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Sarojini Naidu

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Sarojini , (born as Sarojini Chattopadhyaya) also known by the sobriquet as The Nightingale of India,[1] was a child prodigy, Indian independence activist and poet. Sarojini Naidu was one of the framers of the Indian Constitution.,[2] and the first [[Governor of Uttar Pradesh] from 1947 to 1949, the first woman to become the governor of an Indian state. She was also the first Indian woman to become the president of the Indian National Congress in 1925 [3]

Early life

Sarojini was born in Hyderabad to Aghore Nath Chattopadhyay and Barada Sundari Debi on 13 February 1879. Her father was a doctor of Science from Edinburgh University, settled in Hyderabad State, where he found and administered the Hyderabad College, which later became the Nizam's College in Hyderabad. Her mother was a poetess and used to write poetry in Bengali. Sarojini Naidu was the eldest among the eight siblings. Her brother Birendranath was a revolutionary and her other brother, Harindranath was a poet, dramatist, and actor.[4]

Education

Sarojini passed her Matriculation examination from the University of Madras, but she took four years' break from her studies. In 1895, the "Nizam scholarship Trust" founded by the 6th Nizam - Mir Mahbub Ali Khan, gave her the chance to study in England first at King's College London and later at poem wall Girton College, Cambridge.

Political Career

Independence movement

Sarojini Naidu (extreme right) with Mahatma Gandhi during Salt Satyagraha, 1930

Sarojini Naidu joined the Indian national movement in the wake of partition of Bengal in 1905. She came into contact with Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Rabindranath Tagore, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Annie Besant, C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.[5]

During 1915-1918, she travelled to different regions in India delivering lectures on social welfare, women's empowerment and nationalism. She also helped to establish the Women's Indian Association (WIA) in 1917.[6] She was sent to London along with Annie Besant, President of WIA, to present the case for the women's vote to the Joint Select Committee.

President of the Congress

In 1925,Sarojini presided over the annual session of Indian National Congress at Cawnpore.

In 1929, she presided over East African Indian Congress in South Africa. She was awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal by the British government for her work during the plague epidemic in India.[7]

In 1931, she participated in the Round table conference with Gandhi and Madan Mohan Malaviya.[8]

She played a leading role during the Civil Disobedience Movement and was jailed along with Gandhi and other leaders. In 1942, she was arrested during the "Quit India" movement.

Literary career

Sarojini began writing at the age of 13. Her Persian play, Maher Muneer, impressed the Nawab of Hyderabad.

In 1905, her first collection of poems, named "The Golden Threshold" was published.[9] Her poems were admired by many prominent Indian politicians like Gopal Krishna Gokhale.

Her collection of poems entitled "The Feather of The Dawn" was edited and published posthumously in 1961 by her daughter Padamaja.[10]

Golden Threshold

The Golden Threshold is the name of one of the central building on the University of Hyderabad's campus. The building was the residence of Naidu's father Dr. Aghornath Chattopadhyay, the first Principal of Hyderabad College. It was named after Naidu's collection of poetry. Golden Threshold now houses Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication of University of Hyderabad. [11]

During the Chattopadhyay family's residence, it was the center of many reformist ideas in Hyderabad, in areas ranging from marriage, education, women’s empowerment, literature and nationalism.

Harindranath Chattopadhyay about this house, where anyone and any ideas were welcome for discussion, “a museum of wisdom and culture,a zoo crowded with a medley of strange types – some even verging on the mystique”.[citation needed]

Her 135th Birthday (in 2014) was marked by a doodle on Google India's Homepage.[12]

Marriage

Sarojini met Dr. Govindarajulu Naidu, a doctor by profession, and fell in love with him. At the age of 19, after finishing her studies, she got married to him. At this time, inter-caste marriages were not allowed, but her father approved the marriage and her marriage was a very happy moment.[4]

The couple had five children- Jayasurya, Padmaja, Randheer, Nilawar and Leelamani. Her daughter Padmaja followed her footprints and became the Governor of West Bengal, as well as a poet.[10]

Death

Sarojini died of a heart attack while working in her office in Lucknow on March 2, 1949[10][13]

Works

Each year links to its corresponding "year in poetry" article:

