Does the name Wanda Dynowska ring a bell? Not surprising, if it doesn’t as she is among those innumerable Indian personalities who have remained unsung. A Polish writer, poet, philosopher, theosophist and activist who arrived in India in 1935 to embrace the country, its people, its problems and sorrows as her own, she stayed back to do her best to help all those in need before passing away quietly in 1971.
Bringing to light her life and remarkable contributions is the documentary “Enlightened Soul: The Three Names Of Umadevi” produced by Sujata Sett, which was premiered at the Rashtapathi Bhavan last year in the presence of President Pranab Mukherjee.
The film draws immediate attention as it starts by showing a resting place in one of the largest Buddhist settlements at Bylakuppe Karnataka which is dedicated to a woman with three names — Wanda Dynowska, Umadevi and Tenzin Chodon. During the course of viewing the documentary one learns that born as Dynowska, she got the name Umadevi, the bearer of light from Mahatma Gandhi with whom she worked for India’s freedom struggle and subsequently called Tenzin Chodon, the keeper of the faith, by Tibetans, when she helped them settle down after they fled from China in 1959. “The three identities came to her because of circumstances but at the core she was one who empathised with the displaced and oppressed. Having seen and faced persecution in Poland she knew how it affected one’s identity and life,” explains Sett.
Dynowska’s story starts at Poland where after losing her fiancé in a war she devoted herself wholly to spirituality and helped establish a Theosophical Society chapter in the country. Subsequently on moving to India, she stayed at the Theosophical Society Adyar and came under the influence of great thinkers like J. Krishnamurthi and Ramana Maharishi. Inspired by Hindu scriptures, she went on to translate Bhagavad Gita, Ramayan and Mahabharat and several other Hindu spiritual books into Polish while also translating many important works of Polish poets into English, Tamil and Hindi. She played a crucial role in establishing Indo-Polish libraries in India and Poland. “Acting as a window for the two countries she helped to bring East and West closer. Interestingly during her visit to Poland she poured Gangajal in Vistula, the longest and largest river of that region symbolising the meeting of the two cultures,” reveals Sett. In fact most of the Polish Indologists got attracted to the subject thanks to her translations. Says, Professor Joanna Jurewicz, Indologist at the University of Warsaw that after reading Dynowska’s translation of Gita a life took a new meaning and direction.
What is remarkable is that even during her spiritual journey Umadevi espoused the cause of Indian freedom, helped Polish refugees in India and Tibetans later on. Hers was a rather unique case of mysticism and worldliness ingrained in one persona. For the displaced Polish she took help from nearly 40 Indian rulers to settle them at Valivade, Kolhapur. In case of Tibetans she helped them organise schools, education and social infrastructure. “Umadevi was not a sanyasini per se who had renounced the world completely. On the contrary spirituality made her receptive to suffering. While able to retreat to spiritual realm she never remain unaffected by what she saw around her and reacted in a positive manner. There is no dichotomy and in fact it is her sensitivity that makes her different,” avers Sett.
Sett, who runs an advertising agency and makes documentaries as a hobby became aware of Dynowska on her visit to Poland in 2013. “I was highly intrigued on knowing about her connection with India and her close friendships with luminaries like Mahatma Gandhi and the Dalai Lama among others spurring me to make a film on her.” The film includes interviews with several Polish authors, Indologists, people associated with Theosophical Society, Dalai Lama and several Tibetans thereby providing insight to Dynowska life and character. “Through the documentary I want to celebrate and revive her memories and drive home the message of tolerance, progressiveness and humaneness which are required in today’s world torn by violence and hatred.”
