The Lives of Freda

Andrew Whitehead, the former BBC India correspondent and BBC News presenter, has written a biography of Freda Houlston Bedi. Hers is a fascinating life: after marrying a handsome young Sikh in Oxford in 1933, this Englishwoman became an Indian in the true sense, becoming a champion of Indian nationalism, even serving time in jail as a Satyagrahi. In 1947 she joined a women`s militia to defend Srinagar from invading Pakistani tribesmen. In the 1950s, she became a Buddhist and organised help for Tibetan refugees, also setting up a school for young lamas. Later, she became the first ever Western woman to receive full ordination as a Tibetan Buddhist nun.