| |
Of all the heroines of India, Mrs. Sarojinidevi
Naidu's name is at the top. Not only that, but she
was truly one of the jewels of the world. Being
one of the most famous heroines of the 20th century,
her birthday is celebrated as "Women's Day"
Sarojinidevi was a great patriot, politician, orator
and administrator. She had an integrated personality
and could mesmerize audiences with her pure honesty
and patriotism. She was a life-long freedom fighter,
social worker, ideal housewife and poet. She was
born on February 13, 1879 in Hyderabad. Her father,
Dr. Aghornath Chattopadhyaya, was the founder of
Nizam College of Hyderabad and a scientist. Her
mother, Mrs. Varasundari, was a Bengali poetess.
Sarojinidevi inherited qualities from both her father
and mother. Young Sarojini was a very bright and
proud girl. Her father aspired for her to become
a mathematician or scientist, but she loved poetry
from a very early age. Once she was working on an
algebra problem, and when she couldn't find the
solution she decided to take a break, and in the
same book she wrote her first inspired poetry. She
got so enthused by this that she wrote "The
Lady of the Lake", a poem 1300 lines long. |
|
When her father saw that she was more interested
in poetry than mathematics or science, he decided
to encourage her. With her father's support, she
wrote the play "Maher Muneer" in the
Persian language. Dr. Chattopadhyaya distributed
some copies among his friends and sent one copy
to the Nawab of Hyderabad. Reading a beautiful
play written by a young girl, the Nizam was very
impressed. The college gave her a scholarship
to study abroad. At the age of 16 she got admitted
to King's College of England. There she met famous
laureates of the time.
During
her stay in England, Sarojini met Dr. Govind Naidu
from southern India. After finishing her studies
at the age of 19, she got married to him during
the time when inter-caste marriages were not allowed.
Her father was a progressive thinking person,
and he did not care what others said. Her marriage
was a very happy one.
Her
major contribution was also in the field of poetry.
Her poetry had beautiful words that could also
be sung. Soon she got recognition as the "Bul
Bule Hind" when her collection of poems was
published in 1905 under the title "Golden
Threshold". After that, she published two
other collections of poems--"The Bird of
Time" and "The Broken Wings". In
1918, " Feast of Youth" was published.
Later, "The Magic Tree", "The Wizard
Mask" and "A Treasury of Poems"
were published. Mahashree Arvind, Rabindranath
Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru were among the thousands
of admirers of her work. Her poems had English
words, but an Indian soul.
One day she met Shree Gopal Krishna Gokhale. He
said to her to use her poetry and her beautiful
words to rejuvenate the spirit of Independence
in the hearts of villagers. He asked her to use
her talent to free Mother India.
Then in 1916, she met Mahatma Gandhi, and she
totally directed her energy to the fight for freedom.
She would roam around the country like a general
of the army and pour enthusiasm among the hearts
of Indians. The independence of India became the
heart and soul of her work.
She
was responsible for awakening the women of India.
She brought them out of the kitchen. She traveled
from state to state, city after city and asked
for the rights of the women. She re-established
self-esteem within the women of India.
In 1925, she chaired the summit of Congress in
Kanpur. In 1928, she came to the USA with the
message of the non-violence movement from Gandhiji.
When in 1930, Gandhiji was arrested for a protest,
she took the helms of his movement. In 1931, she
participated in the Round Table Summit, along
with Gandhiji and Pundit Malaviyaji. In 1942,
she was arrested during the "Quit India"
protest and stayed in jail for 21 months with
Gandhiji.
After independence she became the Governor of
Uttar Pradesh. She was the first woman governor.
She was a woman of a great country, with such
a great heritage in which Sitamata, Draupadi,
Savitri and Damayanti were born. Their purity,
courage, determination and self-confidence were
the foundation of her own character and personality.
On
March 2, 1949, she took her last breath, and India
lost her beloved child, her "Bulbul."
Nevertheless, her name will always be in the golden
history of India as an inspiring poet and a brave
freedom fighter. |