Sarojini Naidu

Download as doc, pdf, or txt
Download as doc, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 7

Sarojini Naidu, born as Sarojini Chattopadhyay (Bengali: ) also known

by the sobriquet as The Nightingale of India,[1] was a child prodigy, Indian independence
activist and poet. Naidu served as the first governor of the United Provinces of Agra and
Oudh from 1947 to 1949;[2] the first woman to become the governor of an Indian state.[3] She
was the second woman to become the president of the Indian National Congress in 1925 and
the first Indian woman to do so.[4][5]

Contents
[hide]

1 Early life
2 Political career
2.1 Independence
movement
2.2 President of the
Congress party
3 Literary career
4 Death and legacy
4.1 Golden Threshold
5 Works
5.1 Famous Poems

6 References
7 External links
Early life[edit]
Naidu was born in Hyderabad to Aghore Nath Chattopadhyay and Barada Sundari Debi on 13
February 1879. Her father, with a doctorate of Science from Edinburgh University, settled in
Hyderabad, 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. She was the eldest among the eight siblings. Her brother Virendranath
Chattopadhyaya was a revolutionary and her other brother, Harindranath was a poet, a
dramatist, and an actor.[6]
Naidu 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 Girton College, Cambridge.
Naidu met Govindarajulu Naidu, a doctor by profession, and 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.[6]
The couple had five children. Her daughter Padmaja became the Governor of West Bengal.[7]

Political career[edit]
Independence movement[edit]

Sarojini Naidu (extreme right)


withMahatma Gandhi during Salt
Satyagraha, 1930
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 Gandhiand Jawaharlal Nehru.[8]
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.[9] She was sent to London along withAnnie Besant,
President of WIA, to present the case for the women's vote to the Joint Select Committee.

President of the Congress party[edit]


In 1925, Naidu presided over the annual session of Indian National
Congress at Cawnpore (now Kanpur).
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.[10]
In 1931, she participated in the Round table conference with Gandhi and Madan Mohan
Malaviya.[11]
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[edit]
Naidu began writing at the age of thirteen. Her Persian play, Maher Muneer, impressed
the Nawab of Hyderabad.
In 1905, her first collection of poems, named "The Golden Threshold" was published.[12] 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.[7]

Death and legacy[edit]


Sarojini Naidu died of a heart attack while working in her office in Lucknow on March 2
(Wednesday), 1949.[7][13]
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 and Communication, University of Hyderabad.

Her 135th birth anniversary (in 2014) was marked by a doodle on Google India's homepage.
[14]

Golden Threshold[edit]
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 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.[15]
During the Chattopadhyay family's residence, it was the center of many reformist ideas
in Hyderabad, in areas ranging from marriage, education, womens empowerment, literature
and nationalism.[16]

Works[edit]
Each year links to its corresponding "year in poetry" article:
1905: The Golden Threshold, published in the United Kingdom[17] (text available

online)

1912: The Bird of Time: Songs of Life, Death & the Spring, published in London[18]

1917: The Broken Wing: Songs of Love, Death and the Spring, including "The Gift of
India" (first read in public in 1915)[18][19]

1916: Muhammad Jinnah: An Ambassador of Unity[20]

1943: The Sceptred Flute: Songs of India, Allahabad: Kitabistan, posthumously


published[18]
1961: The Feather of the Dawn, posthumously published, edited by her

daughter, Padmaja Naidu[21]


1971:The Indian Weavers[22]

Famous Poems[edit]

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 Coromandal Fishers

You might also like