top of page
Writer's pictureMinorstudy

Sarojini Naidu was a poet and political activist & was one of the most well-known figures in India.




This year marks Sarojini Naidu's 144th birthday. For her beautiful poetry, Mahatma Gandhi referred to her as the "Nightingale of India." Sarojini Naidu was a poet and political activist who was one of the most well-known figures in India's independence struggle.


Sarojini was born in Hyderabad on February 13, 1879, to a Bengali family. She eventually got involved in the fight of the Indian National Congress to free India from the rule of the British. She then became a supporter of Mahatma Gandhi and was elected Indian National Congress President in 1925. After India gained independence in 1947, Naidu was selected to lead the United Provinces, now known as Uttar Pradesh.


When she was appointed, she became India's first female governor. Naidu had spent time behind bars fighting for India's independence with Mahatma Gandhi. In 1942, while Gandhi was in charge of the Quit India Movement, the British authorities kept her in prison for nearly two years. She wrote touching poetry about love, patriotism, and tragedy.


Sarojini Naidu The anniversary of Naidu's birth is celebrated as National Women's Day in India. The day commemorates women's influence and contributions to the nation's advancement. Let's learn more about the significance of her contribution to our nation's social, cultural, economic, and political life on her birthday.


Let's take a look at Sarojini Naidu's upbringing: Sarojini Chattopadhyay was born on February 13, 1879, in Hyderabad. She was the oldest member of a large family that received its education in England. Agorenath Chattophadhyay, her father, graduated from Edinburgh University with a doctorate in science. He established the Hyderabad College, which is now known as Nizam's College of Hyderabad, and served as its administrator.


Barada Sundari Devi, Naidu's mother, was also a poetess who used to write poetry in Bengali. Harindranath, one of her brothers, was also an actor and a poet. Naidu spoke English, Urdu, Persian, Telugu, Bengali, and other languages well. She achieved acclaimed national fame when she graduated from the Madras University when she was just 12 years old.



Sarojini's father had always hoped that she would become a scientist or a mathematician, but Sarojini was always interested in poetry. She was practicing mathematics when she tried to solve an algebra problem one day. When she got frustrated with her inability to do so, she took a break and wrote her first poem instead. The Lady of the Lake was the title of this 1300-line poem. Sarojini's father gave her his full support when he realized that she was more interested in poetry and literature than science or math.


Sarojini Naidu: Sarojini Naidu wrote a Persian play called Maher Muneer with the support of her father. Sarojini received a scholarship to study in England from her college and was accepted into King's College, London, England, on the basis of this play, which was also appreciated by the Nawab of Hyderabad himself.



Sarojini attended Girton College in Cambridge and King's College London when she was just 16 years old. Sarojini met Edmond Gosse, a prestigious laureate, during this time. Gosse advised Naidu to incorporate more Indian scenarios into her poetry, such as: Indian temples, rivers, mountains, etc.


She had a difficult upbringing. Dr. Govinduraju Naidu, who was not a Brahmin like her, won her heart. Both sides were opposed as a result. Against her will, she accepted a scholarship to study in England. In September 1898, she went back to Hyderabad and got married to Dr. Naidu.



Even though it was an intercaste marriage, which was against the law and looked down upon by society at the time in India, Sarojini's father eventually got his daughter married to Dr. Naidu without thinking about society because he was a progressive and very modern thinker.


Political Career and Professional Life of Sarojini Naidu: Poetry's Persuasion: Even though she often went to England against her will, it was here that she found freedom for her poetic soul. She only met the poet and critic Arthur Simons here. The first time they met, they clicked, and they continued to correspond even after she returned to India. She agreed to have some of her poems published by Simons. In 1905, she published her first poetry collection, titled Golden Threshold. The book did extremely well in both native and Indian Diaspora markets.


She published two additional poetry collections, The Bird of Time and The Broken Wings, based on this success. Feast of Youth was published in 1918. A Treasury of Poems, The Magic Tree, and The Wizard Mask followed. Thousands of people were said to have admired her work, including Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindra Nath Tagore. Her works were portrayed by their items that were however English in phrasing yet had an Indian soul.




Sarojini's politics: Shree Gopal Krishna Gokhale was the one who inspired Sarojini to write poetry about the ongoing freedom struggle in India and rekindled the patriotic spirit of those who read it. She met Mahatma Gandhi in 1916, and she devoted her entire energy to the struggle for freedom. The majority of her poems, which were written during that time, reflected the hope and aspirations of common Indians who were marred by slavery, and the independence of India became the heart and soul of her work. She was liable for arousing the ladies of India.


She succeeded in restoring women's self-esteem in India after bringing them out of the kitchen. She presided over the Congress summit in Kanpur in 1925. Additionally, she assumed leadership of Gandhi Ji's movement in 1930, when he was detained for a protest.


She and Mahatma Gandhi took part in the Round Table Summit in 1931. She was detained for 21 months in 1942 during the "Quit India" demonstration. She became the Governor of Uttar Pradesh after independence. She was the first governor to be a woman. On March 2, 1949, she went into cardiac arrest and died.


