BENGALURU: They live a life of solitude, dedicated to prayer. And unlike other
nuns, they have no contact with the outside world.
Meet the inhabitants of the
Cloistered Carmelite Convent, who leave the premises only for two reasons — medical emergencies and to cast their vote.
The convent, which may not be known to many, is located on Ali Askar Road, central Bengaluru, and houses 17 nuns. Of them, three are aged above 80 and are battling health problems, which is why they won’t be able to exercise their franchise this time. The nuns have Aadhaar and voter ID cards.
The eldest is a 96-year-old nun from Ranchi who was a typist with the British army during World War I. The youngest are in their early 20s, who joined the convent in 2012. Only five are aged below 50. Political parties have visited the convent seeking votes. “But they hardly know anything about us,” said a nun.
The nuns barely have interactions with the public. Even when they meet relatives, it’s through grilled windows in the parlour. Relatives can, however, telephone them if needed. The nuns prepare and sell pickles and host, a wafer used in Christian rituals. Even fruits and vegetables grown on the two-acre campus are sold. Avocados are in huge demand among buyers, who are mostly people living in the vicinity. The nuns do all chores on their own. One of them, who’s called the extern, manages the necessary communication between the convent and the outside world.
“Voting is our responsibility and we will exercise our democratic right,” said Marie Yvonne, 67, mother superior of the convent, voicing the opinion of all the nuns. She said the convent has nuns from across the country. “People outside have their own ideas about us. We are here by choice and are leading a spiritual life. My mother was asked a lot of questions about me, but she told our relatives that I’m happy here. Though young girls want to join the convent, their parents don’t let them as they think an educated girl must work, get married and settle down. In the past five years, we have not had any nun joining us,” said Marie, who joined the convent in 1971 when she was 21.
Five years ago, a young girl with a PhD in aeronautics joined a cloistered convent in Pune, she recalled. “It may be a challenge for us in future. We may have to ask other cloistered convents to send nuns for help,” Marie added.
They communicate via blogs, emails
The convent gets an English newspaper and has internet and phone facilities for the nuns. Since 2016, some nuns from the 37 cloistered convents in India have taken to blogging — they communicate with the outside world through the hymns and views they post online. The heads of cloistered convents interact via phone calls or emails. They meet once a year to discuss new ways of interacting with the younger nuns as the age difference is vast.
The campus houses a chapel which is open to the public till 6.30pm. However, the nuns stand behind curtains during prayer and don’t come in contact with the public. With privacy becoming a concern as the convent is surrounded by highrises, trees are being grown on the campus to block the view.
A day in the life of a nun: Eat, pray and work
Their day begins at 5am. The first hour is dedicated to individual prayers, which is followed by half an hour of group prayer till 6.30am. At 7am, they participate in the mass. Breakfast is at 8am, after which the nuns bake bread and host till 11am. They congregate for lunch at 11.30am, which is followed by recreational time between 12pm and 1pm, during which they can interact with one another. The nuns rest for an hour and meet for spiritual reading at 2pm. From 3pm-5pm, they are busy with baking and other work. After individually praying from 5pm-6pm, they meet for half an hour of group prayer. Then it’s time for supper, followed by a recreational hour. They pray again from 8pm-9pm and retire to their rooms. They return for prayer at 9.45pm and go back to their rooms at 10.15pm.
