Co-worker Shivnath Ram said Deshpande wanted her last rites to be performed by a girl and even chose 11-year-old Shambhavi Mishra from Allahabad for the job. Shambhavi’s father, Vibhuti Mishra, runs an NGO and was close to Deshpande. “Didi loved all children as her own, but shared a special bond with Shambhavi,” he added.

Shivnath said the 79-year-old Deshpande was suffering from fever for the past couple of days. She was found lifeless in her room early on Thursday morning.

President Pratibha Patil, in her message from Thiruvananthapuram, expressed deep sorrow over the demise of Deshpande, who she described as an eminent freedom fighter and social worker. Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit were among the first to pay floral tributes to the departed freedom fighter at her residence. In his message, the Prime Minister described Deshpande as a “living Gandhian”.

Condoling her death, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said she was a person of rare courage and compassion. “For me personally, Nirmalaji was an abiding and cherished source of guidance, support and steadfast friendship, whose loss leaves a void that will be hard to fill,” she said in her condolence message.

“With her passing away, our country has lost a great humantarian and activist who was very close to the common man,” Dikshit said. L K Advani, Prakash Karat and other leaders also paid their respects.

A diehard Gandhian, Deshpande had been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan in 2006. Born on October 17, 1929 in Nagpur, she joined Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan Movement in 1952 and undertook padyatras across the country with him. She had also written several books, prominent among them being Vinobake Sath, Kranti Ki Rah Par, Chingling, Seemant and Vinoba.

She was nominated to the Rajya Sabha for a two year stint in 1997 and again in 2004. As a parliamentarian, she raised issues of national concern and was a member of various standing committees, including those of Information and Broadcasting, Rural Development and Empowerment of Women. Deshpande was confered Russia’s Order of Friendship Russia and Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Puraskar, besides three honorary doctorates from Universites of Patiala and Amaravati and Kashi Vidyapeeth. Having taken a vow of celibacy, Deshpande used to live with some of her co-workers.