Ripples and Rainbows: The Magic of Sister Cyril

Calcutta. The city of joy. Of poverty and slums. The capital of the old British Raj. The home of Mother Theresa and Rabindranath Tagore. But what doesn’t immediately come to mind when someone says “Calcutta” is the image of a full-figured, grey haired, bespectacled Catholic sister in knee-length white habit, matching white sports socks and grey running shoes, her navy blue veil flapping behind her as she zips along on her scooter through the crowded roads of India’s cultural and artistic metropolis. Not a sight you would expect to see. But she’s there if you look. For Sister Cyril has been a fixture on Calcutta’s streets for over four decades.