SAROJINI NAIDU

(February 13, 1879 - March 2, 1949)

Sarojini Naidu (February 13, 1879 - March 2, 1949), known as Bharatiya Kokila (The Nightingale of India), was a child prodigy, freedom fighter, and poet. Naidu was the first Indian woman to become the President of the Indian National Congress and the first woman to become the governor of a state in India.

Sarojini Naidu was born in Hyderabad, India as the eldest daughter of scientist-philosopher, Aghornath Chattopadhyaya, and Varada Sundari Devi, a poetess. Her father was the finder of the Nizam College. She learnt to speak Urdu, Telugu, English, Persian and Bengali. Her favorite poet was P.B. Shelley.

She attained national fame for entering Madras University at the age of twelve. At sixteen, she travelled to England to study first at King's College London and subsequently at Girton College, Cambridge.

At the age of 17, she met Dr. Muthyala Govindarajulu Naidu and fell in love with him.

Freedom Struggle

She joined the Indian independence movement, in the wake of the aftermath of partition of Bengal in 1905. During 1903-17 Sarojini came into contact with Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Rabindranath Tagore, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Annie Besant, C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.

From 1915 to 1918 she lectured all over India on welfare of youth, dignity of labour, women's emancipation and nationalism. After meeting Jawaharlal Nehru in 1916, she took up the cause of the indigo workers of Champaran. In 1925 she was elected as the President of the Congress, the first Indian woman to hold the post.

In 1925, Sarojini Naidu presided over the annual session of Indian National Congress at Kanpur. Sarojini Naidu played a leading role during the Civil Disobedience Movement and was jailed along with Gandhiji and other leaders. In 1942, Sarojini Naidu was arrested during the "Quit India" movement and was jailed for 21 months with Gandhiji. She shared a very warm relationship with Gandhiji and used to call him "Mickey Mouse".

After Independence, Sarojini Naidu became the Governor of Uttar Pradesh. She was India's first woman governor. Sarojini Naidu died in office on March 2 ,1949.

Poetry, writings and quotes

In 1905, the first volume of her collection of poems was published as The Golden Threshold. Two more volumes were published: The Bird of Time (1912) and The Broken Wing in (1917).

Sarojini Naidu is also well acclaimed for her contribution to poetry. Her poetry had beautiful words that could also be sung. Her collection of poems was published in 1905 under the title “Golden Threshold”. She published two other collections called “The Bird of Time”, and “The Broken Wings”. Later, “The Magic Tree”, “The Wizard Mask”, and “A Treasury of Poems” were published.

Naidu writes:

Shall hope prevail where clamorous hate is rife,

Shall sweet love prosper or high dreams have place

Amid the tumult of reverberant strife

'Twixt ancient creeds, 'twixt race and ancient race,

That mars the grave, glad purposes of life,

Leaving no refuge save thy succoring face ?

Naidu said, "When there is oppression, the only self-respecting thing is to rise and say this shall cease today, because my right is justice."Naidu adds, "If you are stronger, you have to help the weaker boy or girl both in play and in the work."

In 1916, Naidu published the first biography of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, The Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity.