of spiritual books, including the Bhagavad Gita and Mahabharata into Polish. She had similar affinity for freedom movements. “She supported three freedom struggles; of India, Poland and Tibet,” Sett informs.
Umadevi was in her 70s when she came out for the Tibetans in 1960. She raised funds for them as well and put their children into school. She insisted upon them wearing traditional clothes at home and speaking their own language so that they wouldn’t lose their roots. The Tibetans called her Tenzin Chodon or the keeper of faith. She was like a matriarch. In his interview with Sett, the Dalai lama says, “She was mother, motherji.” She had influenced him to such an extent that he became vegetarian though his health issues demanded that he have at least chicken soup everyday.
“She could empathise with Tibetans as she herself was a refugee. She knew loss, having lost her lover to the war, during the Soviet invasion to be precise. Umadevi never had a boyfriend after that. Her spiritual journey started from there though the seeds were sown rather young. Born into a noble family, she imbibed a lot from her mother, who was spiritually inclined. Umadevi found a chapter of the Theosophical society in Poland during the communist rule though the regime suspected her to be a spy,” Sett says.
So what compelled the filmmaker to document her lifeIJ “We need stories like that of her at a time of hatred and division. Having born in Poland, she synced with an alien culture quite smoothly. She only wore saris after internalising Indian culture. She didn’t change the habit even when she visited Poland. She visited Poland only twice after she came to India. During her visit to Poland, it was difficult to make her eat. For her, the body was just like a costume which we change when we die. She believed in rebirth. Her life would have merited a feature film but I just chose to excel in my format,” says Sett.
Sara Adhikari, who is half-Bengali, half-British, plays Umadevi while her daughter plays her younger version. An Indo- Polish joint venture, the documentary was made by the end of 2015 and premiered at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan in September. It was screened at the 21st Kolkata film festival.