“I grew up in London with my brother and parents who were very traditional Hindu parents – I say traditional but they must have been quite open-minded to come to London in 1957.”
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![Sister Jayanti as a girl with her brother.](/mystory1-1500w.jpg)
“Gradually I understood that the very basic differences between India and London were something I needed to sort out in my own mind, in terms of my own life and life choices. There was the permissive society in London, the mainstream UK society, the Hindu society and then there was the spiritual path which my mother was following with The Brahma Kumaris. It wasn’t part of mainstream Hindu society, but she had the courage and the insight to be able to follow her heart.”
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![2nd L - Brahma Baba, Founder of The Brahma Kumaris, Rajniben (Sister Jayanti's mother) and Sister Jayanti as a young woman](/mystory2-1500w.jpg)
“I had known Dadi Janki throughout my childhood in India and she had always been someone very, very important to me. Dadi was the one who inspired me to go back to London and start a Centre. She was the seed of the service that is now happening and later on, when she came to live in London, I became her translator.”
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![The original London team - Murlibhai, Jagdishbhai (visiting) Rameshbhai (visiting), Nirmalabhen, Sheel Dadi and Rosiebhen, Sister Jayanti and Rajniben, London 1972](/mystory3-1500w.jpg)
“I found that it wasn’t enough to give a literal translation of the words Dadi was using, but I had to translate the cultural context of the language and many of the concepts she was using. I continued to gain many insights into how to work with different personalities and situations, and use spirituality as a tool in life…”
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![Dadi Janki (Mentor) with young Sister Jayanti at the Global Retreat Centre, Oxfordshire](/mystory4-1500w.jpg)
“Spirituality gives you a very clear picture and a guideline of what you can do for yourself but also what the contribution is that you can make for the world.”
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![Interfaith event at the Vatican, Rome. Sister Jayanti presented Pope John Paul II a gift from the Brahma Kumaris which came from the Community of Saint Egidio in Poland. It was a sculpture that depicted rays of light over the globe. 1987](/mystory5-1500w.jpg)
“Our affiliation with the UN has helped enormously in giving us credibility in certain circles. In 1986 we received seven Peace Messenger Awards from the UN for our work for the International Year of Peace and our project ‘The Million Minutes of Peace’. We now hold General Consultative Status with the UN which is the highest level that an NGO can achieve.”
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![Robert Mueller, Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, with Sister Jayanti at the opening of The Brahma Kumaris Om Shanti Bhavan, during the International Peace Conference, Mount Abu, Feb 1983](/mystory6-1500w.jpg)
“A lot of our work in recent times has been related to climate change with the COP conferences, biodiversity, environment generally, but also in other areas that the UN works in – and so it’s been a very beautiful partnership.”
![“Climate and Nature: The role of faith based organisations in securing a nature positive world”: L-R Karenna Gore, Center for Earth Ethics, Dan Perel, UN Representative for the International Baha'i Community, Sister Jayanti, Gopal D. Patel, Bhumi Global, Debra Boudreaux, Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, and Gavin Edwards (moderator), Global Coordinator, WWF New Deal for Nature and People, organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature, COP26, Glasgow Nov 2021.](/mystory7-1500w.jpg)