  • 1905: The Golden Threshold, published in the United Kingdom[14] (text available online)
  • 1912: The Bird of Time: Songs of Life, Death & the Spring, published in London[15]
  • 1917: The Broken Wing: Songs of Love, Death and the Spring, including "The Gift of India" (first read in public in 1915)[15][16]
  • 1916: Muhammad Jinnah: An Ambassador of Unity[17]
  • 1943: The Sceptred Flute: Songs of India, Allahabad: Kitabistan, posthumously published[15]
  • 1961: The Feather of the Dawn, posthumously published, edited by her daughter, Padmaja Naidu[18]
  • 1971:The Indian Weavers[19]

Famous Poems

  • Damayante to Nala in the Hour of Exile
  • Ecstasy
  • Indian Dancers
  • The Indian
  • Indian Love-Song
  • Indian Weavers
  • In Salutation to the Eternal Peace
  • In the Forest
  • In the Bazaars of Hyderabad( Refer to English textbook of 9th std ICSE board)
  • Ramamuratham
  • Nightfall in the City of Hyderabad
  • Palanquin Bearers
  • The Pardah Nashin
  • Past and Future
  • The Queen's Rival
  • The Royal Tombs of Golconda
  • The Snake-Charmer
  • Song of a Dream
  • Song of Radha,the milkmaid
  • The Soul's Prayer
  • Suttee
  • To a Buddha Seated on a Lotus
  • To the God of Pain
  • Wandering Singers
  • Street Cries
  • Alabaster
  • Autumn Song
  • Bangle Sellers
  • The Coromandel Fishers
  • To youth

Commemoration

She is commemorated through the naming of several institutions including the Sarojini Naidu College for Women, Sarojini Naidu Medical College, Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital and Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication, University of Hyderabad.

References

  1. ^ "Colors of India". First Woman Governor of a State in India. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  2. ^ editor (2000). A to C (Abd Allah ibn al-Abbas to Cypress). New Delhi: Encyclopædia Britannica (India). ISBN 978-0-85229-760-5. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "Google Doodle for Sarojini Naidu's 135th Birth Anniversary accessdate=13 February 2014". {{cite web}}: Missing pipe in: |title= (help)
  4. ^ a b "Biography of Naidu".
  5. ^ compiled (2008). Freedom fighters of India (in four volumes). Delhi: Isha Books. p. 142. ISBN 978-81-8205-468-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Pasricha, Ashu (2009). The political thought of Annie Besant. New Delhi: Concept Pub. Co. p. 24. ISBN 978-81-8069-585-8.
  7. ^ Jain, Reena. "Sarojini Naidu". Stree Shakti. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  8. ^ "The Biography of Sarojini Naidu". Poem Hunter. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  9. ^ Sarkar, [editors], Amar Nath Prasad, Bithika (2008). Critical response to Indian poetry in English. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons. p. 11. ISBN 978-81-7625-825-8. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ a b c "Family of Naidu".
  11. ^ "Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication". Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  12. ^ "Google Doodle celebrates Sarojini Naidu's 135th Birthday". news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  13. ^ [#http://www.indiavision.com/national/google-doodles-sarojini-naidus-135th-birth-anniversary/473944/ "Google doodles Sarojini Naidu's 135th birth anniversary'"]. Indiavision news. February.13, 2014. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Knippling, Alpana Sharma, "Chapter 3: Twentieth-Century Indian Literature in English", in Natarajan, Nalini, and Emanuel Sampath Nelson, editors, Handbook of Twentieth-century Literatures of India (Google books link), Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996, ISBN 978-0-313-28778-7, retrieved December 10, 2008
  15. ^ a b c Vinayak Krishna Gokak, The Golden Treasury Of Indo-Anglian Poetry (1828-1965), p 313, New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi (1970, first edition; 2006 reprint), ISBN 81-260-1196-3, retrieved August 6, 2010
  16. ^ Sisir Kumar Das, "A History of Indian Literature 1911-1956: Struggle for Freedom: Triumph and Tragedy", p 523, New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi (1995), ISBN 81-7201-798-7; retrieved August 10, 2010
  17. ^ "Jinnah in India's history". The Hindu. 12 August 2001. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  18. ^ Lal, P., Modern Indian Poetry in English: An Anthology & a Credo, p 362, Calcutta: Writers Workshop, second edition, 1971 (however, on page 597 an "editor's note" states contents "on the following pages are a supplement to the first edition" and is dated "1972")
  19. ^ "Indian Weavers". Poem Hunter. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
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