Child Prodigy, Poet and Freedom Fighter

That is Sarojini Naidu

Posted on September 4, 2013 by admin
Sarojini Naidu, popularly known as The Nightingale of India makes every Indian proud for
her versatile persona as poet, freedom fighter and as a crusader of womens rights. She was the
first president of the Indian national Congress and the first woman to become the Governor of
Uttar Pradesh state. She was the most famous woman of the 20
th
century and a true jewel of the
world. Her birth day is celebrated as womens day. Being considered a great patriot, she was an
honest politician, eloquent orator and an eminent administrator.

She was born in a Bengali Brahmin family of Kulin Brahmins. She was the eldest of the eight
siblings to Agorenath Chattopadhyay and Barada Sundari Devi. Her maiden name was Sarojini
Chatopadhyay and after marrying Dr.Govindrajulu Naidu, she became Sarojini Naidu. At the age
of 12 she became a national figure when she topped the matriculation examination at Madras
University. Naidu was proficient in Telugu, Urdu, English and Persian languages. She had an
ardent love for poetry. Once, when she was working on an algebra problem and when she could
not comprehend solution to the problem, she decided to take a break and started writing a poem
on the same book, and that was the beginning of her poetic career. At thirteen she wrote 1300
lines long poem with the title The lady of the Lake.
The Nizam of Hyderabad impressed by Sarojinis poetic talent, offered her a scholarship to study
overseas. It is then at the age of 16, she got admission in the Kings college of England. She had
the rare opportunity of meeting prominent English authors namely Arthur Simon and Edmond
Gausse. She fell in love with Dr. Muthyala Govindarajulu Naidu and married him. She broke
the shackles of inter-caste marriage system, and her marriage was not only approved by elders
but it was a grand success and they had four children.
She was moved by the freedom movement and joined hands with then stalwarts like Gopal
Krishna Gokhale, and through him she met Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and
others. In the later days, she became President of the Indian National Congress. She extensively
travelled to the USA and other European countries as the flag-bearer of the national struggle for
freedom. She actively participated in the freedom struggle and in the non-cooperation movement
organized by Mahatma Gandhi. She made many sacrifices, besides being jailed several times.
Her contribution in the field of poetry is unforgettable, since many of her works were
transformed into songs. Her collection of poems was published under the title of Golden
Threshold. Her other publications were The bird of time and the broken wings. She led the
Asian Relations Conference in 1947 as the chairman, which was highly appraised. She was the
first woman Governor of Uttar Pradesh after independence and after two years i.e. on 2 March
1949, Sarojini Naidu died at Lucknow.
Sarojini Naidus versatile personality is an inspiration to one and all, especially for
women.
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