Sarojini Naidu was born Sarojini Chattopadhyay in Hyderabad on February
13, 1879. She was the eldest sibling of a comparatively large family
that was educated in England. She passed her matriculation at the tender
age of 12 from the then Madras University. Her early life was full of
struggle. She fell on love with Dr. Govinduraju Naidu who was not a
Brahmin as she was. This led to opposition from both side. She was thus
sent to England for her studies much against her will. She remained in
England till 1898, studying first at King's College, London and then at
Girton. She returned to Hyderabad in September 1898 and married Dr.
Naidu.
Though
she went England much against her will but it was here that her poetic
soul got liberated. It was here only that she met Arthur Simons, a poet
and critic. The struck chord in the very first meeting and kept on
corresponding even after her return to India. Simons persuaded her to
publish some of her poems. She published her first collection of poems
in 1905 under the title "Golden Threshold". The book sold like
hot cakes both among natives as well as among the Indian Diasporas.
Riding on the success, she published two other collections of poems
namely "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. It is said that people of such caliber as Rabindra Nath
Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru were among the thousands of admirers of her
work. Her works were characterized by their contents that were though
English in wording, had an Indian soul.
Then in 1916, she met Mahatma Gandhi, and she totally directed her
energy to the fight for freedom. The independence of India became the
heart and soul of her work and most of her poems that were composed
during that period reflected hope and aspirations of common Indians who
were marred by slavery. She was responsible for awakening the women of
India. She brought them out of the kitchen and was successful in
reestablishing self-esteem, among the women in India. In 1925, she
chaired the summit of Congress in Kanpur. And in 1930, when Gandhi Ji
was arrested for a protest, she took the helms of his movement. In 1931,
she participated in the Round Table Summit, along with Gandhi Ji. In
1942, she was arrested during the "Quit India" protest and
stayed in jail for 21 months. After independence she became the Governor
of Uttar Pradesh. She was the first woman governor. She passed away on
March 2, 1949.
