Sadhu Vaswani Institute of Teachers' Training (SVIOTT)
The Mira Legacy
Education and the MIRA Movement
Founded in Hyderabad-Sind in 1933 by Sadhu Vaswani, MIRA is a movement for education. MIRA Movement was the brainchild of Sadhu Vaswani, a visionary saint and philosopher who believed deeply in woman-power and the woman-spirit, years before feminism even came into being.
As early as 1932, he founded MIRA School in Sindh, a model institution with plans to develop into MIRA University before the partition of the subcontinent forced him and his team to migrate from Sind to Maharashtra in independent India. Maharashtra, with its glorious history of culture and liberalism, provided an ideal ground for the MIRA Movement to flourish. MIRA Schools and Colleges were established in quick succession.
Why MIRA?
Educational institutions set up by Sadhu Vaswani were christened ‘MIRA’.
The name MIRA is a powerful symbol of nobility, wisdom, Indian culture, courage, purity, service, sacrifice and above all, dedication and devotion. Sadhu Vaswani fervently wished the students of the MIRA institutions may draw inspiration from St. Mira's message of dignity and dedication, self-assertion and self-surrender, and to become strong and courageous in the face of adversity; for MIRA students at all institutions to develop faith and determination so that they will not be oppressed by evil customs but rather rebel against them peacefully.
MIRA Movement is a testament to the adage: educate a man and you educate an individual; educate a woman and you enlighten a family. MIRA's institutions pursue this ideal by providing an environment where girls are able to flourish and develop to their full potential.
St. Mira seemed to Sadhu Vaswani like a free spirit. It was evident that she had true bhakti - devotion that was absolute, unconditional and total.
Our Sister Institutions
There are seventeen educational institutions that offer primary to postgraduate education across major cities in India and London. There are three international schools in New Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. A pioneering college for girls only, St. MIRA's College for Girls was established in Pune in 1962. The college is today one of the best in Pune and was accredited by the UGC with the prestigious designation CPE [College with Potential for Excellence]. By setting up the Sadhu Vaswani College of Nursing and SVIMS in Pune, the Sadhu Vaswani Mission expanded into the professional education sector.
A world-renowned spiritual leader and messenger of Indian spiritual heritage, Dada J.P. Vaswani is the head of the MIRA Movement's headquarters in Pune. Its institutions flourish under the guidance of the Movement's enlightened and supportive leadership. After his physical body has been dissolved, Sadhu T.L Vaswani's sacred memory is perpetuated by naming educational institutions after him.
Sadhu Vaswani Institute of Teachers' Training is humbled to be a part of seventeen sister institutions that are operating under the Mira Legacy with the blessings of the Masters.
