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A baby girl was born in Hyderabad to the Principal of Nizam College, Aghorenath Chattopadhyay, on February 13, 1879. This girl went on to become a celebrated poet and the first woman in the state of India to become governor. It is the anniversary of the birth of Sarojini Chattopadhyay, who, after her marriage to Govindarajulu Naidu, became Sarojini Naidu and is popularly known as the Indian Nightingale. Mahatma Gandhi gave her the title because her poetry was said to be lyrical and imagery-filled.
Sarojini was the eldest child of Aghorenath’s father and of Devi Chattopadhyay’s mother, Barada Sundari, who was also a poet. She had seven siblings younger than her. Sarojini initially studied at the University of Madras in Chennai and continued at King’s College London to pursue higher education. Sarojini also studied at Girton College in Cambridge.
After gaining experience in England in the Women’s Wahlbewegung, she joined the Indian freedom movement in 1905. From 1915 to 1918, she travelled to India to lecture on various issues of national and social importance.
In 1925, she was appointed president of the Indian National Congress as the first Indian woman. Her friend and colleague, Annie Besant, preceded her and she presented universal suffrage to the Joint Select Committee in London.
She was repeatedly arrested for her participation in freedom movements by the British authorities, particularly the Quit India Movement and Civil Disobedience Movement. Sarojini was also a poet who became a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, in addition to her contributions to the rights of women and Indian freedom.
At the age of 70, in Lucknow, the poet passed away. The Golden Threshold, The Bird of Time, and The Broken Wing are some of her famous works. Critics have given special recognition to her poem In the Bazaars of Hyderabad from her poetry collection The Bird of Time.