The Kaisar-i-Hind Medal was given to Sarojini Naidu by the British government for her work during the plague epidemic in India. She later returned to protest the massacre at Jallianwala Bagh in April 1919.


Women's Day is observed on the 13th of February, Naidu's birthday, to honor the influential voices of women throughout India's history.


Sarojini Naidu is a 1960 documentary film about her life that was directed by Bhagwan Das Garga and produced by the Films Division of the Government of India.


Because of her accomplishments in the field of poetry writing, Sarojini Naidu was given the moniker "Nightingale of India."


In 2014, Google India commemorated Naidu's 135th birthday with a Google Doodle. Among the "150 Leading Figures" was Sarojini Naidu.



Naidu was born in Hyderabad on February 13, 1879, to the renowned linguist Aghornath Chattopadhyay and his Bengali poetess wife Barada Sundari Devi. Her father was also one of the first people in Hyderabad to join the Indian National Congress. Sarojini Naidu was an intelligent student who spoke Bengali, English, Urdu, Telugu, and Persian fluently. She became famous when she passed the Madras University matriculation exams when she was 12 years old. Because of this, the Nizam of Hyderabad offered her a scholarship to study abroad. Despite her father's desire for her to become a mathematician, Naidu was interested in poetry writing. Sarojini studied in England, where she met famous authors like Arthur Symons and Edmond Goose. Goose advised Naidu to incorporate Indian themes into her poetry. Through her poetry, Naidu portrayed modern India's life and events. The Golden Threshold (1905), The Bird of Time (1912), and The Broken Wing (1917) were three of her works that were read in both India and England. Under the Brahmo Marriage Act of 1872, Sarojini Naidu married Dr. Muthyala Govindarajulu Naidu, a South Indian doctor, in an intercaste union.


Contribution to the Indian Independence Struggle: Naidu contributed to the independence struggle by demonstrating her ability to speak in public. She worked for women's empowerment and their rights. She connected with prominent Indian National Congress leaders as the partition of Bengal began in 1905. She excelled in delivering speeches about the social welfare of women from 1915 to 1918. She advised women to leave their homes and fight for the country's independence. Naidu went to London with Home Rule president Annie Beasant in 1917 to fight for women's suffrage in front of the Joint Select Committee. She also showed her support for the Lucknow Pact, a Hindu-Muslim joint demand for better political reform in the United Kingdom. Naidu joined Gandhi's non-violent movement and the satyagraha in the same year. Naidu joined the non-cooperation movement in 1919 as part of her resistance to British rule. In 1925, Naidu became the first Indian woman to lead the Indian National Congress. In 1930, she convinced Gandhi to allow women to participate in the Salt March. In 1931, under the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, Sarojini Naidu attended the Round Table Conference in London. Naidu faced imprisonment in 1941 for her participation in the Quit India Movement. Following India's independence in 1947, Naidu became the first governor of Uttar Pradesh. Sarojini Naidu is honored at the University of Hyderabad's Golden Threshold. She served in office until her death in 1949. The asteroid 5647 Sarojini Naidu, which Eleanor Helin discovered at Palomar Observatory in 1990, received its name in her honor. One of India's most well-known female literary laureates and freedom fighters, Sarojini Naidu encouraged women to get involved in politics.



The Early Years of Sarojini Naidu: Hyderabad, India, was where Sarojini Naidu was born. She was the oldest daughter of Bengali poet Varada Sundari Devi and scientist, philosopher, and educator Aghornath Chattopadhyaya. Her father founded Nizam College in Hyderabad and was the first member of the Indian National Congress in Hyderabad with his friend Mulla Abdul Qayyum. Chattopadhyaya belonged to the Brahman class and was originally from Bengal. He was later demoted to principal and even exiled as retaliation for his political actions. Sarojini Naidu studied Urdu, Telugu, English, Persian, and Bengali. Her favorite author was P.B. Shelley. She became well-known throughout the nation when she attended Madras University at the age of twelve. When she was sixteen, she moved to England to attend Girton College in Cambridge and King's College London, respectively. During her time in England, she was a part of the Suffragette movement. She was also encouraged to explore Indian themes in her prose by poets Edmond Gausse and Arthur Simon in England, such as India's people, temples, and landscape. Her first collection of poetry, The Golden Threshold, was published in 1905. Her poems were populated by bangle sellers, beggars, and snake charmers because they featured everyday scenes from Indian life, often taken from the streets and markets. She joined the Indian National Congress in 1905 in response to the partition of Bengal. She was a strong supporter of women's rights, universal access to education, and Hindu-Muslim unity.


