Bimla Bhola

Bimla K. Bhola (formerly Manga) of Gloucester Township, NJ, 83, was welcomed into the arms of the Divine Consciousness during the peaceful early hours of March 25, 2021. Experiencing life in various parts of the United States, she initially settled in New Jersey in 1973 when her husband, she and her two sons arrived in the United States as proud & privileged immigrants from India to Trenton, NJ. She was predeceased by her husband Siri Ram Bhola (1932-2018) also of NJ, and four siblings back home. She is survived by her youngest brother & his family in India, by her two sons & one daughter-in-law, and by her two grandchildren. She was beloved and admired as a firmly simple and deeply pious woman by numerous friends and extended family. In the past decade, the family cat and first pet also brightened her life. Vedic puja for last rites and cremation will be conducted on Monday, March 29, 2021, 1:00 PM Eastern at Wooster Funeral Home and Crematory in Atco, NJ. Immediate family and a limited number of friends will attend. Ceremony will be live-streamed for all others to view and pay their respects remotely. Please click on this link to view. Livestream Link As someone that unfailingly followed the precepts of “Love All, Serve All,” she was always ready to donate to and feed anyone within her capacity to do so without any thought of herself or for any reward. She was humbly privileged to live a life of Satya, Dharma, Shanti, Prema, and Ahimsa (Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Love, & Non-Violence in thought, word, and deed). She was devoted unflinchingly to God. As a girl, she experienced the horrors of sectarian violence accompanying India's independence from British rule including the loss of her family home, and lived in a refugee camp as a pre-teen. It was her nature to be infinitely sweet, resourceful, selfless, and loving regardless of any trauma. She never failed to exhibit those traits even during the tragic illness that preceded her sad death. Her father provided for his own education to become a physician in the early 1900s: Captain Dr. Parma Nand Manga of the Indian Army served in World War II with the British as a doctor and subsequently served his community with an old-fashioned, home-based medical practice. Her mother Kaushalya Devi remained active all the way to the end of her long and virtuous life, bequeathing the same strong constitution & outlook to her daughter Bimla. Her father and mother were immensely proud of her family’s relocation and progress in America. As a midwife in India, she delivered 20 newborns into this world. She provided visiting-nurse services for rural residents with meticulousness, dedication, and unimpeachable ethics. She credits intervention by God on her behalf for her survival as a young single woman working in territory fraught with danger. Later as a mother, her sons were gifted her loving virtues through example. She was an egoless & loving mother, highly skilled & formally trained cook, and fiercely independent in thought, word, and deed. She was a loyal wife and provided a household full of peace and holy vibrations. She was always a fervent devotee of the Divine Mother Durga, and journeyed several times in her life on pilgrimage to the ancient cavern of the Goddess at Vaishno Devi in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. She found an opportunity for her charitable disposition by providing food for the elderly as a driver for Meals on Wheels for Kennedy Hospital in Cherry Hill while adjusting to her family's newly-American life in Collingswood, NJ. During this period she also momentously surrendered her Green Card in exchange for Naturalization, becoming the first in her family to receive the privilege of American Citizenship. She traveled to Whitefield in southern India to attend a course in Human Values which trained her to impart her culture to the younger generations of Indian Americans otherwise growing up without personal exposure to the legacy & traditions of their ancestors. She loved with all her heart the Avatars and Gurus Sathya Sai Baba and Shirdi Sai Baba who both inspired her and her husband to tough it out in difficult times when they might have considered leaving America. During a family stint in Syracuse, NY, she and her husband Siri Ram together started a local center dedicated to these Avatars and Gurus. Her husband looked after organizational & logistical activities and Bimla handled devotional and Bal Vikas (children's) programs. That was the privileged social apex of her spiritual life. Despite her culturally prescribed role as a homemaker and mother, she also sought her financial independence through work initially in America as an Avon Lady. She later developed a love for Center City's now-gone Gimbel's, and the Wanamaker's Christmas Light Show. Being highly intelligent & ambitious, she completed her education for the second time in her life at Camden County College and placed on the Deans List. A satisfying career as a medical billing specialist and receptionist during the past 30 years made it possible for her to experience a worldly enriching life as well. She was an ardent animal lover, religiously feeding birds even at risk to her own safety as she grew older, and lovingly fed stray wildlife in her back yard. At the height of her active life, she also naughtily disobeyed posted signs in order to feed ducks in the Cooper River despite her sons' protests. She loved to be near the water: rivers, lakes, or the ocean. She loved giving treats of scarves and candies to neighborhood girls. One of the immensely special moments of her life was visiting a sanctuary for rescued cows on her birthday. She served passionately as a part-time volunteer at Virtua Hospital in Voorhees after her employer closed his medical practice. Her family and friends deeply mourn no longer having the company of the joyful, bright & luminous Spirit that was ever apparent in her earthly form. We are comforted by the conviction that her radiant soul feels constricted no longer by a human body, and now enjoys ever-lasting presence in the Abode of the Divine Mother and Father. The family asks that if you are so moved, to kindly donate in her memory to either the Lakshmi Cow Sanctuary in Stroudsburg, PA, http://www.cowprotection.com/ or to The Food Bank of South Jersey in Pennsauken, NJ. https://foodbanksj.org/ https://foodbanksj.org/