We celebrate the 13th of February as National Women’s Day every year in Bharat and this year, it will be the 145th birth anniversary of the former governor of Bharat, ‘Sarojini Naidu’. “A well-known figure of the 20th century; a poet, politician and administrator”, she was Sarojini Naidu.
There are so many wonderful things to know about the courageous lady as she’s the lady who excelled in education, career, literary work and other things.
People remember her and will always do as she was known as the Nightingale of Bharat. Indeed, she was Sarojini Naidu.
“What do you sell, O ye merchants?
Richly your wares are displayed,
Turbans of crimson and silver,
Tunics of purple brocade,
Mirrors with panels of amber,
Daggers with handles of jade”.
The beauty of ‘Bharat’ is written beautifully in the above poem by Sarojini Naidu. A woman who was so determined, courageous, and fearless existed in our country. She always hoped to see Bharat as free land. She earned the title, ‘The Nightingale of Bharat’ because of her ‘heroic’ poetry.
EARLY LIFE
Talking about her early life and family, she was born on 13th February 1879 in Hyderabad. Her father Aghorenath Chattopadhyay was a Bengali Brahmin and worked as a principal of the Nizam College in Hyderabad.
Her mother was Barada Sundari Devi Chattopadhyay a poet who used to write Bengali poems.
She passed the University of Madras just at the age of 12 and got the chance to study abroad firstly in the King’s College, London and later at the Girton College, Cambridge.
MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN
Inter-regional and inter-caste marriages were taboo concepts at that time. Still, she challenged society and its norms as she married a man named Paidipati Govindarajulu Naidu who was from Andhra Pradesh and she was a Bengali woman. She met her husband at the age of nineteen. Fortunately, the two got married as their families accepted their relationship.
After a few years, their family included both of them and their five children. Their daughter Padmaja was also a part of the Independence movement, just like her mother. Interestingly, she was also appointed as the governor of Uttar Pradesh.
HER POLITICAL CAREER
Talking about her political career, she became a part of the independence movement in 1905 when the Bengal partition took place. She joined the Indian National Congress and she accompanied Annie Beasant as a part of the Home Rule League to London as she always hoped to see Bharat as free land.
She joined the Swaraj Movement and was also one of the individuals who got arrested for the Salt March (including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Madan Mohan Malviya and others). She was a prominent face of the Quit India Movement and The Civil Disobedience Movement.
The British government gave her the Kaiser-i-Hind medal in 1928 for her contributions during the plague outbreak in Bharat.
ABOUT HER LITERARY WORK
Sarojini Naidu’s writing achievements are many. Some of them are, “The Broken Wing: Songs of Love, The Bird of Time: Songs of Life, Death and the Spring, Muhammad Jinnah: An Ambassador of Unity, The Magic Tree, Feast of Youth, The Wizard’s Mask”.
She’s one of the women who is an inspiration to every Bharatiya woman and will always inspire ladies for the coming time. She died from a heart attack on March 2, 1949 while working at her Lucknow office.
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