About the Sarojini Naidu family: She met Dr. Muthyala Govindarajulu Naidu when she was 17 and fell in love with him. They were still living in England. He was from Andhra Pradesh. Her marriage was a very happy one. In Madras, they got married in 1898. There were four children born to Jayasurya, Padmaja, Randheer, and Leelamani. Virendranath Chattopadhyaya, a well-known Indian activist, was Govindarajulu's brother. Despite the fact that Govindarajulu was not a Brahman, the marriage was blessed by her family—something that was uncommon at the time. During World War I, Virendranath was a key member of the Hindu German Scheme, a plot to inspire an anti-British, pro-German uprising in India. He also helped establish the Berlin Committee. He moved to Soviet Russia after becoming committed to Communism and is believed to have been executed there in 1937 on Joseph Stalin's orders. Another brother, Harindranath, was an actor.



Sarojini Naidu, a freedom fighter: She joined the Indian independence movement following the partition of Bengal in 1905. Between the years 1903 and 1917, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Rabindranath Tagore, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Annie Besant, C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, Mohandas Gandhi, and Jawaharlal Nehru communicated with Sarojini. From 1915 to 1918, she gave lectures in India on youth welfare, labor dignity, women's emancipation, and nationalism. She helped establish the Women's Indian Association (WIA) to promote the female franchise. She led a women's delegation on December 15 of that year to meet with the British Secretary of State for India, who was in India, to demand women's rights and the right to vote. The delegation informed the Minister that women were realizing their civic responsibilities. She spoke about women's rights at the special session of the Indian National Congress that took place in Bombay in August 1918. In May 1918, she went with Annie Besant, President of the WIA, to London to present the case for women's voting rights to the Joint Select Committee discussing Indian constitutional reforms. They told the MPs that Indian women were "powerful, united, and ready to change society." She joined the Chappel Head Indigo workers' cause after meeting Jawaharlal Nehru in 1916. In March 1919, the Rowlatt Act was enacted by the British government, making it illegal to possess seditious documents. The Non-Cooperation Movement was started by Mohandas Gandhi as a protest, and Naidu was the first to join the movement that the government was trying to suppress. Naidu was appointed Home Rule League ambassador to England in July 1919. There, the Government of India Act of 1921 was enacted, creating a legislative assembly with only 93 elected delegates (42 appointed) and an upper house of 34 elected and 26 appointed members. Women were denied the right to vote. She left India in July 1920, and on August 1, Mahatma Gandhi launched the Non-Cooperation Movement. She was one of two delegates to the Indian National Congress at the East African Indian Congress in January 1924. She traveled throughout East and South Africa in support of the needs of the scattered Indian populations.


Sarojini Naidu's Awards and Honors: The British government gave Naidu the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal for her work during the plague epidemic in India. Later, she returned to protest the massacre of Jallianwala Bagh in April 1919. Women's Day is observed on Naidu's birthday, which is February 13. Sarojini Naidu is a 1960 documentary film about her life that was directed by Bhagwan Das Garga and produced by the Films Division of the Government of India. Because of her accomplishments in the field of poetry writing, Sarojini Naidu was given the moniker "Nightingale of India." In 2014, Google India commemorated Naidu's 135th birthday with a Google Doodle. Among the "150 Leading Figures" was Sarojini Naidu.


In conclusion:

This is all about Sarojini Naidu's biography, also known as the Indian nightingale. Her extraordinary life and bravery make her an inspiration to Indian women. We revere her as one of the true founders of India and study her contributions to India's struggle for independence. 





When does Sarojini Naidu's birthday fall?

Every year, on the birthday of Sarojini Naidu, who was born on February 13, 1879, in Hyderabad, India, India observes National Women's Day.


What distinguished Sarojini Naidu?


Sarojini Naidu, a.k.a. Sarojini Chattopadhyay, was a political activist, feminist, and poet who was born on February 13, 1879, in Hyderabad, India, and passed away on March 2, 1949, in Lucknow. She was the first Indian woman to serve as president of the Indian National Congress and to be elected governor of an Indian state.


What is Sarojini Naidu's nickname?

She was referred to as India's Nightingale. Additionally, she was the first woman to hold the position of governor of an Indian state. She also gave Bapu the moniker "Mickey Mouse." Sarojini Naidu, who was born on February 13, 1879, was more than just a poet, lyricist, and political activist.


What holiday falls on February 13?

On February 13, 1879, Sarojini Naidu's birthday, we observe National Women's Day. She was a well-known poet, a talented national leader, and a fighter for freedom. She was referred to as "Bharat Kokila" and "Nightingale of India."


What is the surname Naidu?

Some South Indian Telugu communities, including the Balija, Golla, Kamma, Kapu, Gavara, Telaga, Turupu Kapu, Ekila Kapu (Pala Ekari), Velama, Boya, and Yadava Naidu, use the title Naidu (Nayudu, Nayadu, Naidoo, or Nayakudu).


Who called Sarojini Naidu first?

Explanation and Response: Mahatma Gandhi initially referred to Sarojini Naidu as the Nightingale of India.


What is the meaning of Sarojini?

Girl. Sarojini Naidu is referred to as the "Nightingale of India." Her name is derived from an Indian word that means "in the lotus."




9 views0 comments

コメント


bottom of page