It has become a matter of national pride. The world will be watching and no chances are being taken with the state funeral of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. As the Missionaries of Charity yesterday marked the 51st anniversary of "inspiration day", the day Mother Teresa said she received a message from God to devote herself to the poor and set up the order, the Indian army has taken over many of the funeral arrangements 24 hours ahead of schedule.
Early yesterday morning troops carried out a two-hour practice session at the church in preparation for the procession, and because of the huge numbers of visitors to the 19th-century church of St Thomas, large numbers of soldiers have been drafted in for crowd control.
Today the body of the nun, who died last Friday after a heart attack, will be draped in the Indian tricolour. A volunteer with the order said huge numbers had arrived at the church "because they want to see Mother before the flag is wrapped around her".
The funeral cortege will move along the city's main streets, some of which can only be described as craters with a bit of road around them. But with astonishing speed the army has moved to re-surface the problem roads in time for the state funeral.
"You know, Calcutta people have a sense of occasion and this is very much an occasion," said one observer. "If there were a million or more people at Diana's funeral then Calcutta could have two million." And the similarities between the funeral of the Princess of Wales and Mother Teresa were marked.
One of India's most famous pop singers, Usha Uthup, wrote a song for "Mother" the day after her death and she is expected to sing it at the requiem Mass. The Calcutta-based singer who has been at St Thomas's church every day, called the song For the Poorest of the Poor and the words begin: "You filled their hearts with love and peace, O Mother, Mother Teresa."
An estimated half-a-million people have visited the church where Mother Teresa has lain in State since Sunday. Yesterday alone it is believed some 200,000 people queued in two lines up to half-a-mile long for a brief glimpse of the woman whose name is synonymous with Calcutta and its teeming population of 14 million.
The list of international dignitaries attending continues to grow. Queen Noor of Jordan, Queen Sophia of Spain and the Duchess of Kent, representing Britain, will be among the guests. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Ms Hazina Wased, and the President of Ghana, Mr Jerry Rawlings, are also expected.
Mrs Sonia Gandhi, wife of the assassinated prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, is expected, as is the Indian President, Mr K.R. Narayanan. The Vatican's Head of State, Cardinal Sodano Angelo, will represent the Pope.
Everybody, it seems, is playing their part including the grave diggers, who are carrying out their work free.
But some have noted the difference between the coverage of two icons of the late 20th century. A Punjabi visitor to Calcutta pointed out that only one of India's national newspapers had a front-page story about the 87-year-old nun but they all had stories about Diana, the Princess of Wales.
