13 February, 1879 -
2 March, 1949
Known as the "Ccuckoo of India", Sarojini Devi was a
distinguished poet, renowned freedom fighter and one of the great orators of
her time. Her father Aghoranath Chattopadhyaya was a good scholar of Sanskrit,
Greek, Hebrew, Persian and English languages. He was the principal of The
Nizam's College at Hyderabad, now capital of Andhra Pradesh. Sarojini's mother
Varadasundari Devi wrote poetry in Bengali and knew Sanskrit. Sarojini was the
eldest among their eight children. All the children grew learning and speaking
besides Bengali, their mother-tongue, Urdu, Telugu and English. One of her
brothers Birendranath was a revolutionary and spent his life outside India all
the time for fear of getting extradited for sedition and black waters. Other
brother Harindranath was a poet, dramatist and actor.
Childhood and Early
Life
Sarojini Naidu (née
Chattopadhyay) was born on February 13, 1879 in Hyderabad. Her father, Dr.
Aghore Nath Chattopadhyay was a scientist, philosopher, and educator. He
founded the Nizam College of Hyderabad. Her mother, Varada Sundari Devi was a
poetess in the Bengali language. Dr. Aghore Nath Chattopadhyay was the first
member of the Indian National Congress in Hyderabad. For his socio-political
activities, Aghore Nath was dismissed from his position of Principal. One of
his brothers, Virendranath Chattopadhyay, played key role in establishing the
Berlin Committee. As a political activist involved in India’s on-going struggle
for self-rule, he was heavily influenced by Communism. Her second brother
Harindranath Chattopadhyay was a renowned poet and a successful playwright.
Her sister, Sunalini Devi was a dancer and actress
Since childhood,
Sarojini was a very bright and intelligent child. She was proficient in
multiple languages including English, Bengali, Urdu, Telugu and Persian. She
topped her matriculation exams from Madras University. Her father wanted
Sarojini to become a mathematician or scientist, but young Sarojini was
attracted to poetry.
She applied her
prodigious literary skills to write a 1300 lines long poem in English titled
‘The Lady of the Lake’. Impressed with Sarojini’s skills of expressing emotions
with appropriate words, Dr. Chattopadhyaya encouraged her works. Few months
later, Sarojini, with assistance from her father, wrote the play "Maher
Muneer" in the Persian language.
Sarojini met Muthyala Govindarajulu Naidu, a South Indian,
and a non-Brahmin physician while she was studying in England and fell in love.
After returning to India, she married him at the age of 19, with his family’s
blessings. They were married by the Brahmo Marriage Act (1872), in Madras in
1898. The marriage took place at a time when inter-caste marriages were not
allowed and tolerated in the Indian society. Her marriage was a very happy one.
They had four children.
Role of Sarojini Naidu in freedom movement
Sarojini was
initiated into the Indian political arena by iconic stalwarts of the Indian
freedom struggle, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Gandhi. She was deeply affected by
the partition of Bengal in 1905 and decided to join the Indian freedom
struggle. She met regularly with Gopal Krishna Gokhale, who in turn introduced
her to the otherleaders of the Indian freedom movement. Gokhale urged her to
devote her intellect and education for the cause. She took a respite from
writing and devoted herself fully to the political cause. She met Mahatma
Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, C. P. Ramaswami Iyer and Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
Her relationship with Gandhi was that of mutual respect as well as of benign
humour. She famously called Gandhi ‘Mickey Mouse’ and quipped "It costs a
lot to keep Gandhi poor!”
She met Jawaharlal
Nehru in 1916, worked with him for the disheartening conditions of the Indigo
workers of Champaran in the western district of Bihar and fought vehemently
with the British for their rights. Sarojini Naidu travelled all over India and
delivered speeches on welfare of youth, dignity of labor, women's emancipation
and nationalism. In 1917, she helped found the Women’s India Association with
Annie Besant and other prominent leaders. She also presented to Congress the
need to involve more women in the freedom struggle. She travelled extensively
to the United States of America and many European countries as the flag-bearer
of the Indian Nationalist struggle.
