She founded Nirmal Hriday (Pure Heart) in 1952. Here, the homeless and the dying were brought in and taken care of. They were washed, fed and allowed to die with dignity.

She set up Shanti Nagar (Town of Peace), a leprosarium, in the mid-1950s on land granted by the Indian government. Here leprosy patients, who were not accepted in society, were given support.

Her words: "We have very little, so we have nothing to be preoccupied with. The more you have, the more you are occupied, the less you give. But the less you have, the more free you are. Poverty for us is a freedom. It is not a mortification, a penance. It is joyful freedom. There is no television here, no this, no that. This is the only fan in the whole house. It doesn't matter how hot it is, and it is for the guests. But we are perfectly happy." (www.time.com)