Nivedita, continued...

As much as she had extreme tenderness for the masses, she was also fiercely protective of them, like a tigress of her cubs. She could not withstand patronizing or unkind comments about them, nor could she tolerate any attempt by the Government to harm them in any way. She often patiently withstood betrayal, meanness, treachery and exploitation by undeserving persons who wanted to pick into her meager earnings.  Her only fear in this regard was that her friends would   judge her ‘people’ unkindly on the basis of such instances.