In March 1919, the
British government passed the Rowlatt Act by which the possession of seditious
documents was deemed illegal. Mahatma Gandhi organized the Non-Cooperation
Movement to protest and Naidu was the first to join the movement. Sarojini
Naidu religiously followed Gandhi’s example and actively supported his other
campaigns like the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, the Khilafat issue, the
Sabarmati Pact, the Satyagraha Pledge and the Civil Disobedience Movement. When
Gandhi was arrested after the Salt March to Dandi in 1930, she led the
Dharasana Satyagraha with other leaders. She accompanied Gandhi to London to
take part in the Round Table Talks with the British Government in 1931. Her
political activities and role in the Freedom struggle led to several stints in
prison – in 1930, 1932, and 1942. Her 1942 arrest led to imprisonment for 21
months.
She went to England
in 1919 as a member of the All-India Home Rule Deputation. In January 1924, she
was one of the two delegates of the Indian National Congress to attend the East
African Indian Congress. As a result of her selfless contribution to the cause
of freedom, she was elected as the President of the Indian National Congress
Party in 1925.
Naidu played an
immense role in presenting the nuances of the Indian non-violent struggle for
freedom to the world. She travelled to Europe and even to the United states to
disseminate Gandhian principles and was partly responsible for establishing him
as this icon of peace.
After the
independence of India, she became the first governor of the United Provinces
(now Uttar Pradesh) and remained in the role till her death in 1949. Her
birthday, March 2, is honoured as Women's Day in India.
Literary
Achievements
Besides her role
and contribution to the Indian Nationalist Movement, Sarojini Naidu is also
revered for her contribution in the field of Indian poetry. Many of her works
were transformed into songs. She drew her inspiration from nature as well as
surrounding daily life and her poetry echoed with the ethos of her patriotism.
In 1905, her collection of poems was published under the title "Golden
Threshold". Later, she also published two other collections called
"The Bird of Time", and "The Broken Wings", both of which
attracted huge readership in both India and England. Apart from poetry, she also
penned articles and essays like ‘Words of Freedom’ on her political beliefs and
social issues like women empowerment.
One of the famous poem of her:
The Gift of India
by Sarojini Naidu (India, 1915)
Is there ought you need that my hands withhold,
Rich gifts of raiment or grain or gold?
Lo! I have flung to the East and the West
Priceless treasures torn from my breast,
And yielded the sons of my stricken womb
To the drum-beats of the duty, the sabers of doom.
Gathered like pearls in their alien graves
Silent they sleep by the Persian waves,
Scattered like shells on Egyptian sands,
They lie with pale brows and brave, broken hands,
they are strewn like blossoms mown down by chance
On the blood-brown meadows of Flanders and France
Can ye measure the grief of the tears I weep
Or compass the woe of the watch I keep?
Or the pride that thrills thro' my heart's despair
And the hope that comforts the anguish of prayer?
And the far sad glorious vision I see
Of the torn red banners of victory?
when the terror and the tumult of hate shall cease
And life be refashioned on anvils of peace,
And your love shall offer memorial thanks
To the comrades who fought on the dauntless ranks,
And you honour the deeds of the dauntless ones,
Remember the blood of my martyred sons!
Death & Legacy
Sarojini Naidu was
the first women Governor of Uttar Pradesh. Naidu died of cardiac arrest at
3:30 p.m. (IST) on 2 March 1949
at the Government House in Lucknow. She lived her glorious life by her
own words, “As long as I have life, as long as blood flows through this arm of
mine, I shall not leave the cause of freedom…I am only a woman, only a poet.
But as a woman, I give to you the weapons of faith and courage and the shield
of fortitude. And as a poet, I fling out the banner of song and sound, the
bugle call to battle. How shall I kindle the flame which shall waken you men
from slavery...” Her childhood residence at Nampally was bequeathed to the
University of Hyderabad by her family and it was christened as ‘The Golden
Threshold’ after Naidu’s 1905 publication. The University renamed its School of
Fine Arts and Communication as ‘Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and
Communication’ to honour the Nightingale of India.
